Saturday, March 2, 2013

Jacob's Folly

Rebecca Miller, daughter of playwright Arthur Miller, has written a novel called "Jacob's Folly", the story of a Jew who died in Paris in 1783 and finds himself reincarnated as a fly in Long Island in 2013. The fly proceeds to be mischievous in an Orthodox Jewish household, as who wouldn't once you know you were a Jew and have been reincarnated as a fly? This fanciful novel violates a few tenets of Judeo-Christian theology with its reincarnation premise, among others, but it really has a lot of fun doing it.

Just imagine how freeing it would be to wake up and realize that you used to be a Jewish guy in Paris, but that now you have been reincarnated as a fly. The character is angry when he realizes this, but really, think about it: now you know that there's no spiritual afterlife, and if this is as bad as it gets, like, what's the big deal? Just do whatever you want, for tomorrow you die (again).

This liberating idea is just what the Enemy would like us all to believe. At least it seems liberating at first. If God is just some random recycling machine for the soul, he isn't really much of a god. The comical rules by which Orthodox Jews (or any other religious group) live don't count for anything. Instead of replacing these rules with the loving personal grace offered by Jesus, there is only whimsy. I can't make a convincing argument for that going bad when large numbers of people follow this path; whimsy seems pretty harmless, if eventually boring. It could go bad, of course, but it doesn't really have to.

All I can offer as an objection is that it isn't true. God actually IS the creator of this world; He knows everything that has happened in it, and has already personally paid the price for everything that has gone wrong with it. He may appear to have lost the bet on Adam and Eve, but the final result will be something vastly greater than seemed possible at the outset. The final state of this work of performance art we call the universe will reveal the fullness of God's loving intimacy and creativity in those of us who choose to join with Him.