The Church

The Divine Void: Adam and Eve’s Model for Life
By G.G. Vandagriff

As Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden, a huge void was created in their lives that nothing could fill – the daily discourse with and direct love of their Creator. They endeavored the rest of their lives to get back to where they had been, to have that at-one-ment. They understood much better than we, that the only way we can fill the “divine void” is with the living water of Jesus Christ.

Because a veil is drawn across our minds when we are born, we each have this “divine void” in our lives. For the very fortunate, the void is in filled to some extent by loving family who offer unconditional love, righteous role models, and instructions on how to receive forgiveness and salvation.

But most of the world is not lucky, and is left with a dark well of wrenching sadness that we can’t understand. We seek to fill it in many ways. Many good humans succeed in filling it with love and service to their fellow man – with sacrifice and selflessness. It is an irony that the more we give from this void, the more we are filled. That is because the grace and love of Christ through his atonement are attendant on Christlike acts.

The atonement is the only thing that can fill that void. This is what we are offered in the Lord’s House – the last ordinances to make us whole. This is the at-one-ment Adam and Eve are seeking.

But for those of us who do not understand this idea, we seek to fill that divine void with other things – either dulling our senses so we can’t feel it – alcohol, drug abuse, sexual misconduct, extreme activities, overindulgence in anything, or even through our friends and mates. Though going the latter route is going in the right direction, those with abandonment issues (that dull ache that will never go away) take this to extremes and sabotage all their dealings by demanding too much, shutting down in resentment, or trying to exercise control. There is after all only one friend who will never fail us under any circumstances, and that is Jesus Christ.

There is, of course, also the starving criminal element who lashes out in rage. They don’t have “it” and they think they are entitled to “it,” whatever “it” is.

Our mission as Latter-day Saints is, first to find the healing of the atonement in our own “divine void,” fill our wells with living water, and then give and give and give to those who have none, that they may see the model, the way that was laid out for us by Adam and Eve to go back home to our loving Heavenly Father.

All of the greatest literature is about filling this void. Even music starts with a note and strains and embellishes and works until it can at last resolve itself on that note. This void is endemic to our existence. If we are to avoid any kind of destructive, addictive behavior, we must learn to fill it the way we came on earth to learn to fill it, with the atonement of Jesus Christ.