Thursday, May 8, 2014

"How Come?"

Years ago I heard a talk given by a professor of astronomy. In it he brought out the point that each step in the evolution of man can be recognized by two words. Those words are, “How come?” He illustrated the point like this: “In the earliest days of life on earth there were only one-celled creatures floating around in a sea of countless other one-celled creatures. Can’t you picture one of them being the first to get washed up onto dry land? There he was stretching his little neck and looking around from the rock he was perched on, seeing things in a new light from a higher and steadier position apart from the crowd. What might he have said? I’ll tell you.” Here the professor illustrated the scene, stretched his own neck, looked around as far as he could, and in hushed voice uttered the words, “How come?” After a due pause he added, “Now that was a step in evolution.”

Every day we are being bombarded by things that could, if we’d let them, cause us to stop in our tracks and say, “How come?” Or, “Why?” In justifying the title to my blog, Getting Older Is Getting Better, I offer the observation that taking time to think, really think, and probe the deeper questions of life are often put off to retirement. Even as I say this I know such a generalization is not true. Perhaps philosophy class students in college would beg to differ. 

Still, in our advancing years we cannot fail to wonder what’s to become of us. Is the birth to death scenario all there is to this creature we identify as "me?" We usually struggle against the thought and look for answers. We’d like to get past the stage of believing to that of proving. In our search many of us turn to The Holy Bible for answers. Still, the Bible is apt to prompt as many questions as answers. Some give up and look to science. We tend to respect the scientific community and try to find justification in both religious and scientific views even though it often seems like pushing a square peg into a round hole.

Movies sometimes reflect the ongoing curiosity that is native to mankind about these matters. I saw one yesterday. It is called “God’s Not Dead.” I found it to be a thought-provoking, (although hardly unbiased) work. I wouldn’t say it made the case adequately for itself, however. There are better arguments for Christianity than the ones presented there in my estimation. However I only mention the movie because it offers a threshold of exploration for anyone who might like to delve deeper into the subject of atheism vs. Christianity. 

Giving thought to the deeper questions of life need not leave us abandoned in the sea of arguments. It can give us answers that satisfy ourselves, if not convince others. Such research is worthy of our time but hardly worthy of obsession or quarrelsome argument. The questions we ask in sincerity to find the truth and the time spent in searching out answers are never wasted. They offer exploration and insight. They may even grant us a higher standpoint for evolving to the next stage of understanding. 

Every day we ask, “How come?”  We do well to honor this question. The Christian Science Bible Lesson this week says we can “return to the days of (our) youth.” (Job 33:14) Now there’s something to chew on!

1 comment:

  1. Yes, but having read May 12th before this one (May 8th), I find myself thinking of "returning to my youth" and then shuddering..."But that's the youth in which I forgot Mother's Day!!" As Charlie Brown would say, "AAAUUUGGGHHH!!"

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