DeeGeesLifeBlog ~ Life as Art ~ Or is it Heart?

I’ve been thinking for a while now that the whole universe exists to “grow” humans. Think about that now and contemplate what it means. Carl Sagan used to say that we are a way for the universe to know itself. And now I say, “for it to know God”. We are not a disease of Mother Earth. We’re the whole point. In Romans 8 beginning in verse 18, Paul describes the whole of creation groaning for its redemption, as in verses 22-23: “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.” Such simple, yet profound reminders that you almost never hear mentioned today. Let us take a trip with Carl Sagan shall we? Not quite the Atheist he has many times been accused of being:

We are a way for the cosmos to know itself. The Cosmos is all that is or was or ever will be. Our feeblest contemplations of the Cosmos stir us — there is a tingling in the spine, a catch in the voice, a faint sensation, as if a distant memory, of falling from a height. We know we are approaching the greatest of mysteries.

So the perspective is this: within every 100 years, billions of people die. What is the value of each human life? The value of each human life is what the God of Truth and Life says it is. As he said through Jesus Christ, Son of God and our Lord and Savior: “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows”. So do not be afraid. “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” Here in the city of Florence, Italy, we witness the legacy of those who have gone before. More Carl Sagan intercession:

The reappearance of the crescent moon after the new moon; the return of the Sun after a total eclipse, the rising of the Sun in the morning after its troublesome absence at night were noted by people around the world; these phenomena spoke to our ancestors of the possibility of surviving death. Up there in the skies was also a metaphor of immortality. There’s as many atoms in a single molecule of your DNA as there are stars in the typical galaxy. We are, each of us, a little universe. (with Neil deGrasse Tyson)

Using the foundational teachings of Paul, anyone with half a brain can explain why it is indeed reasonable to believe there is a God and that He made, well, everything. In the way that handiwork bespeaks a craftsman; a work of art, an artist; a novel, an author; so also the world shouts out to us of the existence of a Creator-God. Here, we witness the vital connection between what we SEE in the visible world, and what it reveals to us about the world we CAN’T see; the invisible, spiritual world. So if the pesky gnats of atheism have been buzzing around in your brain, this is the perfect answer to bat them away with the fly swat of Eternal Wisdom and the light of truth. Even Carl Sagan silently proclaims “Only Believe!”

The brain does much more than recollect. It compares, synthesizes, analyzes, generates abstractions. We must figure out much more than our genes can know. That is why the brain library is some ten thousand times larger than the gene library. Our passion for learning, evident in the behavior of every toddler, is the tool for our survival. Emotions and ritualized behavior patterns are built deeply into us. They are part of our humanity. But they are not characteristically human. Many other animals have feelings. What distinguishes our species is thought. The cerebral cortex is a liberation. We need no longer be trapped in the genetically inherited behavior patterns of lizards and baboons. We are, each of us, largely responsible for what gets put into our brains, for what, as adults, we wind up caring for and knowing about. No longer at the mercy of the reptile brain, we can change ourselves.

“The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God … Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the LORD … Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! when the LORD bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.” And one last comment from Carl Sagan:

The old exhortations to nationalist fervor and jingoist pride have begun to lose their appeal. Perhaps because of rising standards of living, children are being treated better worldwide. In only a few decades, sweeping global changes have begun to move in precisely the directions needed for human survival. A new consciousness is developing which recognizes that we are one species, and it is here that we are, in some pain and with no guarantees, working out our destiny.

Scriptures .. Matthew 10:29-31; John 14:1-2; Psalm 14; Romans 8:18-25