(Doctor Beverly Crusher) “Here’s a question you shouldn’t be able to answer. Computer, what is the nature of the universe?”
(Computer) “The universe is a spheroid region 705 meters in diameter.”
Meanwhile in the real world…
“I made a wish and threw it out into the universe.”
What is the nature of the universe?
Don’t make this question harder than it needs to be. The universe is the container for all material that has ever existed. It’s not unlike a house. All your stuff is in your house and some of it moves around on a schedule, like Christmas decorations, and sometimes it moves due to unforeseen events, like a faulty dishwasher. It’s the same with the universe.
The main difference is we make the universe a lot more mystical than our single-story ranch in the suburbs. Probably because we can’t see the whole universe and anything you can’t see is always somewhat mysterious. Houses need maintenance and because of that we’ve seen far too much of our house. Houses are ordinary. The Universe is majestic.
Does the drain in the bathroom of the universe get plugged? Does the universe have a plunger? No, I don’t think so.
The majesty of the universe is on display for our eyes and telescopes to catch the smallest glimpse. It carries on by itself without need of us, or our interference. Beautiful and breath taking, it beckons us to explore its far reaches. It also destroys, without a thought, anything in its path to keep moving forward.
The universe is beautiful and ordered and consistent, but it’s also chaotic, destructive and wildly unpredictable. God created the universe not unlike an artist facing a blank canvas, but with far superior understanding of the paint and the canvas.
What happens when we put our trust in the universe rather than the God who created the universe?
“Embody the life you want, as if you already have it. Wanting implies lack of. Knowing is the trust fall the universe is waiting for…”
Danica Patrick
Some people make God their god.
Others make government their god.
Still others make the Universe their god.
In the latter two cases ‘god’ is not preferred, but it neatly summarizes the thought.
Is it possible for the universe to wait for you, or care about you? It depends on your definition of the universe, I guess. If you define the universe as the collection of all material. No, it doesn’t care about you. If you define the universe as the collection of all the thoughts, imaginations and activities of the beings who inhabit the universe then still no.
I know, I know. You think I’m being negative and pessimistic. I’m not. Everyone cares for someone and wants them to be happy. But the universe, and the majority of people in it, don’t care about you. That’s just a fact.
It’s good to take a risk and achieve a dream, as Danica Patrick suggests, but the universe won’t be waiting for you. Just ask the people of Pompeii.
If the dinosaurs really were killed off by a giant asteroid was the universe saying, “I really don’t feel like taking care of any more pets?”
In reality, we are wired for eternity. Thank you, C.S. Lewis. If we don’t believe in the God of the Bible, we will make something else our god. Whether it’s another religion, no religion, government, or material universe.
The universe isn’t looking out for you and the universe won’t do anything for you. Ultimately, you throw your ideas “out to the universe” and either the idea comes to fruition because you organized your universe to make it so, or the universe throws a giant asteroid at you.
That is to say, it’s not throwing it at you, it’s throwing it toward you and it doesn’t care if you get in the way.
It’s that simple.
I have to say, as a Christian, I don’t always get what I want either. Not because the universe isn’t listening to me, but because God has a better idea.
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