The Manuscript
It’s What Isn’t Said that Says the Most
The Power in Omission
Imagine you are stranded on an island with no obvious way of getting off it except for these three steppingstones that lead directly into the water. There is enough distance between the stones that you would have to fervently swim to each one. Every day, you see a boat come around the island. You have yelled and screamed for it to stop and save you, but it never does.
Should you risk it and venture off the island expending the last of your energy to reach each of these three stones that can lead you to being rescued or to your death? Or should you remain on the island and take your chances?
The ellipsis (aka “dot dot dot”) indicates, in grammar, the omission of something. This implies that something is missing. Incomplete. However, if we apply it to our lives, strategically harnessed, it is powerful. On the one hand, that neat little trail of dots leads one up the road to a bounty of endless possibilities. Opportunities. Hope. Change. Salvation. Like a Choose Your Own Adventure book with more than three paths from which to choose.
On the other hand, if abused, it can also be seen as an open door to trouble. Leading one on that downward spiral to nowhere. A lot is left to be said and silence can be deafening. And it can be maddening. Like a bug in your ear. Digging into your brain. Our imaginations tend to get the better of us, affecting our perception on virtually everything around us. Things are left to chance. Luck. Suspicion. Doubt. Seeds to failure.
Regardless of how you choose to see the ellipsis, it is very powerful. Me? It piqued my curiosity. Hmmm. An avid left-brainer at birth, I’ve always had a very vivid imagination. The dot dot dot has been the start of virtually every success and most definitely the beginning of every failure. My imagination has pushed and pulled me through some dark places in life. It is one of the only things I can say I really own. Other than my car. It’s paid off.
I found myself, at 11 years old, tossed at the foot of the cross with religion. I found that the Word of God isn’t full of ellipses. Depending on which version you are looking at, there are however a lot of brackets and parentheses. Hmmm. Those are indicative of not just the omission of something but the modification of it resulting in the interpretation of someone else’s interpretation to govern our spiritual lives.
While not a believer myself, I do agree on one particular tenant that appears in virtually any religious text and teachings: We reap what we sow. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Life is all about choices. Those choices direct us as we travel the journey. And for every choice, there is a consequence.
This is true, no matter what god you believe in.
