May 20, 2018

12 Steps to Joy (5)

The Word of Creation (1)

            In the beginning the Word already existed.

                        The Word was with God,

                        And the Word was God.

            The Word existed in the beginning with God.

            God created everything through the Word,

                        And nothing was created except through the Word.

            The Word gave life to everything that was created,

                        And the life of the Word brought light to everyone.

            The light shines in the darkness,

                        And the darkness can never extinguish it.”

                                                                        John 1:1-5.

 

            God created everything through the Word,

                        And nothing was created except through the Word.

This is the phrase that spells out that all came from God (Word), and nothing that is present in the universe except through the Will of the Word (God). This phrase could be used to explain that strange phraseology in Genesis 1: “Let us make humanity in our image and likeness.” It has been asked for thousands of years: “Who is that ‘us’ in Genesis 1?” Creation through the Word, and as the next phrase, it was the Spirit that is the living force in the universe.

The greatest puzzle among cosmologist and quantum physicists is “How can so many constants in the universe (over 200 of them) be just right for the universe to evolve, the 13.7 billion years, just so to allow life to exist? Any one of the constants could be off by as little as 10% and things would not permit life as we understand life to exist, let alone over the time period of 13.7 billion years. I know, of course, that the vast majority of scientist seem to be firmly in the camp ‘that is all natural’, and that ‘there are in infinite number of universes that have nothing but chaos in them’, but we have no knowledge of this beyond our own universe, and it does seem to be almost a desperate attempt to justify the refusal to think that maybe, just maybe, there is something beyond pure random chance.

I have just one (ok, maybe more than one) question to ask: What is gravity? Oh yes, scientists can describe it, give me exact values of the attractive force, but what is it? Scientists agree that they have no idea what it is, (yes, I know that the theory of General Relativity is the theory of gravity, and describes it in terms of curved space-time, but that does not say what it is)  nor do they know what any of the electromagnetic forces (electricity, magnetism) are. Lots of description, but nothing that describes what any force, attractive or repulsive, actually is, or why they behave as they do, and what is the mechanism that creates the forces involved.

Everything breathes God. As St. John’s gospel puts it, nothing that exists came into being outside what is called the Word. That breathtaking condition that spouted the singularity we call the Big Bang created all the forces that we can describe in detail is the cause for all we know in the universe. The Word is still active, for the creative force is in full force today, and will be for the duration of the universe – and probably countless other universes outside our universe, for eternity stretches back without end. The Word has always been and always has been a creative force and always will be. Even now, we see that creative force in action with the constant renewal of our universe, and in the creation of space from nothing as the universe expands. That new space created is filled with enormous energy and potential energy (the numbers are staggering) and it is new everywhere, constant new space that did not exist before, and increasing the expansion rate of the universe.

Nothing that has been created except through the Word. That breathtaking statement and powerful assertion says it all: everything that makes up the universe came through the Word, or what we know as the Christ. There is no separation in that statement, and everything, including matter, anti-matter, dark matter, and dark energy and even virtual energy, is included. As we discover more about the universe and the hidden sides of the universe such as black holes, they too are included.

More on this next time.

Meditation

My Rock and my Foundation, I lay myself down in safety to rest and find Your Joy and Happiness. You have filled my life with Joy at every turn. Even when things seemed darkest, I could enter into that Cloud of Unknowing Joy at any time when I rested in You. I am grateful for those moments of Joy that entered my life every day during my daily quiet times, and I rest comfortably knowing that the Joy of Your Life is always present, if I see it at that moment or not. You have granted me the gift of life, and it is breathtaking at every moment and will be for eternity. I thank you for all these gifts and signs of wonder that fill my life.

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THE 12 STEPS TO JOY AND HAPPINESS,IS NOW AVAILABLE FROM HAY HOUSE, BALBOA PRESS, AMAZON, AND BARNES AND NOBLE, AS WELL AS OTHER SOURCES, IN HARD COVER, SOFT COVER, AND EBOOK FORMATS.

We are bound in the music of life where we dance and weave within that glorious melody, or what some call God. Now, God has said that we are the very image of God (Genesis 1:27), and as images of God, we have the inborn ability to have Joy and Happiness forever present in our life. The author, David L. Peters, is an octogenarian whose life has always been filled with joy, regardless of outward appearances. The wonders of the Kingdom of Heaven is everyone’s birthright, if you know how to let your Creator and the Universe enter your spirit. Jesus put it succinctly: “The Kingdom of God lies within” (Luke 17:21). The Kingdom of God, Paradise, Heaven: these lie within you, right now, waiting for you to only turn and see, and join in the dance. Paradise is right within us, but how do we unlock the door to this wonder of joy? This book lays a path open that the author has followed for almost 80 years, starting as a young boy in rural Ohio, and it operates as advertised. No matter how things look in life, how bad it seems, all one need do is look deeper within and find the joy that can fill life: life is good! The life of abundant joy and happiness is yours for the asking. Dip your toe in the living waters, and taste the Beauty of God that is awaiting.