I often get a puzzled look when I write down that word. You won’t find it in the dictionary, or some cryptic etymological book of arcane terms that have long since gone out of the spoken vernacular of modern society. It is not some foreign word, though it has within it some components of Latin and Ancient Greek. The first most obvious word is a truncation of the word “Excavate” meaning simply to expose or lay bare as by digging and removing surrounding soil or whatever obscures and covers something worth digging for. Another way of saying that is to “unearth” something. The final affix of the word is “-tia” which Latin dictionaries state is an indication that the prior root word is an abstract noun. Joined together the term Excavatia sounds like a wonderful, magical place where discoveries are made. A place where the abstract is excavated to reveal something valued buried within. I love terms that are evocative and seem to hint towards something more mysterious just waiting to be uncovered. That is why I conceived of the term during my days as a college freshman almost 28 years ago. That term has stuck with me, as a reminder of something very important that I must always remember. Mystery and wonder are often hidden among the mundane experiences of this world. They are only discovered as one takes the time to ponder and question routines, mindsets, assumptions, philosophies, nature and the familiar circumstances and people in our lives that we often take for granted. People we interact with every day often have interesting stories and experiences that have brought them here to this moment, if we just take the time to listen and show interest in their lives. So often our habitual routines lead us into a monotonous circle through each day, that never seems to give us a sense of progress or accomplishment. We follow routines because they once served a purpose and we can do them mindlessly without having to think through them. But are we only drones serving the needs of a collective hive? No. We were blessed with a very precious gift called reason, and a need to ask the most ephemeral question that might lead us on a journey towards a purpose. The question: Why?
It is not enough to know we exist at this particular time, in this particular place, on this particular spec in the vast universe. The powerful life-changing and revolutionary question that challenges everything we know about ourselves begins or ends with that penultimate question that has so eluded so many people. The question: Why?
Do we have a purpose? Is there meaning beyond subsistence or provincial living? Why do we have this need to find significance in our life? What brings us to contentment? Can that place ever be reached? Is there some mystical bottomless well of joy? What can fill this built-in emptiness we are so driven to satisfy?
Every meaningful journey should begin with a question that we are willing to go through untold difficulty to find the answer to. When our lives are eclipsed with that question that draws us into the journey of the seeker, we will find the beginnings of a whole new and exciting adventure.
Being a man of faith in Jesus Christ, I do believe that the seeker’s journey needs a guide. A perspective that allows us to see through the noise of the chaos around us. In fact, I have found, in the prophetic markings of ancient Scriptures, a Divine pointing towards the Redemption of God incarnated as the Son of Man, which proves to me that I personally was created and planned for an existence much greater than I have ever dared imagined for myself.
God’s story, and its expression through Christ’s march to Calvary and His resurrection beyond it is inextricably woven together with my life and purpose. My task is only to follow those burning, implanted questions through each day and learn how to dig deeper into my life and experience with others to see the miraculous mystery beneath the surface of my world. So “Dig Deeper” is a personal challenge to myself, as well as the subtitle to this Blog Novel journey. My own personal reminder whenever I set down to add each Chapter/Post.
The Scriptures tell us of a historical people who demonstrated a particularly noble characteristic of seeking veracity, not just in what was spoken by a proclaimed faith leader, but in what could be corroborated by the Spirit of the Lord in their own hearts and minds when searching the Holy Scriptures.
These people did not just hear the good news spoken to them to give them hope. They searched it out for themselves. Too often we readily rely on the words of others that we assume to be smarter than us or more studied than we have had time to be. But in so doing we abdicate our potential for discovering the mysteries all around us. If we are content with the boring and the mundane then in that acclimation, we also become lazy and ignorant. Always letting others do our thinking for us. That is no way to live.
I cannot help but find that joy is most often expressed through the surprise of discovery. So that is what I propose to do with this Blog I am starting today. To Explore. To Excavate. To Dig Deeper. To find that Voice of Expression that leads me through mysteries and ultimately yields my life to a Greater Purpose. Perhaps that purpose is to help point others towards their own questions that lead to wondrous discoveries ahead. I hope so.
This Blog may not be for everyone. That is fine. I am not seeking followers or accolades or praise for my journey. I will most certainly stumble. I will go through periods of time when I have lost sight of the burning questions that move me forward each day. Like you, though, I am just a fellow traveler following his path through mysteries and wonder. I do trust in a personal Guide to lead me that has been called The Ancient of Days, who also helps me make sense of this journey and its setbacks and certain tragedies. I admit that I am hoping, if you do decide to share in this journey, you will find something of value traveling with me along the way. Even if it is only for a short distance ahead.
So where ever your personal journey leads you, fellow traveler, I wish you to find joy and peace along the way. Now take the first step and let’s begin…
What follows are the essential concepts of the story of Excavatia. If you want a frame of reference going into the story, feel free to read what follows, otherwise, I would suggest you proceed to the Preface and begin there.
If, however, the concepts presented by story alone need clarification, the following may help you to understand the journey a little more.
The Essential Concepts of the Story
Imagine, if you will, an iceberg, floating in the Northern Hemisphere in the Atlantic Ocean. In most cases, only about 10% of its mass extends above the water-level, leaving 90% underwater. For the most part, Icebergs, though forming in seawater, are comprised of frozen freshwater, and only in rare extreme cold conditions does salt-water freeze and makeup part and an iceberg’s bulk. The ice works to expel the salt in a lattice design, from a central frozen core, eventually, through a very slow process pushing the salt through the lattice extension back out into the sea. As a result, the surface of such an iceberg may be salty, but at its core, it is comprised of frozen freshwater. Salt is pushed out, and freshwater forms from within a dynamic revolving cycle.
As seasonal and water temperatures vary, the shape of an iceberg may experience an uneven degree of melting which affects its buoyancy in the water and rearranges is the degree of draft below the water-line. Depending on the weight distribution, these mega-frost monsters may shift dramatically, calve and break apart into smaller chunks, or completely roll and invert themselves in the water. This activity creates considerable waves in the surface waters and any idling boats or fishermen floating next to an “active” iceberg may quickly find themselves in catastrophic circumstances.
So, with this iceberg concept in mind, let’s stretch our imagination a bit more shall we?
Imagine, that the physical world as we know and experience it, is like the surface of the ocean in which these ice behemoths live and make dramatic shifts, that ripple through our existence. The Surface World is a physical existence in both flesh, mass and time and serves as the skin of the planet comprised of vast oceans with landmasses and continents and islands and of our recognized life lived through sequential time and space. Think of it in a 2-dimensional cross-representation of a large ring, with a hollow core. Now imagine that within that outer core, we are calling The Surface World, there is an inner core, looming below the crust and waterlines like a giant iceberg contained within the giant outer ring of existence.
Let me stretch this concept a bit further, by suggesting that there are points at which the inner “iceberg” punches through the outer ring’s (The Surface World’s) crust and water envelop and it does this from time to time so seamlessly that we are not aware when we are standing on the surface of “the iceberg” or the “Surface World”. The disruption of a calving iceberg forms ripples in the surface of the seawater that contains it, but in this instance, the disruptions, or concentric push of rising waves, are experienced by individuals (our erstwhile, blissfully floating, oblivious fishermen) as a spiritual shift, rather than a physical one, but only with those who can perceive or sense the effects spiritually.
Let’s label that conceptual massive-core iceberg “The Mid-World” in contrast to “The Surface World” that surrounds it.
Now let’s add just a bit more complexity to the conceptual model, shall we?
Let’s say that the intercoastal interior separating the outer ring Surface World, from the submerged surface of the “Mid-World” iceberg is a fluid river of time. In fact, these two outer and inner rings, Surface World and Mid-World each occupy their own separate timeline and dimensional existence within each time. The only time when one timeline crosses the threshold of the other, is when a point of the massive iceberg, punches through both the time river flowing between them, and breaches the Surface World’s timeline and connects to that world’s history at particular, and significant moments in the “Surface World’s” supernatural history. A shared history barely perceived by both the occupants of the Surface World and the Mid-World, but co-existing just the same.
Like any active iceberg, going through the cycle of freezing and melting processes, the points where these two existences meet and retract changes over time. The iceberg submerges, shifts, rolls, sinks, and bobs in its float, until the formulation of ice-mass breaches the skin of the upper world once more at a significant point in time of supernatural import.
This then serves as the conceptual model of both The Surface World and the Mid-World and their interdimensional correlation.
The massive, contained mountain, below the Surface World’s outer dimensional ring, is a place, not materially unlike that of the Surface World ring, but it like unto it with some particular differences. Essentially speaking, the Mid-World is the “Echo” of the Surface World.
Pulling back from those words a moment, think of what an echo is in terms of sound and dispersion and clarity. An echo is a sonic reverberation of an original cause, a voice spoken into a large void, that seems to replicate the original but does so in a diffuse and slightly distorted fashion. It lacks the clarity of the original voice, and it diminishes in volume over time until it recedes back into silence.
Hold that thought for a moment. We will come back to it.
For those of us who believe in the Holy Scriptures, the concept of a spoken existence brought about in waters of time, is not a new concept, unless your minister or Rabbi have not done a very good job of covering the topic.
“1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.” [Genesis 1:1-3 CSB]
In the ancient fashion of recording and speaking, often a concept is introduced in the first line of address, and its working out, (or the specificity of how the assertion came about), is addressed in the following sentences.
From verse one, we are given the concept assertion that there was a beginning to our known existence and that God was the First Cause of it (the heavens and the earth) all coming into being. The second verse gives us the original state of those two creations: earth lacking its form, and the surface or boundary of the heavens enshrouded in darkness having a volume like unto a water depth. It is not until the third verse that we are finally given the method of creation that God employed by the simple yet powerful phrase of two seminal words: “God said”.
From those two words came the seeds of all created things. The powerful and resonating voice of the Almighty extended into the void, planting and harvesting life from nothing to every point in space and time.
The three words spoken are also pregnant with power and meaning.
Let – A word of Divine authority granting permission.
There – An indication of place in space and time.
And finally,…
Be – An indication of significance or “Being”
God gives all created things Permission, Placement and Being.
The Scriptural account proceeds through the order of creation, beginning with the formation of light, to ordered boundaries of water and landmass, under a progression of a light cycle, to the emergence of vegetation and fruit-bearing plants as a source of nourishment, to the creation of a seasonal cycle in which these plants could grow and thrive, and to mark those cycles, he established a gravitational influence from two major sources of light-bearing orbs, the sun and the moon which cycled the tides and the pull of the water vapor to serve the planet’s foliage growth. He then moved to the creation of all aquatic and avian life, once the sustainable plant life cycles were established, and next in sequence came the land animals and crawling creatures of the insect kingdom to perpetuate and take shelter in the growth of the land plants. These cycles were established in a divine and scientifically sound sequence, according to the intention of the Creator, and He declared His creation “Good” at each stage for they all bore some imprint of His goodness upon them. Finally, in Genesis chapter 26, He deliberates upon the form and brings about His specifically designated tenants and lord of all His created universe in the creation of humankind. They are the purpose for which all of these good gifts were brought into existence, and their purpose was intended to give Him pleasure in loving them and to have the volitional capacity to learning to fellowship with their Creator in a unique and intimate way unlike all of His other creation.
These sentient beings, along with all created creatures He gave a very particular gift of free will.
A way for these to choose to experience His love or choose His separation.
Of these particularly created beings, He did something unique that was not done for any of the animal, plant, insect, microbial organism, or aquatic, or amphibious life forms. He gave them His image. A three-fold unity of being and the capacity to fellowship with Him and one another in all those three-part distinctions: body, soul, and spirit.
With the gift of free will, however, you know what their choice was and the terrible ramifications of it.
Our kind chose separation from Him, and from that moment, an incurable sickness entered the pristine and good creation that He gave us and began to pull us apart from Him.
In the void between us and Him entered death, disease and evil working its way towards our utter annihilation, rending the very fabric of the created worlds apart.
The goodness that was declared in the creation and imprinted within nature and created cycles of all things began to mourn the loss of this connection.
But there too comes the Word of the Creator to our and all creations aid:
“19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected [it] in hope; 21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.” [Romans 8:19-22 NKJV]
The One whom our progenitors chose to separate us from, did not abandon us to their rebellious choice of eternal separation from His loving intention.
He acted and offered us a choice, once more and created a unique path effected by a divinely mysterious role, He would play on our behalf to restore us to that capacity for fellowship that was lost in body, soul, and spirit.
And in time, He extended and presented Himself in all those forms to mankind to bring them back into a lost kingdom. He introduced the concept of assured Hope and made a personal and direct commitment to bring it around again and offer us, in the succeeding generations, to, once more, make a choice of our own free-will. To clarify our lives through fellowship with Him that restores what once was and could be again making us more than just a fading echo, but a clarified voice that resonates to our own circles of influence. That digs through to a Spiritually pure Kingdom that connects to the now, and its establishment has no end and no other allegiances but to The Loving One who began it all.
In the Surface World, there are three values given that open the gate to that Kingdom through the One Way made possible to us. Within the Mid-World, these three values are more than just concepts. They have become literal precious stones which once adorned a massive golden crown:
- Hope Stone Quest – (First Quest) aka The Praesperos Stone
- Love Stone Quest – (Second Quest) aka The Cordis Stone
- Faith Stone Quest – (Third Quest) aka The Fidelis Stone
At this point, this is all I am going to reveal about them, but the concept and implication of each one of these large fist-sized stones are important for the story that follows.
Now let us return to the concept of the two worlds sharing an interdimensional link and introduce a third world within the center of all worlds that makes all existence share something extremely powerful.
Purpose.
Creation mirrors aspects of The One who created it and thereby vested it with both volition and intention. If you are an observant person and can perceive of the designed wonder in the world in which you live, you will also find to your delight, that the Creator has invested within a mirroring of His nature and messages from beyond time and space of Who He is as The Great I AM. Symbols, types, and shadows are encoded into existence in a marvelous tapestry, but only for eyes capable of seeing. These are sometimes perceived with physical eyes, sure, but often they can be seen through soulful sight and spiritual insight and they resonate with us and echo back God’s intention into our lives, giving us assurances that He loves and constantly pursues direct fellowship with us.
There is something further we must do, however, to allow that to happen. We must yield time and intention to actively pursuing Him as well. We must dig through or “Excavate” the hope buried within our opened grave. To be raised from our burial site, we must choose to come out of the self-imposed tombs and live our new life outside of the trappings of death that once condemned and imprisoned us.
That experience of connection requires an open door within our very core. A supernatural spiritual place that God created within all mankind. This concept is what this ensuing story refers to as a hidden kingdom of existence on the other side of the Mid-World that must be deliberately opened from within.
There are impediments in place to prevent us from doing so.
Monsters both of our own making and lurking invisible monsters that form a network of an evil bent of keeping mankind blind to its existence. For the agents of darkness, opening that gate is like unto opening a nuclear furnace with the potential to burn down all of their strongholds of power, and reduce them all to piles of ash. They are desperate to thwart, discourage, distract, demoralize, and crush anyone or anything that may threaten their bid for power or dare to open the gate whose Divine Occupant will ultimately bring them to their knees and confession of a truth they have spent their entire existence denying.
In the story that follows, this legendary Kingdom is called, by the Mid-Worlders, Excavatia, or the “Buried Kingdom” in their tongue’s original translation.
All human life originates from the Surface World, but there are human residents who reside in the Mid-World, but their arrival there is from a different imaginative story of fiction. It is specifically given to people called out of their lives from the Surface World, to complete one of three quests to restore balance and order to the Mid-World in each age of apostasy. These “called” will also carry something of the knowledge of the quest, back into their lives as well, and hopefully open the hidden doors in their own hearts to realize and experience the powerful existence of being connected to the kingdom there.
In the concept model of the Surface World and the Mid-World as an iceberg, I mentioned that icebergs are primarily and centrally comprised of freshwater and have a micro-cycle that they use to push all salt deposits outward toward the surface, to keep the central ice as freshwater.
It is no accident that I point this out for the Living Word of the Scripture refers to the “Called” as being “Salt and Light” to their generation living in blind darkness. We are called to go forth in a quest to serve a Kingdom we have never seen with our eyes but believe exists in our hearts do to a promise and a Hope. We are called into the worst conditions, which is when the salt freezes to the core. It is a temporary journey, and ultimately, we are sent back into our own world of trouble to carry the Hope there as living torches ignited by The Refiner’s Fire. We express this in Love shown first to us, by the Creator King, and we live it out in example before all men by Faith.
By the same token, the Surface World, carries with it the dust of darkness and leaven. Surface Worlders inevitably bring it with them, and it is a scourge within the Mid-World. The Ancient Text says,
“6 Your glorying [is] not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7 Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. 8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened [bread] of sincerity and truth.” [1 Corinthians 5:6-8 NKJV]
Leaven, in the Jewish tradition, was understood to be representative of sin, particularly pride, as evident in the above verses. Like leaven causes a loaf of baking bread to rise, so too pride causes even the most well-intentioned person to be puffed up and offer their own solutions and remedies where only the True Sovereign’s such may heal and restore. The deception that took Eve, was in the idea that she could seek to know and understand and gain a wise perspective independent of her Creator. She was lured in by the soft and soothing enticements of a serpent whose influence and deceptions persist to this day.
Pride hides the Light the called ones carry. Their job is to serve as a clear reflection of the original One whose image they bear, and not become only a poor, diffused and diminishing echo of Him.
For the purposes of this story, the designated leaders of each quest harbor a human weakness and flaw particularly tied to the nature of the Stone they are supposed to find and bear to the Kingdom gate.
The One who called them is not interested in their efforts to become that to which He has called them, but in their ability to admit their weakness, and yield to outcomes to Him to work through them to become and do what would they could not achieve on their own. Connection is essential to success. This is what they and their fellow travelers will learn and experience, often tragically in the course of their journey.
The overall concept of the interconnected Kingdoms is best represented as a wheel-within-a wheel-within a-wheel. Three separately moving concentric circles, like expanding and contracting rippling waves on a still pond, each spinning within their own time threshold, but connecting through to the core Kingdom that establishes a foundation and anchor point for both other worlds. Excavatia is the one Kingdom that matters most, yet it is the least known or sought after by all of the other residents of the other two worlds. The central thing that connects all three kingdoms is the Hope, Faith and Love of the Promised King of All, referred to as The One, in the Mid-World, but called by a Powerful Name that is Above Every Name in the Surface World.
If you are able to see with your awakened and restored spiritual eyes, you will know that Name already.
“33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. 34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” [Matthew 6:33-34 NLT]
Excavatia 