Let’s ponder some thought-provoking questions

I’VE BEEN THINKING

Carol Goodman Heizer is an author who recently moved to Hood County from Louisville, Kentucky. She has had short stories and articles published in six editions of “Chicken Soup for the Soul” books. Her column for the Hood County News will appear every two weeks.

We now know how intricately and miraculously our bodies are made and function. In light of that information, we come to the point of asking ourselves some thought-provoking questions. I believe we must acknowledge that our own physical creation, along with all of nature, is the result of a divine orchestration.

While we must accept the fact that some individuals believe in a “natural selection” of the species, that belief brings us to a crucial crossroad. Stepping for the moment from the individual arena into that of the universe at large, there are those who believe that what we see is the result of a gigantic explosion (otherwise known as “The Big Bang Theory”). It is the most widely accepted theory of our universe’s beginning.  

The “Big Bang” believers contend that sometime between 13 and 15 billion years ago, all the matter and energy in the known cosmos were crammed into a tiny, compact point. Then this small, dense point of primitive matter exploded. Within seconds the fireball ejected the matter/energy at velocities approaching the speed of light. At some later time – maybe seconds later, maybe years later – the matter began to split apart and become separate entities. Those who believe this theory conclude that the different orderly elements in our universe today developed from what spewed out of this original explosion.

Yet if we accept this theory, we must accept the reality that the chaos that comes from a massive explosion has resulted in the orderliness we see in all facets of our universe’s existence. Can we really accept that total chaos brings total, maintained orderliness?

Perhaps we then must agree with what Thomas Gorman once said: “The chances of the universe being the result of a massive explosion is about as great as the unabridged dictionary being the result of an explosion in a printing factory.”

Creation certainly seems to confirm the limitless ability of a divine Creator. How else can we explain how a robin knows it is a robin and stays with its own kind? Or how can a wasp be able to flap its wings 100 times per second? Or how can a bumblebee fly when its very structure goes against all the laws of aerodynamics? How can a newborn babe respond to its mother’s voice while ignoring all other voices around it?

How can a hummingbirdfly forward, sideways, and even backward by simply changing the angle of its wings? One might attribute all these “impossibilities” to instinct. But from where did that instinct come?

Why do objects thrown into the air always fall downward? Or why does water never run uphill? We say it’s the law of gravity.  We know the physicistIsaac Newton was inspired to invent the theory of gravity when he saw an apple fall from a tree. Yes, he recognized the reality of gravitational pull, but where did its consistent action originate?

Scientists tell us that if the temperature of oceans would vary as little as two degrees, the majority of sea life would die. Two degrees? Yes.

We know the sun is 83 to 92 million miles from Earth (numbers vary according to different sources). We also know that Earth orbits the sun. One would think that with that great distance between our planet and that great glowing ball that gives us light, there would be room for a margin of error in Earth’s rotational route. Yet scientists again tell us that if our planet veered off its orbiting path either toward or away from the sun – even a few degrees – all earthly life would either burn to death or freeze to death.

Considering all we learned from the last column and this one, can we not conclude that such perfect orchestration of man and nature can come only from the hand of a Divine Creator and Sustainer? Can we not gratefully accept that such flawless magnificence is the result of One’s divine power that is greater than any human, coincidental, or explosive event or endeavor?              

cgheizer@gmail.com