Panscription (conclusion)

The meaning of life and the Word of God

This little series of articles is about what it means to be human. I argue that on the biggest and smallest scales, humanity is trapped in a world of stories and our only way of dealing with it is to get involved in the writing process ourselves.

In this article I will ponder how this develops from childhood, and why God would have designed us this way and given us a religion that is so heavily focused on storytelling.

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Why are we story creatures?

Man was created to resemble God. This idea has perplexed me since I was a kid, as it has millions of thinkers before me. God represents Himself as anthropomorphic, bipedal, and male. The earth is called His “footstool”, implying He has feet. He walked in the Garden of Eden and sewed clothes together from animal skins. He wrestled with Jacob. He talks about Himself as a husband and a father. In the New Testament He is more clearly called “The” Father. But He is also an invisible spirit, which seems to contradict this. And yet again, certain angels behold His face continually (Matthew 18:10), which means He is visible… to spirits, I suppose.

Theologians have speculated that mankind’s resemblance to God is metaphorical, or that the word “image” is more like a verb: we are imagers, like Him. God created the Universe, and He assigned Adam to create within it. We have license to create, to tame, to build, and to repurpose nature. In ancient Hebrew logic, God did not create the Universe ex nihilo, but rather shaped Creation out of some kind of intangible chaos force. We could speculate that pre-Creation was abstract potentiality and contradiction; that things didn’t make sense until God divided everything into its proper opposites and balanced all things to be differentiated and proportioned. During this process He breathed life into it. Even the heavenly host were created. That which is seen came from that which is unseen. Ideas and spiritual intelligence predates matter.

If we are creatures trapped in a subjective world of story, and we are also created to resemble God, what does this mean?

Why did God speak the Universe into existence? Wouldn’t that imply that He used language? And if He used language to begin Creation, wouldn’t that imply that He created language before creating Creation? And wouldn’t that imply that language is a pre-requisite for Creation itself? And wouldn’t that mean our Reality is, in some sense, a byproduct of language being empowered?

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

—John 1:1

The Word was God.

We are made in the image of God. We resemble the Word.

Why did the Savior of Mankind come telling a story about a Kingdom that nobody could see? Why did he entrust the fate of this Kingdom to preachers, writers, and storytellers? Why do we receive salvation by “hearing and believing”? Why are we required to give testimony (a story) rather than theology?

The most profound, human, fundamental aspect of humanity is our connection to the Word of God. Creation itself was waiting impatiently for the revelation of the Savior and his Kingdom (Romans 8:22), proving that the ancient history of mankind was far from a complete story. It was a giant mystery, a cliffhanger, a promise waiting to be fulfilled. Generation after generation of humans could only wait for God to tell the second part of that story. And when He did, the story shocked heaven and earth to its core. We still haven’t come to terms with it.

Panscription to a Christian should be a realization of the magnitude of our role within the story of God’s Word. There is nothing more important for us to do than witness and testify. There is nothing more meaningful than to allow God to impact our story, and to impact the story of others in turn.

It is the very meaning of life.

Secret stories

Now another mystery to me.

What does the Holy Spirit do amid the chaos of the world?

What is the role of the Holy Spirit in panscription? Why doesn’t it make a sound? How can it be important to the function of mankind and Creation if it goes against the linguistic principle?

Then it occurred to me: the Holy Spirit is the unexpressed Truth. It is the feeling of needing to say something important. It is the unction; the urge; the conviction that precedes the speech. It is the motivator and the director. Before there is language, there is a powerful need to speak.

But before an idea is expressed by converting it into language, it is abstract. It can be expressed in millions of ways. Every individual will express the same feeling differently. Perhaps God wants millions of storytellers to all have their opportunity to speak the Truth in their own subjective, biased, passionate way.

The Holy Spirit is a mystery to Satan and the world. It reminds believers of the Word, gives them strength to speak, and purifies their intentions. We speak, but without the Spirit we speak improperly.

The world’s next story

There is a battle between Satan global conspiracy of lies, and God’s Kingdom of Truth. Very few Christians even understand that the Kingdom is important and real—much more than just the “Church”—but it’s even harder to see that panscription is the game we’re all playing. World events are shaped by the narrative impact it has. Satan uses his spirit of antichrist to delude and trap his own servants, while God uses the Holy Spirit to enlighten and teach his own servants. They meet in the battlefield of narrative conflict.

It would be easy for the Satanic conspiracy to sabotage our critical infrastructure and cause a mass depopulation event. But the hard part is making sure Christianity does not make a resurgence during the crisis, and thus dominate the culture of the Aftermath. Our story is forever threatening to checkmate. The worse the world gets, the more Jesus Christ becomes the natural answer. That’s why Satan has to turn logic, facts, and all education upside down—to make it seem like the worst answer.

And the Age of Aquarius is nothing but a fantasy of a post-Christian world. It wants desperately to be the world’s next story. Theosophy, Rosicrucians, New Age, psychedelic, mysticism, occultism, interfaith, are all attempts to minimize the Word of God leading up to the mass depopulation crisis.

Those of us who live through the Tribulation will specifically called to do what?

But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. On account of My name they will deliver you to the synagogues and prisons, and they will bring you before kings and governors. This will be your opportunity to serve as witnesses. So make up your mind not to worry beforehand how to defend yourselves. For I will give you speech and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.

(Luke 21:12-15)

Do you understand, my friends?

In the final climax of the time of Tribulation, in which we are arrested and interrogated, our job will not be to assassinate tyrants, grow food in our gardens, or even to flee from the horrors of the post-truth world.

Our job will be to speak what Jesus gives us to say. And we don’t even have to prepare ahead of time. Because the Holy Spirit will inject the speech directly into our hearts.

This is why I think about panscription. This is why I think about the silliness of preppers, patriots, and church-ism as the days grow darker.

Will you be ready to stand up in a synagogue or a prison, and speak to kings and governors? Will you be worthy to stand on trial for defying the STORY of the WHOLE WORLD?

I thank God that we do not need to prepare our defenses ahead of time. But here’s one thing I do try to achieve: an excitement for that opportunity. Rather than fearing it, the Winter Christian believes that such a time of testifying is the highest calling they could attain. May the Lord some day grant us the privilege of participating in the battle of between the Lie and the Truth in such a powerful way.