Saturday, May 3, 2025
Former can mean the past. The past is non literal, however. It’s figurative, which etymologically means “to form or fashion.” Once the past settles, something is left – like a trail or wisp. Former can mean having previously filled a particular role or been a particular thing. Another way to define former is “that which forms something.” Once the former forms, the former seems to disappear. I beg to differ. The Former always was and always will be.
Isaiah says, “Forget the former things.” I say, “Remember The Former.” What an interesting play on words. The former is both the past and that which brings form into existence. At one level, we are to forget the past. The past is what’s left behind. Once you forget it, you’re left merely with an impression of The Former, a hole that can’t be explained. It makes you wonder, but it’s not empty. Impressions are permanent.
Form seems to lack totality. If you dwell in form only, you are likely to miss information. The Former leaves behind encoded information in a formless way – an impression. Something, other than form remains.
Wisdom realizes that form and formless are one, but that The Former is in a realm all to itself. Former things are evidence of what appears “left behind,” but nothing is left behind. Nothing is vacant or truly absent. It’s all and nothing in a flash of insight.
As you are informed, you realize you are not in form. Forget the former things! Remember The Former – that which forms and informs. Formation and information are evidence of The Former which seems “gone” yet always here. Remember the Former. You are That; disguised in form; a wisp of Totality; a flash of insight; gone, yet fully accounted for in the impression it leaves “behind.”