Reflections on “Intentionally Blank”
Long long ago, I was in the US Navy. I attended Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island. For our PT (physical training— exercise activities) we would wear a tee shirt that was based on what company we were in. I was in “Alfa Company” and had a logo on the front that had the faux-Latin phrase “Illegitimi non Carborundum” (Don’t let the bastards wear you down). On the back we could choose our own personal message. I don’t remember what I chose… but I do recall NOT being embarrassed by it as the weeks continued. That is certainly a win. I still do remember a couple of ones that others had.
One in particular was a shirt that said in large letters on the back “Intentionally Blank.”
I liked it. I like things that are contradictory. I like seeing the word “YELLOW” printed with red ink. I like graffiti that tells us to “Obey the Law.” However, when I told the one with that shirt that I liked it, I was told there was more to the choice of message.
Military manuals often have pages that are empty of information except for the words “Intentionally Blank” written centered on the page. This had an important purpose. If one sees in a manual a completely blank page, one might reasonably wonder if there was a printing error. Perhaps valuable, even vital, information is missing. Putting the words “Intentionally Blank” is there to give comfort to the reader that the manual is complete— no data is missing. The manual creator wanted to have a blank page there, but did not want to worry the reader that something was lost. That does not imply that the manual is exhaustive, or contains everything possible on the topic. It just helps ensure the reader that the manual contains all that the writers wanted to inform the readers of.
Sometimes I wish that the writers of the Bible did this.
What day is Jesus returning? “Intentionally Blank”
What is the eternal fate of unborn or newborn children? “Intentionally Blank”
How can one find the clear boundary in God’s plans for us between God’s making straight our paths, and us choosing our way with wisdom? “Intentionally Blank”
How does God’s will and our individual wills interact when it comes to who are saved and how they are saved? “Intentionally blank”
What story was going on before the story that starts in Genesis 1:1? “Intentionally blank”
What amazing things is God doing on different planets around the Universe? “Intentionally blank”
How diverse can God’s children be in terms of faith and practice and still be recognized by God as His children? “Intentionally blank”
Personally I think it is important to reflect on the “Intentionality of God” in terms of revelation. God intentionally reveals to us what He believes we NEED TO KNOW, and intentionally holds back many things that we THINK WE NEED TO KNOW.
Perhaps that leads to related area of reflection. If there is a theological question that we really really want to know the answer to, but it does not appear to be revealed. Instead of trying to squeeze the answer out of God’s special and general revelation, perhaps we should reflect on what we want to know and why God might want us to not to know.
Or… perhaps it is not so much about God not wanting us to know, but instead is interested in us thinking, reflecting and speculating on something rather than having the process cut short by giving us the answers.
