Lacunae

"The Epic of Gilgamesh" is an ancient Sumerian (read Mesopotamian, which is in the Fertile Crescent, which is defined in large part by the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, which are in present-day Iraq) text that features, among other things, a story about a Great Flood that is very similar to the biblical story of Noah.

The Gilgamesh story was found by archaeologists who unearthed shards (pieces) of clay tablets which had writing on them. No entire, intact tablets have been found. Only pieces (shards, if you will).

Unfortunately, because only shards have been found, there are "holes" in "The Epic of Gilgamesh," sections of which scholars can only guess. The story, at that point might go one way or it might go another. No one is sure because of the gaps.

These gaps, in this context, are called lacunae. A single gap is a lacuna.

I did not know this word until yesterday, when I looked it up. I am reading a book by a scholar named Thomas Cahill about the Jews, their heritage, and the legacy they have given to all of us. Cahill used the word lacunae to describe the gaps in the ancient Gilgamesh story.

It got me to thinking about gaps (and I don't mean clothing stores).

There are gaps in my story, sections that are not filled in very well, where the meaning or significance of that part of the story can only be guessed at. Hidden, mysteriously tucked away in the recesses of the mind of God, are sections of my life that are now only really known to the Lord because they are lost to my memory and to the memories of those who were also a part of that leg of the journey.

But I find comfort that God is Lord of the Lacunae. He is God of the Gaps.

And, again, I don't mean clothing stores.