The problem of
March 25th, 2012 00:08![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mc776In the beginning of our people's story there was the World, in all its shapes and sizes and layers and forms, and it is the World that is the source of all life and happiness.
The World was created by He-Who-Provides, the great Father to all living things. Through His omnipotent grace He builds layer upon layer over the World, creating food and living-space for our people as we live and have children and die content. He rules over us with a usually gentle but careful hand, and though occasionally a disobedient or greedy tribe is eliminated by His command, the World remains bright and happy for those who live within.
But our people also speak darker legends than this. Older tales tell of another great old one, He-Who-Destroys who took vast swathes of the World and destroyed it in a terrible muddy deluge of water and heat, leaving only barren ruin in his wake. Most were able to flee or hide and survive the rampage, but with so much of the World destroyed untold numbers of our people starved, wasted away or fled to find new Worlds never to return. They spoke of the towering black-maned shadow that loomed over them on the eve of destruction, at once like He-Who-Provides but larger and impossibly fast for its size, but most terrible was its gaze which was utterly unlike that of He-Who-Provides, a terrible look which could be felt on its subject long before He-Who-Destroys would even make a move.
Much debate has gone on about the nature of He-Who-Provides and He-Who-Destroys. Some believe they are eternal forces in equal opposition to each other, which come together to create the death/rebirth equilibrium of the World. Others believe He-Who-Destroys to be a corrupted aspect of He-Who-Provides, twisted in some terrible prehistoric calamity that brought evil into the universe. Others still hold He-Who-Destroys to be the true master of the World, and He-Who-Provides to be a benevolent rebellion who allows a way for the people to transcend He-Who-Destroys' mechanistic cycle of death. And yet other still point to older legends, barely believable accounts of witnesses to the great exchanges between He-Who-Provides and He-Who-Destroys which thundered across the firmament amidst the chaos of the latter's destructive reckonings. They say that in these exchanges even He-Who-Destroys acknowledges He-Who-Provides as the true Father of all things, and claims to act only subject to His will even as his very hands undo his Father's good works.
The final interpretation is said by those in the know to be the most theologically correct, but in popular discourse remains the most controversial. How can that which is all good in the World also beget that which is all evil? What justice is this, which brings such arbitrary calamity upon its own people? Is this just a test of faith, or a means to bring forth something even greater, which as yet only He-Who-Provides Himself can even begin to understand? Is the World an end in itself, or merely one of many stages of existence that must be created and destroyed to bring new meaning to it? What can be worth the lives of so many innocents starved, drowned or exiled in these violent destructions of our World?
It has been many generations since anyone has claimed to have seen He-Who-Destroys. But those who have listened to many of these stories say there are vibrations in the air, and shadows looming in the great beyond, that suggest the destructive ancient power will assail our peaceful World once more...
~*~
"Dad, I'm telling you, it's not from the plants, they're breeding in the dishes! You really should wash them right after you use them, don't just leave them in the sink and put it off or you'll forget and they'll get all over everything again... I really can't be here to help you with this every week."
The World was created by He-Who-Provides, the great Father to all living things. Through His omnipotent grace He builds layer upon layer over the World, creating food and living-space for our people as we live and have children and die content. He rules over us with a usually gentle but careful hand, and though occasionally a disobedient or greedy tribe is eliminated by His command, the World remains bright and happy for those who live within.
But our people also speak darker legends than this. Older tales tell of another great old one, He-Who-Destroys who took vast swathes of the World and destroyed it in a terrible muddy deluge of water and heat, leaving only barren ruin in his wake. Most were able to flee or hide and survive the rampage, but with so much of the World destroyed untold numbers of our people starved, wasted away or fled to find new Worlds never to return. They spoke of the towering black-maned shadow that loomed over them on the eve of destruction, at once like He-Who-Provides but larger and impossibly fast for its size, but most terrible was its gaze which was utterly unlike that of He-Who-Provides, a terrible look which could be felt on its subject long before He-Who-Destroys would even make a move.
Much debate has gone on about the nature of He-Who-Provides and He-Who-Destroys. Some believe they are eternal forces in equal opposition to each other, which come together to create the death/rebirth equilibrium of the World. Others believe He-Who-Destroys to be a corrupted aspect of He-Who-Provides, twisted in some terrible prehistoric calamity that brought evil into the universe. Others still hold He-Who-Destroys to be the true master of the World, and He-Who-Provides to be a benevolent rebellion who allows a way for the people to transcend He-Who-Destroys' mechanistic cycle of death. And yet other still point to older legends, barely believable accounts of witnesses to the great exchanges between He-Who-Provides and He-Who-Destroys which thundered across the firmament amidst the chaos of the latter's destructive reckonings. They say that in these exchanges even He-Who-Destroys acknowledges He-Who-Provides as the true Father of all things, and claims to act only subject to His will even as his very hands undo his Father's good works.
The final interpretation is said by those in the know to be the most theologically correct, but in popular discourse remains the most controversial. How can that which is all good in the World also beget that which is all evil? What justice is this, which brings such arbitrary calamity upon its own people? Is this just a test of faith, or a means to bring forth something even greater, which as yet only He-Who-Provides Himself can even begin to understand? Is the World an end in itself, or merely one of many stages of existence that must be created and destroyed to bring new meaning to it? What can be worth the lives of so many innocents starved, drowned or exiled in these violent destructions of our World?
It has been many generations since anyone has claimed to have seen He-Who-Destroys. But those who have listened to many of these stories say there are vibrations in the air, and shadows looming in the great beyond, that suggest the destructive ancient power will assail our peaceful World once more...
~*~
"Dad, I'm telling you, it's not from the plants, they're breeding in the dishes! You really should wash them right after you use them, don't just leave them in the sink and put it off or you'll forget and they'll get all over everything again... I really can't be here to help you with this every week."
(no subject)
Date: March 25th, 2012 18:14 (UTC)hell yawns