Our Dark Chambers of Imagery (Shaping the Vacuum)

Bill Brown ... Xiamen University
"Then said he to me, Son of man, have you seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, the LORD sees us not; the LORD has forsaken the earth." Ezekiel 8:12

“There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus” Blaise Pascal

Not Just Doers but Hearers In yesterday's "Noodle," I reminded myself of James' and Paul's warnings to not just be hearers but also doers of the word--but that does not mean that hearing is any less important. Far from it. If we do not hear first, then how shall we know what to do? But we must consciously choose what we listen to, or our our mind will fill the vacuum with whatever we encounter, or our own imaginings, and we will act upon these.

Shaping the God-Shaped Vacuum Blaise Pascal, the brilliant French mathematician, physicist and philosopher, said every person's heart has a God shaped vacuum. This vacuum is our lonely yearning to walk again, side by side, with our Father and Creator, and we try desperately to either fill the vacuum with our own gods and creations (religions, philosophies, science), or to escape the loneliness through distractions and pleasures that never quite bring lasting happiness. And when these fail some seek oblivion through drugs, alcohol, or, increasingly, suicide.

Vacuums do not exist long in nature, but are filled. So with our spiritual vacuum. From its earliest days, Israel worshiped its own handmade idols--even bowing down at a golden calf at the very foot of smoldering Mt. Sinai. By the time of Ezekiel, God warned that every man did evil in the dark chambers of his own imagery. Here, "imagery" referred to idols, but we can just as easily apply this verse to the dark chambers of our mind's imagery.

Our Mind's Imagery Just the past week, the news reported several shootings--include one in Belgium. But the rising violence is not surprising, given the violent images with which we fill our minds from movies, TV and games. What fills our minds shapes our thoughts, and influences our actions--and our minds will be filled.

Filling the Vacuum. Until we are with our Father again, face to face, we will have a vacuum that nothing on this earth can satisfy, but we can at least partially illuminate the dark chambers of our imagery with His Light. I marvel at how reading his Word each morning can set the pace for my day, or how listening to uplifting music sets a chord resonating within me that can, for a time at least, keep the noise of chaos at bay. And fellowship each Sunday at our Xiamen International Christian Fellowship is a great balm for beleaguered spirits.
Daily Filling the Vacuum. The problem is that one filling is not enough. If I do not consciously choose, daily, how the vacuum within me shall be filled, then the vacuum will quite literally fill itself, sucking in whatever is around me. No wonder Paul warned us to take captive every thought (2 Cor. 10:5)--but this is, when all is said and done, impossible. Trying to control one's every thought is about like a Zen master trying to think of nothing. Once he has achieved nothingness, he is now thinking that he has thought nothing.

Not even Paul could take captive every thought, which is why he died to himself daily, starting each day anew (1 Cor. 15:31). So rather than fend off evil thoughts, Paul suggested filling the vacuum with good thoughts: "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is fair, whatever is pure, whatever is acceptable, whatever is commendable, if there is anything of excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy-keep thinking about these things." Philippians 4:8.

His Chamber of Imagery Ezekiel wrote that each man worships in the dark temple chamber of his own imagery, but Paul wrote that our body is a temple of the Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19). Today, I will not try to fend off the dark from without but rather dispel the darkness from within by filling this temple with Light. "As the ancient Chinese proverb goes, "It is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness." As I am busy "doing" today, I will also pay attention to what I hear, and see, and think, and be alert for that still small voice (1 Kings 19:12) that, unlike the darkness, does not intrude but invites. And I hope to do this daily until the Vacuum is filled.

And now it is fitting to end with yet another quote from the brilliant Blaise Pascal, who wrote to a friend, "This letter is so long because I did not have time to make it shorter."
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