Create From Chaos

When a forgotten melody comes back to her, Mara follows it back to voice memos from two years ago and discovers an old song she wrote. From iPhone recordings in her car during rainstorms to late-night inspiration at her children's bedside, she takes listeners through the intimate process of building a song layer by layer. Through the art of sampling—weaving found sounds into new creations—Mara discovers a creative practice that mirrors the Genesis story itself: not creating from nothing, but finding beauty in chaos.

What happens when we move from being passive readers of Scripture to active participants in its interpretation? Inspired by the work of Bible translators Robert Alter and N.T. Wright, Mara creates her own mythical rendition of Genesis One that explores the cosmic drama of creation. Like Lucy stepping through the wardrobe into Narnia, this episode invites listeners to encounter the ancient text with fresh wonder.

Interview with N. T. Wright: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsBRJCmNkjg

Lecture by Robert Alter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSQqde4y-Vc&t=356s

MORE REFERENCES:

• Robert Alter's "The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary" (W. W. Norton, 2018)

• N. T. Wright's "The New Testament for Everyone"

• Lawrence Venuti's "The Translator's Invisibility" (on domestication and foreignization)

• Eugene Peterson's "The Message"

• C. S. Lewis's "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe"

• C. S. Lewis on myth, from his essay on Tolkien, collected in "On Stories: And Other Essays on Literature"

A teaching by a British scholar on a difficult passage leaves Mara spellbound in her driveway, and leads her to the ancient Jewish idea of seeing the "seventy faces" of Scripture. Following threads through church history, her evolving relationship with C.S. Lewis, and her marriage with her certainty-loving husband, Mara ponders the way the Bible, like people, reveals more of its richness when approached with curiosity rather than certainty.

REFERENCES:

• Lucy Peppiatt's course on 1 Corinthians via The Bible Project Classroom

• "The Torah has seventy faces" — shivim panim la-Torah, traditionally traced to Numbers Rabbah (Bamidbar Rabbah) 13:15, and used by Ibn Ezra

• "Turn it and turn it again, for everything is in it" — Ben Bag Bag, Pirkei Avot 5:22

When Mara watches a young gymnast at her daughter's class one day, she sees a mirror of her own creative journey: a dizzying dance between glee and dismay. The gap between her voice saying "not good enough" and the unanxious creator in Genesis One declaring "exceedingly good" becomes the space Season Two emerges from.

REFERENCES:

• Dan Allender's "To Be Told"

• Avivah Zornberg's "The Beginning of Desire: Reflections on Genesis"

In the season finale, Mara explores the seventh day of creation—the day of rest. She unpacks how ancient audiences would have understood this as the cosmos becoming a sacred dwelling place, and traces the theme of Sabbath through history to its evolving meaning.

"Day 7 is the only day that does not end with the line, 'then there was evening, then there was morning.' Because that day, the seventh day, would have been the fulfillment of the whole journey. The intention is that the seventh day is the day without end."

KEY THEMES:

• The significance of the number seven throughout Genesis

• The ancient understanding of the cosmos as a sacred dwelling

• The Hebrew concept of rest (nuakh) as dwelling rather than ceasing

• How the meaning of Sabbath has evolved through history

REFERENCE:

• John Walton's "The Lost World of Genesis One"

• Umberto Cassuto's "A Commentary on the Book of Genesis, Part I: From Adam to Noah," trans. Israel Abrahams

• Everett Fox's translation, "The Five Books of Moses"

• Jon D. Levenson's "Creation and the Persistence of Evil"

• G. K. Beale's "The Temple and the Church's Mission"

Mara examines the creation of humans on Day Six, focusing on what it means to be created "in the image of God." She explores the ancient Near Eastern context of images and idols to illuminate this profound concept.

"The ancient writers are saying that not just the kings, not just the leaders, not just the priests, but every human, and humanity as one collective is the image of the divine."

KEY THEMES:

• The Hebrew word "Adam" meaning "human" rather than a male name

• The ancient understanding of images/idols as representations of deities

• How Genesis democratizes royal language for all humans

• The profound intimacy between creator and humanity by design

REFERENCES:

• The Bible Project's ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Heaven and Earth Classroom Series⁠⁠

• John Walton's "The Lost World of Adam and Eve"

• Marilynne Robinson's "Reading Genesis⁠"

• The work of J. Richard Middleton⁠⁠ and N. T. Wright

• J. Richard Middleton's "The Liberating Image: The Imago Dei in Genesis 1"

• S. Dean McBride Jr., "Divine Protocol: Genesis 1:1–2:3 as Prologue to the Pentateuch"

• The Enuma Elish, Tablet VI

• "Enki and Ninmah"

• The Atrahasis epic

• John Bunyan's "The Pilgrim's Progress"

Mara explores day five of creation, where creatures of the sea and sky are created. She gives special attention to the "great sea creatures" (tanin) and how this connects to the serpent/monster motif throughout ancient literature.

"Every single creature is full of God and a book about God. Every creature is a word of God. If I spent enough time with the tiniest creature — even a caterpillar — I would never have to prepare a sermon. So full of God is every creature." (Meister Eckhart)

KEY THEMES:

• The Bible's surprising mention of sea monsters in creation

• Cross-cultural myths about sea monsters and chaos

• How humans can become "monstrous" by opposing natural order

• Personal reflections on the octopus and wildness

GET INVOLVED:

• Support Mara's work and buy her a virtual coffee at marameasor.com/coffee

• Join Mara's mailing list at marameasor.com/join

REFERENCES:

• The Bible Project's ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Chaos Dragon podcast series⁠

• Robin Parry's "⁠⁠The Biblical Cosmos"

• Tim Mackie, on the sea monsters of day five as "a little rubber duckie"

• "My Octopus Teacher" (2020), dir. Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed

• Craig Foster and the Sea Change Project ("Remember You Are Wild")

• The Baal Cycle, in Mark S. Smith's translation

• Homer's "The Odyssey"

• Andy Patton's "The Sea of Chaos" from "Three Things Bible Course"

In this episode, Mara ventures into perhaps the most complex day of creation—Day Four—exploring the creation of the "heavenly bodies" and what ancient audiences would have understood about these celestial objects. She unpacks the parallel story of heavenly and earthly realms.

"There is more I don't know than I do, and so I paint. There is more I don't see than I do, and so I sing..."

KEY THEMES:

• The ancient understanding of the sun, moon, and stars as divine entities

• The concept of "heavenly hosts" and their role

• The parallel story of cosmic forces in heaven and on earth

• How this cosmic narrative frames many ancient stories

GET INVOLVED:

• Support Mara's work and buy her a virtual coffee at marameasor.com/coffee

• Join Mara's mailing list at marameasor.com/join

REFERENCES:

• The Bible Project's ⁠⁠⁠⁠"Spiritual Beings" video series⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠"Divine Council" video⁠, ⁠⁠"God" podcast series⁠⁠

• Michael Heiser's ⁠Unseen Realm book⁠, ⁠"The Naked Bible" podcast⁠

• Robin Parry's ⁠The Biblical Cosmos

• Everett Fox's translation, "The Five Books of Moses"

• Tim Mackie, on the signs/images parallel between heavenly and earthly beings

• John Walton, on cosmic geography

• Dr. Seuss's "Oh, the Thinks You Can Think!"

Mara examines Day Three, where the waters are gathered and vegetation is called forth, particularly focusing on trees as a recurring motif throughout ancient literature. She traces this tree imagery from Genesis through later texts.

"We are the soil. But we're also the seed. We are what he's raising from the ground."

KEY THEMES:

• The recurring image of parting waters to create life and freedom

• Trees as a profound symbol from earliest stories to later literature

• The pattern of the first three days creating environments for what follows

• The parallel between humans and trees in ancient narratives

REFERENCES:

• Georgia O'Keeffe's ⁠⁠Sky Above Clouds⁠⁠

• The Bible Project's ⁠Heaven and Earth classroom series⁠, ⁠Tree of Life podcast series⁠, and ⁠Genesis One Visual Commentary⁠

• Marilynne Robinson ⁠in conversation⁠ with Rabbi Shoshana Boyd Gelfand

• Marilynne Robinson's "Gilead"

• On the two-triad structure of the six days: the "literary framework" reading, developed by Arie Noordtzij and Meredith Kline, and more recently by Henri Blocher and Gordon Wenham

Mara explores Day Two of creation when the raqia (dome/firmament) is created to separate the waters. She explains ancient cosmology and how this vision of a protective barrier has reshaped her understanding of relationships.

"This image affects how I show up in relationships... In moments of tension, I think to myself, Get Big. Make space. Be a raqia."

KEY THEMES:

• Ancient Near Eastern cosmology and the three-tiered universe

• The raqia (dome/expanse/firmament) as a protective shield

• How chaos is actively held back to create space for life

• Personal reflections on "becoming a raqia" in relationships

REFERENCES:

• Robin Parry's ⁠⁠⁠"The Biblical Cosmos"

• The Bible Project's Ancient Cosmology podcast series (including the episode with astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson)

• Everett Fox's translation, "The Five Books of Moses"

• The Enuma Elish, in L. W. King's translation

• Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson's "The Power of Showing Up," via Curt Thompson

• "Someone to Watch Over Me," by George and Ira Gershwin

• Enid Blyton's "The Magic Faraway Tree"

Join Mara's email community at marameasor.com/join

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