Not a Bang nor a Whimper

Part One- Time and Stuff

   I recently listened to a bunch of quite learned gents, scientists, much revered (well they were on the telly) talking a load of fanciful rubbish about the ‘Big Bang’ (or not) theory for the creation of the universe. It basically came down to a few ‘expert’ theories, all different, all correct. Pardon?
   However, when they each began to speak of time beginning and ending, like yards of cloth, then they began to lose my sympathy. It got worse. Having floated this idea of time dispensing itself from a roll like loo paper, they inferred that this automatically rendered any possibility of a creator quite redundant, due to where he would have to ‘pre-date’ his work, and that’s when they really got up my tits.
   So that’s when I decided it was time I sorted out a few theories of my own; nothing earth shattering, just a few ideas which have been rattling about between my ears. This is not to presume to define any class of answers- merely to poke about in the hope of shedding a little glimmer of light on the possible size and scope of some of the questions.
   First we have to deal with the nature of time. Think of this as putting up the goal posts, or a goalpost. Science fiction writers have a penchant for calling time ‘the fourth dimension’. This is true in one sense, but in another it is completely untrue, in that it is not related to space or volume or mass or motion or any material thing. Yes, I know Albert Einstein said that if you go fast enough, time stands still, but if he had just said time ceases to have an effect on material things, then he would have been nearer the truth, and I wouldn’t be contradicting him. Let him sue if he dare. Time is merely a notion whereby man can relate the memory of breakfast to the promise of supper. To take it on a more serious level, we must go gently.
   Somewhere in the dark depths of nowhere, picture a clock with no fingers or face to be seen; there’s no-one to see it (I got this idea from Terry Pratchett) but  the pendulum is going ‘tic-toc, tic-toc’, each tic-toc being one second. Now if all of creation were to cease to exist, on a moment, (never mind how or why- just suddenly not there) no people planets suns moons stars- nothink-poof! First, the space they had occupied would still be there, and that imaginary pendulum would still be going tic-toc. Time would still pass, even though there would be no-one to witness it; there would- will- always be another second, and another. Nothing can stop it; it isn’t anywhere to be stopped. Now gird your loins because there’s a big one looming. Here we go. By the same token, there has always been a second before, and before that, and so on- to infinity. In fact, time is infinite in both directions, backwards and forwards. Just as it can’t have an ending, it can never have had a beginning.
   Now we are going to jump tracks for a while. We will return to this ‘endless time’ subject- believe me (I can’t leave it alone!) but its time to turn our attentions to God.

Part Two- Things We Know Not Of

   One often hears, as argument against God’s existence- ‘How can God be everywhere at once? ’or ‘How can he listen to everybody at the same time?’ Of course there is no answer because we don’t know, but that doesn’t mean it can’t happen, nor does it preclude belief that it does happen. I am typing these ramblings on a lap-top, a little gismo not much bigger than a desk diary, but it is smarter than me. It remembers every word; it can reproduce anything from its memory, instantly, and I suspect it thinks I’m an idiot. I certainly haven’t a clue how it works, beyond involving slivers of mineral like the mica we used to put in caravan stoves.
   Of course, the lap-top is self-evident, now. Even though I don’t know how it does what it does, I can’t deny it works because I can see it happening. The pit-fall for many, now and in the past, is that not understanding, we either don’t believe it, don’t trust it, don’t encourage it, or in extreme cases we have enthusiastically set fire to it, and those responsible. Oven-proof glass was first invented in the Middle Ages, in Italy. The inventor took it off to show the Pope, thinking he would be pleased. The Pope declared it the work of Satan, made a bonfire of the man’s records, gear, home and workshop, and stuck him on top.
   Back to the plot: These questions of God being everywhere, and listening to everyone at once have always vexed me, not that I can’t believe it. Belief was never a problem. Understanding was the problem. I really, really wanted to give it to those atheists between the eyes, and I’ve finally got it, or something at least. We aren’t dealing in answers, remember. We are merely investigating the possible nature of the questions, and we have to proceed gently, bit by bit.
   Those same egg-heads who pontificate about a Big Bang (or not), or somebody from their pub quiz team, tell us that all matter is made of energy. Everything comes down to atoms, which in turn comes down to a neutron surrounded by protons, if I’ve remembered my physics homework from…..oh, it’s a while now, and these are all tiny scraps of pure energy. The easiest way to envisage this energy is to think of it as electricity. Now the scientists who went to medical school reckon that even the thoughts in our brains, from eyes ear, fingertips, nerve ends- they are also pure energy- this electricity-like stuff.
   If the words ‘electricity’ and ‘energy’ are too tame for you, too domestic, not grand enough, not awesome enough, then try ‘power’. That’s a good word. Its timeless, limitless in its scope of meaning. Remember the story of the woman with an issue of blood. She crept up behind Jesus, in the crowd, and touched the hem of his robe. We are told that he felt the power go from him. Its that kind of power -  awesome, mysterious, magnificent, eye-watering, and down here in the ant hill its over our heads.

Part Three- Him, Us and lots of Between

   Deep breath now- we are used to equating God with power- ‘…God of power and might…’ and ‘…for thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory…’ but what is God is this energy, this power- not related to time or space/place. We glibly say God made everything, but what if God is everything. In that case, he is immediately everywhere, all the time. Or the other way round- everywhere is him, always was and always will be, which fits in with the earlier stuff concerning time being infinite, fore and aft, as is God; he really is eternal. We say it often enough, in our prayers, but do we listen to what we’re saying?
   Our constant difficulty in our search for understanding is that, in our arrogance we will insist on defining everything in terms of our human, physical condition. We refuse to accept that it isn’t necessary to drag several stone of flesh around, be constantly pampering it, filling it, emptying it, and attempting to preserve it, to have a nice time. Gold cutlery, leather chairs, crystal chandeliers and hot tubs full of booze don’t necessarily make for a good billet. Going fast and far and staying long, filling the plate and the goblet, piling the treasures, building the fence (round a garden or a mind) may not be a recipe for a happy life. Everything in our experience has a limit, must come to an end, and be swept away.
   So how do re reconcile this idea of an all-time-everywhere God with our disposable existence? Our entire, sorry little tale would seem to be just a blink, a puff of wind, the brief squeak of a very small, insignificant, furry little creature, compared to the infinity of God. And the more you pull back the camera, the more infinity you get in the picture, the more ridiculously insignificant man’s little squeak becomes. Of course, the answer is that, unlike man, God is not obsessed with size, durability, value etc. He made the stars and snowflakes, he made galaxies and gossamer webs. Longevity doesn’t concern him; witness tortoyses1 and mayflies. Everest may last forever; a daisy may last a day. The only criteria involved in God’s creative processes would seem to be the quality and integrity of the job in hand. And where does Darwin’s theory fit in all this? Well, again the bon mot comes from Terry Pratchett- “Evolution is God’s way of getting things done” Talks a lot of sense, that feller.
   I once heard of a wasp which lays an egg beneath the skin of a caterpillar. Not just any wasp, or any caterpillar. The egg hatches, and lives by eating just a small portion of the host’s giblets; not an important bit. The caterpillar isn’t harmed in any way. When the wasplet is ready to face the outside world, he cuts a little hinged flap in the host’s skin, and climbs out. Before he flies of, he considerately stitches the flap back in place so that the caterpillar isn’t inconvenienced. Now that is a process that I cannot see being covered by Mr Darwin’s wildest imaginings. That needs someone who is a designer, a writer, a director, a creator, an artist; someone who definitely has a sense of humour.
1 Being from Yorkshire, I can’t say ‘tortoise’.

Part Four- Grand finale- and such Choirs!

   Now I haven’t explored the prospect of our transferring from this fleeting, temporal existence, to the higher, timeless realm enjoyed by ‘The Management’. That wasn’t on the card, to begin with. I merely hoped to widen the view, clean the lens, as it were, but try this for a taster-
   Just go back to those little scraps of power or energy which your itinerant story teller/ scribe humbly suggests just might make up God and all his creation, and us. I must confess that I’ve always stumbled over the idea that, on the one hand, we are issued with these pathetic little scraps of bodies of a disposable nature- Kleenex goods, almost, and yet we are lead to believe that each is driven by an energy pack which (unless The Management chooses to disconnect it) is apparently inexhaustible- to whit- the soul. On the face of it, we seem to have a colossal waste of resources, and maybe a golden opportunity for recycling.
   So clock this for an unbeatable offer. Joe Soap shuffles off his mortal coil; his soul wings its way to heaven, whereupon his little bundle of scraps of energy, power, essence of his Creator, what you will is re-united with all of creation, but still retains an element of the Joe Soap matrix-identity, while at the same time, fusing his consciousness with the rest of creation. Say you take a handful of sand, and throw it into the Sahara. You would just have more sand, but your original handful would still be separable, if you knew how to do it; would still hold to its own identity. To attempt to make this understandable on a personal level, you could say Joe would be able to chat with his old Grannie again because although she would be ‘at the party’, or ‘on line’ with everybody else, she would still be able to drop out and have a quiet, personal chat with him, at the same time. Any dubious parties, the Guv’nor could just cast into the nearest black hole or fiery furnace. Which, in turn, makes me think of the Geezer in the red Lurex suit, him with the horns and the forked tail. He would be like a computer virus banging at your ire wall, or outside the tent, p…per…poking in, as it were.
   I know this sounds simple- it has to be for me to understand it. You can complicate it up as much as you like, but I think you’ll find that it has the potential to accommodate all other faiths/doctrines, including re-incarnation, the recycling bit; so tell me why it wouldn’t work. It gives room for the Buddhists coming back in higher (or lower) orders, depending on merit. It even accommodates pets- oh joy! I really do believe it’s the best offer you’ll find.
   Do remember though, I didn’t set out to provide any answers; I was just trying to investigate the size and scope of some of the questions.