God, All We Can Imagine and More

The intellectual genius Stephen Hawkins who was also an agnostic or atheist who died in the past year, was once ask what he would say if he actually did meet God and was asked by God why he did not believe in him . He said he would say, “ Lack of evidence” I feel he was stone-blind to all the evidence that there is a real God.

If there is a universe, it must have come from somewhere at some time. It could not have self-created itself as Hawkins tried to imagine. That takes much more faith than I have. The necessity of a Creator for a universe is logically incontrovertible. In itself it may not appear to define the nature of a creating God, until we examine the nature of the universe and the challenge of creating it when there was nothing there to make it from. When I learn that nuclear power comes from turning matter into energy, I wonder if it follows that energy can also be turned into matter, Although this would require an infinite amount of energy to create a universe of the dimensions of what we have. It would point to a God that has energy that is infinite beyond our imagination.

It has been calculated by science that the universe must be 3.5 or 3.8 billion years old, judging from the distance of the most far light coming from somewhere until it would come to us here. One could well ask if that is any measurement of a universe or beyond the reach of light to our universe. So the size of the universe in the widest sense of the word is totally beyond our understanding. One could also imagine in the size of the universe (‘s), what was happening before God decided that there should be one. Was God from eternity meditating and planning on the shape of this universal project for a billion trillion years? He would have had time for that!

It is interesting how He used a variety of materials and to make the universe. We know about electrons and protons and I don’t know much about all the other elements of an atom. The number of elements or arrangements and number pf particles are also numerous. Seems there were about 100 elements known when I was young and more have been discovered since. Must have been His creative leisure to play with these little “things” in so many arrangements. I wonder if there might not also be other and more elements than are known to scientists. What limit might be exist for God?

I am intrigued by God’s appreciation for the aesthetics as I have written elsewhere. It seems he made many things like color, sound, ecstasy, taste and other luxuries for the pleasure of humans beyond necessity for life. Must be like him to enjoy many things just because he could make them in his creative imagination. Think of the variety of plants and animals. Books are written on animal life with its infinite variety, and new ones are still being discovered. From insects that seem intelligent to animals that are almost human, each is capable of activities that bogle the mind.

We know about human emotions of which there are a great variety. But more mysterious are the emotions of animals of which we see only a glimpse.  Just today I saw a video of a dog in a swimming pool which could not get out. Another dog paced above him trying to find a way to help the miserable dog in the water. Finally that safe dog jumped in the water and came behind the struggling dog and pushed him up so he could get out. Sympathy, hatred, affectionate response to human emotions, like horses may remember that bad attitude a persons had hours before when the person now comes with a good attitude. It seems likely that animals have many emotions we understand so little. Even more amazing is some evidence that plants as well have feelings and some may detect friendly or hostel attitudes of humans passing by. Or plants that may communicate through roots to neighboring plants that the soil is dry and that neighboring plants should direct there root to a more favorable direction.

I am not a scientist, and wish I could document these and many more examples of wide spread feelings and communication between many fauna and flora. With the imagination we have, no doubt in the image of God, one wonders if not other living thing also have imagination comparable to ours. In fact, is it not possible that many species have a confidence that they also are made in the image of God? Is it outrageous to think that God may just as well communicate with many others of his beings? They fact that we can communicate a little with such animals as horses and dogs, and they can grasp some of our vocabulary, why would God not want to communicate with many of his other intelligent fauna and flora? One can speculate whether other species have also strayed from their Creator’s intent like man and God had to become special to redeem them. Feels like I am far out by now in my imagination. Perhaps far beyond the capacity of the most people. But if I can imagine it, is it not possible that a lot more is true than we assume and can be sure of? Why would man be the only creature who has a right to claim to be in the image of God and in a relationship? God loves us so much we feel special, but why would not others of creation also feel special? I can imagine it; why might it not be true?

I have not said anything here about God and the stuff we call inanimate. How do we know electrons don’t join together and have feeling- or even intelligence? Why would God only relate intelligently to so-called animate beings, a category we smart one have concocted?  Doesn’t all this mean that we most likely know only a miniscule amount of what actually exists about God and his relationship with the universe?  I would desire to be open to a greater understanding of who God is and how he relates to the world and the universe. I have no doubt that our understanding of God is extremely provincial or narrow minded, limited by the understanding of our scientific mentality. I believe we will all have many surprises when we finally see God in heaven as he really is. I doubt that we can even then grasp his infinity of nature, but it doesn’t hurt to start trying here and now, which I had tried to do here. Worship our great God with your own imagination.