The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.
~ Albert Einstein

I knew a man once who was obsessed with ZERO. You name it, he was all over the zero aspect of it. From numerology to astrology to tax returns, he was very interested in the number zero. Yet, it was clearly more about the idea, the depth of zero that fried his shrimp.

Negative space, for example. The white line that is about to follow this line full of black typed words with, well, with incredibly meaningful ideas, right…? Yet, if you breathe into my intention, my personality, spirit, psychology, etc. there is a whole world about me that you may have access to beyond the words I choose to share. There is oftentimes so much value in grasping the “meta-communication” that is being imparted in the negative space between our words.

The paradox of the Tarot’s arguably most mysterious character, the Fool, is the lucky recipient of a Zero at the top of its card. The notion being that the Fool has no value at all, or perhaps the wise fool has more value in not being connected to a specific value. There is no beginning or end to its value. Even still, it is the Fool and her journey that embarks on the entire meaning of the Tarot’s Major Arcana and perhaps, the journey to understand the meaning of life.

Martin Buber ( 20th century German philosopher ) taught about the power of the I-Thou relationship. The space between two unique, empowered and conscious beings, he suggested, is exactly the most magical, creative space that exists in the universe. In fact, God/Creation/Invention/Healing exists in that “zero” space between two people who mutually encounter one another without expectation or projection. As Neo says, “Whoa.”

In the beginning, before there was the word and all that, there was NOTHING. ZERO. NADA.

“Bereishit bara elohim et hashamayim ve’et ha’aretz veha’aretz haiyta tohu va vohu ve’choshech al p’ney tehom” – which means – “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.”

Tohu va’vohu. Unformed and Void. Nothingness was the earth. Yet, from that nothingness emerges everything! That’s a pretty powerful pile of zero.

Beautiful, isn’t it?

I had an English teacher in 10th grade named Mrs. Gae Del Campo. She was older than most teachers and was the wife of a very successful physician. She chose to become a high school teacher late in life in order to do something constructive with the gift of affluence, vast experience and free time. Most folks in her position would have eased quietly into retirement.

She was eccentric to say the least. Mrs. Del Campo hauled around rings with enormous, bright stones attached, wore her fading fox-like hair up in a poof and liked to hang her jeweled spectacles from a chain around her neck. Yet, it was her personality that really stood out in our otherwise drab high school. She always addressed us as sir and ma’am. She used our last names, never the informal way to which we were accustomed. She listened to what we had to say and oftentimes responded without judgment or criticism unless you could derive such things from the loud cackle that followed our comments. We amused her.

What was most striking about one of the greatest teachers in my life was the tangible desire she demonstrated to make a difference in our lives- she longed to touch our hearts and minds in a deep, lasting way. She taught me how to write better than anyone I have ever met. She had the requisite systems and formulas for writing properly, but more than this she taught me to tap the passion in my writing. There were times she would send my papers back three or four times before giving it a grade. Yes, often it was a result of grammatical or editing requirements, but more remarkable were the requests to feel the words I was writing. “These are not just a bunch of words on a page placed together in an acceptable order, Mr. Sumber,” she’d say. “These are your words, connecting your heart with the reader.”

One of the things I love about writing is that it provides that bridge to connect with others. You can like what I write, disagree with my thoughts or ideas, feel moved by my words, etc. but without an ability to group words in a way where the feelings are also connected between the spaces, they are just data in a sea of information.

I don’t believe that good writing will be made obsolete by technology because at our cores, we want to connect to others. We love good stories and we love a good storyteller. No matter how restless we might become as gadgets and gigabytes speed up our world, we will always long for authentic connection.

Mrs. Del Campo was for me as vital a teacher as all the spiritual warriors, leaders and shamans I have studied with through the years. She taught me the power of the word in that biblical sense that all creation stems forth from our words. In the beginning of my journey was the understanding of the Word. And it was good.