Those
of you who follow this blog may have already guessed that I sometimes use The New York Times ScienceTimes for a
kind of lectio divina. The day I am
writing this, my text was the exciting observation of “Ripples from the Big Bang”: “faint spiral patterns from the polarization of microwave radiation left
over from the Big Bang,” believed to be evidence of the theory of inflation, the
force behind the original cosmic explosion that became our universe, dating
back to a trillionth of a trillionth of a trillionth of a second of our cosmic
“grand opening.”
I
gravitated to the phrase, “a single unified force,” that predated the Big Bang:
Knowing inflation’s identity could be crucial if scientists are ever to unwind cosmic history back to the beginning, when they suspect the universe was ruled by a single unified force instead of the four distinct forces we know today: gravity, electromagnetism and the strong and weak nuclear forces.
To
me this is as awesome as anything found in the first chapter of Genesis! And
also mythological in its best sense: not an untrue narrative as most people
misunderstand myth, but a narrative with intensely deep meaning for human
imagination.
I
had heard the Big Bang began with something the size of a marble, but this
article suggests something infinitesimally smaller: “a subatomic quantum
speck.” I have speculated in the past that this “marble” or “speck” could be
the origin of our spiritual intuition that we are one: one with each other,
with all creatures, with earth and stars, with all that is. The spiritual
yearning for unity, overcoming dualism and differentiation, is really, I have
thought, a nostalgic wish to return to the womb of this “subatomic quantum
speck” and its “single unified force”—the “good ol’ days” of the cosmos.
Yes,
I am probably overstepping my intellectual abilities as well as my education.
Oh well, nothing ventured, nothing gained.
I
might as well stick both feet in my mouth by confessing that, after a career of
objecting to dualism, especially of body and spirit, I’ve never quite
understood that dualism is by definition a bad thing. When I was ministering to
people losing their bodies or their friends to AIDS, the separation of spirit
and body came in handy to let go.
And
I didn’t quite understand how a duality necessarily
implied a hierarchy; why couldn’t a duality be like yin and yang, where one
side is part of the other and vice versa? Or why couldn’t it be like the
explanation of the Trinity where each part is a dimension of the one God—you
know, just as a daughter can be a sister as well as a mother? (I was reminded
this past weekend during a course on Hildegard of Bingen that she viewed the
Trinity as inseparable: when one was present, all were present.)
In
child rearing, differentiation is a preferred outcome. Only dysfunctional
families desire a child to be a uniform expression of parents. Even so,
differentiation of the cosmos has given us everything from black holes and
supernovas to our pets and lovers. Differentiation, I would say, is a good
thing.
I’ve
used the metaphor of an expanding delta at the mouth of a river, spreading fertile
soil and water to a broader expanse, to affirm the church’s diverse expressions
as a good thing, rather than seeing it as the Body of Christ “broken” once
more. And I apply this same principle to broader spiritual and religious
diversity.
In
my view, all of these are additional “ripples from the Big Bang,” and I look on
them and consider them good. It’s only bad when we think our ripple is
superior, or the “one way,” or the only way, or the “crown” of creation.
Diversity is good. Evolution—biological and social—is good. Multi-ethnic,
multi-cultural, multi-faith, multi-disciplinary, multi-species, multi-ecologies—all
are good.
Being
united is also good, but absolute unity would cause the universe to collapse on
itself, and we and everything we know and everything we have yet to discover
would disappear.
Given
the diversity of you readers, I would also consider it good to have pushback
and feedback. Most everything I’ve written (not just here) raises issues for
somebody out there. My ignorance far exceeds my knowledge, my imagination overreaches
my scholarship, reality is way beyond my grasp.
I
take comfort in the first Genesis creation story, in which Yahweh repeatedly
pronounces everything created “good.” The ancient Jewish story is on to
something, I believe.
Each Wednesday of Lent, I am
providing links for the following six days, should you wish to use this blog as
a Lenten resource for reflection.
Thursday:
It’s a Small, Small World
Friday: Everybody Has a Story
Saturday: Peace in Jerusalem
Sunday: Treasure in Earthen Temples
Monday: Our Mother
Tuesday: The Thoughtful Pause
Progressive Christian
Reflections is an authorized
Emerging Ministry of MCC supported solely by readers.
Consider using a post or
quotes in personal reflection, worship, newsletters, and classes, referencing
the blog address when possible: http://chrisglaser.blogspot.com.
Check out past posts in
the right rail on the blogsite, catalogued by year and month.
Copyright © 2014 by
Chris R. Glaser. Permission granted for non-profit use with attribution of
author and blogsite. Other rights reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment