Creator Therapy

I was watching Bill Moyers' "American Journal" on PBS last week when I heard him interviewing writer Maxine Hong Kingston about her latest project. It was to edit a book written by veterans and peace activists entitled Veterans of War, Veterans of Peace. In the interview she spoke of the process of editing and writing as being therapeutic. It was therapeutic not only for the contributors but also for herself. Evidently, she had lost her house to a wildfire some months before and equated the experience of walking through the charred ruins to that of a bombed village. I started again to think of the relationship between the creator and the created, which of necessity, must be quite complicated. As I thought of God Himself, I began to wonder: Did even God need to write the Bible as therapy for Himself?

As Christians we believe we are made in His image. Could He have also experienced some type of post traumatic stress syndrome after the big event in heaven when Satan was cast out, along with his demons? After all, if having one's compatriots turn against the Creator would not have created stress, I am not sure what event would. After the creation of Adam and Eve, would He have also experienced stress when the proposed fellowship did not go exactly as planned either? We all know the story: Eve ate the forbidden fruit, and Adam followed her lead. They too were cast away from the Garden of Eden.

Depending upon one's theological belief, we take these Old Testament events either to be literal or metaphorical. Regardless of interpretation, however, it is clear that writing does lead to psychological healing. It opens the door into the recesses of one's mind to explore the answers to life's big questions, especially regarding the fairness of this world. The Bible is God's writing to the world to explain who He is and the logic behind His plan to send Jesus as the world's Savior. I believe it could perhaps also be His vindication in many ways of His own psychological needs.