Z is for Zippy
We wrap up the divine alphabet with Zippy.
One might think “zippy” is the last word to describe God. After all, God is the creator, the source of everything that exists, and the ultimate cause of everything that happens. God is thus “the unmoved mover.” God cannot be moved by anything else, because if that happened, whatever caused him to move would turn out to be the real God.
This, by the way, is the answer to the child’s question, “Who made God?” The question is nonsense—like asking how much does Thursday weigh—because the very word “God” means that which is not made by anything! So it’s not an intelligible question to ask who made God. Of course, this answer, even though true, will not satisfy any child!
Our problem is different than the child’s. It comes up when we start to try to imagine what it means to be unmoved. We think of things like huge mountains. They don’t change very quickly, so God must be like a mountain, except not even changing in the slow way that mountains change. But this is an error. Although God does not change, he is the very opposite of inert. God gets things done. Indeed he gets more things done than any creature could.
That’s why we can say he is zippy.
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Of course, we have no idea how God is active. He cannot be active in the way you and I are. We do something, then we take a nap, then we do something else. We might try to do two things at once, foolish as that is; for instance, we might try texting and driving at the same time. (I’m looking at you, Dallas.) The point is that when we are active, our activity is at the exclusion of other activity. When my eyes are on my phone, they are not on the road. When I am writing, I am not running. When I am doing something in Paris, I am not doing something in Waxahachie. When I am awake, I am not asleep.
None of these limitations are true of God. Since he is no creature, God does not have creaturely limitations. He can do whatever he does without that limiting his doing anything else. Since he is not a creature, he could not drive a car; but if he could, he would be able to text and drive at the same time!
We might call it a zip car.
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From A to Z, God is a surprise. Whatever we say of God, we find that he slips away from our language. Nonetheless, there are true things to be said about God. We conclude with this one. Although God never moves, never changes, nonetheless he is zippy.
Which is to say, he is more alive than we can possibly imagine.
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Out & About. I am to preach this Sunday, December 5, at St. David of Wales in Denton, Texas, at all their services: 8 and 10:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. At 9:30 I will teach a class on Christian teaching after Covid, on points of doctrine that need particular emphasis as the pandemic recedes into a feature of everyday reality.
On Sunday, December 12, I am to preach at the contemporary services at Incarnation in Dallas, at 9 and 11:15 a.m.
If you want to note some 2022 dates, the “Good Books & Good Talk” seminar has the following books scheduled, all to be 5 p.m. discussions at Incarnation in Dallas:
Jan. 16: Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton
Feb. 20: Philoctetes by Sophocles
March 20: Children of Men by P. D. James
June 5: Little Men by Louisa May Alcott
The Rev'd Canon Victor Lee Austin, Ph.D.
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