Considering the universe and its many life forms

It is noteworthy that there are no humans around, except for recent photographers, to witness these behaviors. The same is true for many areas and many animals around the world. It is also true of the realms of microbes that cannot be seen by humans, even if they were around. For that matter, think of all the dinosaurs and other life forms that existed and died long before humans were on the Earth. And if there is life on other planets? What possible human connection could there be in that scenario?

This all might be interesting, if rather bizarre, but it is not at all clear why this information could be relevant in a forum about spirituality. Consider, though, how human-centric most religions are. While there are many variations, the basic theme is a common one: there is a deity that created humanity and is very concerned with humanity’s history and destiny — so concerned that this deity is willing to interfere in all kinds of ways in that history and destiny. (For those who think this is solely a Western religious model, the myriad manifestations of Krishna in Hinduism make the mysteries of the Catholic Trinity child’s play.)

But if that is indeed the case, why did this deity bother with Emperor Penguins? After all, their existence has little, if any, impact on humans, so what is the point of their existence for a humanity-obsessed deity? Of course, the same is true of all those other animals, microbes and dinosaurs whose existence has, and have had, little to do with humanity over billions of years.

I don’t have a satisfactory answer for that. However, it does make me wonder about the nature of this deity and how limited the humanity-obsessed concept of that deity seems to be. It is also a humbling question — one I need to remember every time I think I know what’s wrong with the universe and what this deity should be doing to fix it. It takes a marvelous degree of hubris to see the extraordinary complexity of all of reality and attribute it to random forces or, worse, to still insist “I could do it better.”

The Biblical Psalmist says that “The heavens proclaim the glory of God.” (Psalms 19:1) It would appear that is true not only of the heavens, but of so much of the universe and its life forms, not to mention the Emperor Penguins.

Tucson faith leaders, we would like to include your original sermon or scriptures of encouragement. Sermons must be written by the person submitting them, not borrowed from another source or writer. If you are a faith leader from any religion or denomination, please contact Sara Brown at sbbrown@tucson.com.