A Life Worth Living
The Birthday Present, Part 3
Here’s a story to set the stage for today’s post on The Tolton Path:
Feeling the sun rays for the first time soothed Faith. She looked at her arms as they warmed. Upon following the rays back to the suns, Faith looked at the surrounding open sky. She twisted and turned in circles–the sky went on forever. What a wondrous place!
Her imagination began to take over as she ran in the grass underneath the sky, running up and down the hills, touching trees. Excitedly, Faith broke a piece of bark off a tree. Her mouth watered. She took a large bite and spat it out immediately. Looking up at the sky, Faith spoke. “How did all this get here?”
The voice spoke, “Good question! But why do you wish to know?”
“Well, I like it when it’s my birthday. It makes the day special.” A bird flying across the sky catches Faith’s attention. “Knowing makes things more special.” She took a deep breath of the outside air. There were smells of the dirt, grass, trees, seeds and animals nearby. It was so very different from the two rooms she’d ever known.
“It is good you are curious, Faith. You will know more over time. We must remain focused on your reading.”
“Of course.” Faith walked back to the bible that she set down. Underneath the sun, Faith began to read aloud. She read into the night, stopping to count the stars before falling asleep.
For years, this continued. Eventually, Faith could manage going outside without her glasses and enjoyed long discussions with the voice. By her fifteenth birthday, sitting outside on the grass eating a special hot meal, Faith had memorized much of the bible and could not hold back her questions. She feared upsetting the voice but she just had to know the answer. She blurted out, “Did God create everything?” Her voice now whispers, “This world, the suns, the stars, even me?”
It was quiet for some time. Faith grew nervous, did she upset the voice? The bible talked of the creation of lands, water, stars and suns. Why would the voice make her read such a book if it weren’t true? Before this book, she thought it was the voice that built everything. After all, it took care of her. Without the voice, she wouldn’t be able to survive. Perhaps she was being tested? And she just failed the test!
The voice finally responded. “Faith, let me ask you instead–how was everything created?”
Faith was afraid of saying something to upset the voice. “It is hard for me to say with certainty. You have always provided for me and protected me. I had always thought of you as the creator.”
“And now?”
“Now, these words in the bible make me think of another type of creator. A God that creates things well beyond this planet.”
“Do you find those thoughts rational?”
“I don’t know. It’s just as rational for me to be here on this planet alone. But why would God just create me? There are stories in the bible of many men and women. I’m alone here. Why would God have just me here? That doesn’t make sense.” Tears began to fill her eyes.
Faith walked up the hill, looking across the vast valley. It was one of her favorite spots. She found many these past five years, wandering around, exploring the lands. But the voice was always there with her, teaching her and guiding her life.
The voice spoke again. “Do you believe the words in the bible, Faith?”
Looking into the sky, Faith said, “I don’t know what to believe anymore. But I believe in God.”
The voice immediately said, “You are right, Faith. You were not meant to be here alone. I will help.”
Faith wiped the tears from her face. “How will you do that?”
“All that remained here of humanity was my kind. That is, until I created you.”
–End story (for now)–
A Life Worth Living
An article on Skies and Scopes walks you through the various metrics used to measure the size of the Universe. At the end, it summarizes that there are:
8 planets in the solar system (maybe 9)
400 billion planets in the Milky Way Galaxy
21.6 trillion planets in the Local Group (54 Galaxies)
2 quadrillion planets in the Virgo Supercluster (100 galaxy groups)
21.6 sextillion (21,600,000,000,000,000,000,000,000) planets in the observable universe (note: the author may be off a zero or two)
Below is a video of far off galaxies from Hubble that will show you the immense size of the Universe.
Watching the above will surely make you, and everything going on in our world, feel inconsequential.
Indeed, when we are born, our world is quite small. Once we start crawling, that all changes. We start noticing more each day and must explore and learn what’s around the corner. What’s inside that door? What’s inside that cabinet? We look outward and move towards the surprises that await us. There is a longing for something more and we seek and find it day after day.
Perhaps this longing is an understanding that there must be something more to explain all that exists where we live and beyond. We look for purpose in our ever growing world. A reason for being. It is a longing that prominently tugs at us in our youth, not yet suffocated by adulthood.
So let’s ask once again: What is our role in the Universe? Why are we here?
Surprisingly, I find first working backwards to be helpful. So, let’s instead ask: Where do we go when we aren’t here? In other words, where do we go when we die?
I recently watched the movie, After Death. It is a well produced documentary accounting the experiences of people of all ages and faiths that died. (Watch the trailer below.)
Many of their experiences were similar, floating above their body, aware of things in the surrounding environment that were not in view of their physical self. About 23% of these types of experiences are pure torture. We know this because of their accountings which also means that they made it back. Some called out to God for help, remembering what they learned of Jesus in their childhood. Others were Atheists and were sent back to Earth as well.
What was striking to me about the accounts in After Death were the descriptions of an expansive Universe. Lights and colors that they could not describe adequately. Some had long conversations with God. It was a beautiful place and many did not want to return. They all emerged changed, unafraid of death and looking forward to returning. (Watch the full movie below.)
The connection between the vastness of the Universe as we know it today and the descriptions and experiences of death only bring to me one reasonable conclusion: God created everything.
Watch After Death, feel the warmth of the sun on your skin and count the stars before falling asleep and feel your place in the Universe. And in doing so, remain in awe and grounded in our Creator and live a life worth living.
Peace.