Saving Thulcandra

          There are two views that are held by the majority of people regarding the origin of our species.  It should be noted that I am somewhat scientific, and I do regard myself as a biologist.  Perhaps an inferior one, but a biologist nonetheless.  Thus, the theory of evolution is the first possible origin of which I will discuss.

            Naturally, I was quickly taught the principles of evolution in my science classes.  You must remember, dear reader, I was raised up in a small Southern Baptist church.  Were I come from, a majority of the people spit upon evolution.  They regard it as total blasphemy, even though they don’t remotely understand what they are crying out against.  I’d be a rich man if I had a dollar every time I heard someone pronounce, “I didn’t come from no danged monkey.”

            The other possible origin of humanity, as you have probably guessed by now, is Creationism.  Most major religions have some version or another of the creation story.  Jews and Christians rely on the text of Genesis, which depicts God creating the universe—and everything in it—on a convenient six-day schedule.  This is the view of Creationism that I will refer to in this book.

            Many people think that you must believe in evolution or Creationism.  You have to believe in A or B.  A is A, and B is B.  A can never be B, they say.  I rebuke this common dichotomy.  As a biologist, I fully accept and defend the theory of evolution. As a Christian, I fully accept and defend the account of creation as set forth in Genesis.  So, now you know two main things about my system of belief.  Science is real, and so is God.  To ignore the first fact shows ignorance, and has consequences.  To ignore the second shows foolishness, and carries even greater consequences.

            Our scientists and philosophers have set several models for the beginning of the universe forth.  Young Earth Creationists (YEC’s) believe that Earth is less than 10,000 years old.  They also believe in a literal interpretation of the six-day creation process in Genesis.  Conversely, Old Earth Creationists (OEC’s) agree with scientists that the Earth is approximately 4.6 billion years old.  From this group, several subgroups have emerged.

            One of these is Gap (or Restoration) Creationism agrees with the literary interpretation that God created Earth in six twenty-four hour days.  However, they insist upon a “gap” between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2.  They believe that these two verses actually portray two different creations.  Likewise, Day-Age Creationism agrees on the geological age of the earth.  However, they do not believe that the six days were actual days as we know them.  Instead, they believe that each “day” consisted of a very long period of time, perhaps, millions or billions of years.

            I did not include these theories to show you how scientific I am, or to educate you in different models of the origin of the universe.  I present them to you for one reason only:  to disprove the dichotomy.  A is simply not A anymore.  Of course, some people will always think that A is A.  But some people think that A looks like B.  Others think that A looks like C.  Perhaps you get D when you add A and C and subtract B?

            I apologize for my sarcastic ramblings.  I simply want you to understand that the origin of the universe is much more complicated (or simpler?) than the Big Bang, evolution, and strict Creationism.  You see, these theories are mere models about how we think the universe was made.  The truth probably lies somewhere in the midst of all of them.

            Personally, I believe in Evolutionary Creationism.  Do not confuse this with Theistic Evolution.  Theistic Evolution places more emphasis on evolution than God.  Evolutionary Creationism, on the other hand, acknowledges that God used his natural laws to create everything.  I grit my teeth every time a Christian disregards science in order to justify his religion.

            Instead, I choose to not separate God and science.  Since God created everything (and by everything, I mean everything), doesn’t this include scientific laws?  He made the law of gravity, natural selection, the law of conservation of mass, inertia, thermodynamics and chemistry.  God imagined protons, neutrons, and electrons a lifetime before you and I were even thought of.  I even suggest to you that God knows every digit of pi.  He can probably even recite it backwards, if you wish.

            To me, disregarding science disregards a part of God.  Just as you can learn about an artist by examining his painting, we can learn about God by observing his creation.  Nevertheless, I know that most people (and even more so most Christians) do not share my love of science.  Therefore I will not stress my personal beliefs on other people.  After all, they are my beliefs and not yours.  You are free to postulate your own theory.  The purpose of this is not to determine a “correct” model of the universe.           

            It does not matter which version you believe in.    What matters is that you believe In the Beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth.  Look around you.  Everything you see, touch, smell, and taste were made by the Creator.  I do not know how He did it, nor do I know when He did it.  Regardless, I know that He did do it.

            So, what was that Something that put us here and gave us our aforementioned purpose?  It was God.  God created you, and everything around you.  This is what the opening chapters of Genesis are trying to tell us. 

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(Source: liamdryden)

           We’re not that different, You and I.  We both had a father and a mother at one point or another.  We sleep, breathe, eat, love, hate, lust, lie, and fail.  You see, we have the same purpose.  Although we might come about that purpose differently, or hold certain parts of it to be more valuable than other part, we indeed have the same purpose.

            Before we contemplate the ordinary things around us, we must first contemplate the reason behind it all.  As a college student, many of my friends struggled to find purpose.  Personally, I didn’t find it too troublesome.  I wanted job security, I liked the idea of being my own boss, and I enjoyed science.  I thought about becoming a physician.  I was the smart kid growing up.  My parents and friends had high expectations of my future.  Even my high school basketball coach told me that I was going to be a doctor.

            I was terrible at basketball.  Well, maybe not terrible, but definitely not on par with my competition, so to speak.  Perhaps that is a more polite way of saying it.  My coach was a good man.  He understood, unlike most of my teammates, that the game we were playing was just a game.  It would not matter the slightest bit determining our future.  During one practice, we were running more sprints than usual.  Me and a few other guys were not finishing our run in time, so Coach put the whole team on the “line” and began to mildly chew us out.

            One by one, he demanded more out of us.  That was, until he got to me.  Remember, I was the smart kid.  There wasn’t that many smart kids on the basketball team, especially in the poor, rural Arkansas school that I attended.  I don’t remember exactly how it happened, but I do remember Coach informing the team that less was expected of me.  I didn’t have to run as hard or jump as high as the other guys on the team because I didn’t have to rely on my athleticism for my future.  Then he told the whole team that I was probably going to be a “doctor or something” one day.

            I simultaneously took pride and shame in him saying that.  But was it right?  No, it wasn’t.  It doesn’t matter what our strengths and weaknesses are, we all share a common purpose.  Of course, some of us are going to be better than others at certain things, but one thing remains constant: we must try to fulfill that purpose.  My shortcoming on the basketball court was magnified by my excuse that I did not have to depend on it.  It might not sound like a big deal to you, but it certainly was to me at the time.  I was young.  It was a period of my life in which my chief concern was to impress my friends.  Popularity was everyone’s goal.  Each action was fueled by the desire for acceptance.  Being good at sports was one of the fastest ways of achieving this.

            Back to the story.  I felt that I had a good excuse for not “giving my all” in practice.  To most, it was a good excuse.  Who cares twenty years from now when we’re all successful doctors that we couldn’t hit a jump shot in junior high?  Nevertheless, it is this mistake—giving up when life gets difficult—that is our worst enemy in life.

            We do it every day, in all sorts of fashions.  Remember that book that you really wanted to read a few months ago?  You read the first few chapters, but ran out of time and place it back on the shelf, were it has been collecting dust ever since.  Remember that family member that you were going to visit last week, but never had the time?  She died today. But is it really that big of a deal that we don’t finish things that we start?  Does it really matter that we often ignore our hearts and disregard what it tells us to do?

            On the surface, it really doesn’t.  You’re probably not going to learn something that will change your life in that dusty work of fiction.  Likewise, your old aunt had Alzheimer’s.  She probably wouldn’t have even known that you were there.  You weren’t really even that close to her.

            While these excuses are acceptable to most people in our society today, we must avoid them at all costs.  If we make excuses for the little things that we skip over every day, it will eventually become a large, defining characteristic of our lives.  Aristotle said, “We are what we repeatedly do.”  If we allow this shortcoming to become a habit, it will slowly seep down to our core.  It will disrupt the very essence of our being.  Don’t become an excuse.

            Back to my college friends.  I’ll agree, choosing a major is a frightening ordeal.  Most of us were never thoroughly challenged in high school.  College (or those first few months out in the “real world”, if you didn’t attend college) was definitely an eye opening experience.  Many people felt pressured to declare a major right off the bat.  To my laid-back colleagues who “took it easy” and didn’t fret over choices such as choosing a major during their first semester: kudos.  I wish I could have eased the stress and enjoyed my first semester more. 

            That being said, remember that I already knew what I wanted to do.  I had it all figured out.  Most of my friends were far worse off than me.  My friend Jose (name changed) had no idea what he wanted to do with his life.  Uncertainty is humanity’s worst fear.  After a brief period of soul searching, Jose finally decided that he wanted to be a counselor.

            So what does this cute little story about my college friends mean to you?  Honestly, it means very little.  You have undoubtedly struggled with an overwhelming sense of uncertainty before.  It can be terrifying.  Sometimes it can be unbearable.  Luckily, my friend Jose didn’t give up.  With the help of a Friend, he was able to overcome the challenge.  Who knows what he would become if he had given up, possibly even dropped out of school?  Certainly, times were hard for him.  The choices that towered above his head were difficult and seemed unshakeable.  Yet he didn’t make excuses.  He stayed purposed.

            Without purpose, we are nothing.  It separates us from the animals, trees, and stones.  Some will argue that this purpose is comprised mainly of our instincts. Others will equate our self to Locke’s tabula rasa, meaning, we were born without any built-in instinct or knowledge about life.  Both arguments make valid points, but my purpose of bringing them up is not to contemplate the nature versus nurture debate.  Instead, I want to go beyond the two views.

            Namely, what is the purpose of us having a purpose?  It’s acceptable to be confused when reading that last sentence.  Perhaps a better way to rephrase it is: what is our—humanity’s—overall purpose.  Why are we here?

            This is perhaps the most asked philosophical question of all ages.  And, thankfully, you happen to be in luck today, for I know the answer to this question.  We are here because Something put us here.

C.S. Lewis