Monday, May 14, 2012

The Given and the Giver


A bumper sticker I saw today reads: “Don’t worship the creation, worship the Creator.”

That the creation exists, I know as the most intimate of facts.  As far as I can see (which, admittedly, is not very far), the creation is my creator.

Who or what created the creation?   What a senseless question!  If one says “God,” than who or what created God? 

The origin of the creation is simply an inexplicable.  To posit a creator apart from the creation is merely to posit one inexplicable to explain another inexplicable.  To multiply inexplicables is an absurdity. 

At the base of the Creation lies a great mystery, or better The Great Mystery.  I see no reason to give worship to the Great Mystery, but every reason to wonder about it, to wander about within it, to contemplate it.

The Great Mystery is the Giver and the Given; our ultimate source and our ultimate destination.  If we love our life, we have it to thank.  If we hate our life, we have it to curse.  It gives the good and the bad; it is its own shadow.

A certain kind of theist and a certain kind of scientist have in common that both think they know more about the Great Mystery than they really do.  One claims to have a book written by it, the other claims an ability to produce theories that can limn its dimensions.

I imagine The Great Mystery smiling like the Cheshire Cat.  It doesn’t write books and can’t even add on its invisible paws.

No comments:

Post a Comment