#BTColumn – Does God regret creation?

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author(s) do not represent the official position of Barbados TODAY.

I used to wonder whether God regretted creating this universe and human beings. We’ve not only made a mess of our planetary environment but have engaged in horrific acts of brutality and genocidal slaughter. To make matters worse, we’ve often self-righteously committed these atrocities in the name of God.

But no. To suppose that God would regret creation, you’d have to imagine God as a supreme being who sat around eternity twiddling His thumbs until one day He said to himself (or his two partners if you believe as I do in a Triune God), “You know what? Why don’t we create a cosmos?”

In such a case, you might easily imagine God, 13.8 billion years later, saying: “You know what? This cosmos creation hasn’t worked out too well. To Hell with it.”

God would not, indeed, could not regret creation, since creation is an extension of His being. The universe is within God, though God transcends the universe. God and creation are separate but intrinsically related.

That, however, raises an interesting question. Why does God permit all these atrocities to occur in this extension of Her (God can’t be gendered, okay) being? Because to prevent them (as He has the power to do), would be to thwart the purpose of creation: to allow the cosmos to evolve to its predetermined end: a unified consciousness with God — the Omega Point (shout out to Teilhard de Chardin) to which all history is progressing.

What does that mean? It might be helpful, especially to younger people, to think of God as a highly intelligent programmer/coder who has created this difficult Quest game. This is not a shoot-’em-up game but a fantastic journey towards an ultimate goal that tests and reveals character, morals, strengths, weaknesses, failures, and successes. In the end is a huge reward, but getting there requires careful thought and smart choices.

By analogy, God has created a cosmos with an ultimate goal that She’s beseeching and encouraging us with unconditional love and infinite compassion to pursue, yet allowing us to make our own choices… and break Her heart.

Such love. Such humility. Yet, we don’t get it.

So, creation is not a one-off act but an evolutionary process in which we’re co-creators with God of this glorious inter-connected world. Of course, when you’re up to your neck in your daily struggles to survive, never mind a raging pandemic, it’s hard to keep focused on the overarching purpose of the cosmos. If you’re lost in a forest, all you see is one damn tree after another. It’s hard to recognise you’re in a beautiful wooded landscape.

You think we’re in a terrible predicament? God’s predicament is a trillion times worse. Every time we weep, God weeps. Every time we suffer, God suffers. Sounds so vulnerable. So human. Not surprising. God created us in His image.

What blows my mind is that God knowingly created this predicament for Herself! Even more amazing, Christ, God’s BFF, became incarnate in Jesus of Nazareth to teach us how to love. And we know how that story ended.

But rejoice. We live in a redeemed world overflowing with the Spirit of the Creator. So why do some of us diss this world and focus on the hereafter? Makes no sense.

Salvation is right here on earth. The formula is short and sweet: love God and love your neighbour (the homeless person, the poor, etc.) as yourself. All the rest are minor details to be left to the religious intelligentsia. If you believe in a loving God, for God’s sake, at least trust Her!

So it is with peace of mind that I go to cultivate my garden, pick my okras and make my cou cou.

I just painfully realised that cow itch is the modern Bajan equivalent of the Serpent in That Garden.

Dr. Peter Laurie is a retired permanent secretary and head of the Foreign Service who once served as Barbados’ Ambassador to the United States.