Sunday, November 15, 2015

EACH OTHER IS ALL WE HAVE

     For the last week I've been reading Astronomy magazine's special issue, "The Immensity of the Cosmos."  And it, in combination with recent news events, has got me thinking about the concept of God.
     When humans first came up with the idea that an invisible Higher Power or Powers existed, the known universe consisted of all the places to which one could sail in a ship, and then return.  The job of supervising all of Creation was a vast one, but it was finite.  God could hold the Earth in the palm of His hand.
     But now what is God's purview?  Still just our Earth, or the rest of our solar system as well?  Comets?  Asteroids?  Dwarf planets?  Or what if God controls the whole Milky Way galaxy?  It contains about 400 billion stars, only one of which is the Sun around which our solar system revolves.  How may of those 400 billion stars form the centers of their own planetary systems, and on how many of those planets is there life?  Does God watch over all of those too, or did we Earthlings just get incredibly lucky in the Higher Power department?  If God is focused entirely on our planet, do all those other planets out there have their own watchers?  And once that question is answered, what's the story with all the other galaxies in our cosmos?  Who's keeping an eye out for them?
     You see the problem.  Knowing so much more about our universe than our distant ancestors did, it's hard to maintain their geocentric perspective.  And yet we know so pitifully little.  Are there a billion Earths revolving around their suns out there in the unimaginable distances of space?  Given the sheer immensity of the cosmos, it does seem more likely than not, although we will never know.  But could our own tiny, insignificant speck of a planet really be assigned an immortal, omniscient Ruler who keeps track of everything each of us humans does so that we can be rewarded or punished accordingly after this earthly phase of our lives ends?
     It seems to me very difficult in the 21st century to teach this theory to children and expect them to accept it.  Astonishing, really, that so many do both teach and accept in this way.  But what I find most astonishing of all is the number of people on our tiny wisp of a planet who are able to convince thousands of others that (1) there is a God watching us with a scorecard, (2) this God demands to be worshipped by us in one precise way, and no other, and (3) this God will choose to reward those of us who kill as many other people as possible because they do not worship Him in the one correct way.
     Those teachers/demagogues only pretend to love God.  What they really love is having and exploiting the power to create havoc.  Instead of God having created these teachers in His/Her own image, they have created a God in their own image: a supreme hatemonger, a superhero of murder, a vampire who lusts for the taste of human blood.  To the poor, the disenfranchised, the children of despair, they cynically teach a religion of  immolation, of annihilation.  On a tiny rock circling a tiny sun in a vast and uncaring universe, they devote their lives to teaching the hopeless that hope lies only in destruction and that human life doesn't matter.
     But it does matter.  Our lives might not matter to a God who may or may not even exist, but our lives do, and must, matter to each other.  The people in Paris who two nights ago rushed to help, to tweet their addresses out to strangers in need of shelter, knew the truth: each other is all we have.



 

6 comments:

  1. We do only have each other. Silly to fight over which way to take to the summit of the mountain. You take yours, I'll take mine. Let's meet at the top.

    Where I am, a Paris happens every week somewhere close by.

    Thanks for your kind words.

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    1. Nila, I chose to post about the events in Paris, but I know that things like this have been happening near you with horrific regularity. It all fills me with despair, as I know it does you. We can only hope that someday, we all will meet at the top of the mountain and be able to embrace.

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  2. I love this, Susan. Thank you for putting into words some of what I have been feeling. I hope it is okay that I have shared this post with others.

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  3. Thank you, Jody. Of course it's okay. Sometimes I just use this blog to vent and for self-therapy, but if my posts help anyone else, I'm more than glad. We're all in this together.

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  4. I'm reminded of when Moses saw all of God's creations and came to the realization that man is nothing. I believe that God is there and his power is so infinite (imagine having the complete use of your brain AND no time limits--the 4th dimension) that he can do all things. I also believe He is deeply and personally aware of each person on this planet, and although it kills him to see it, he allows us to act as free agents in this life rather than taking our freedom away. He loves us that much. And sometimes people make poor decisions. Sometimes they even make ones that cut other lives short, but in the end, after all the suffering is through, He will wipe away all tears and award all men justice for their choices. Occasionally we see his love reflected in others, when they choose to act in love and compassion. I think that's where His greatest joy comes from.

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    1. Crystal, thank you so much for your heartfelt words. I hope you turn out to be right, but either way, your faith is beautiful and I'm grateful you chose to share it with me. Thank you so much.

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