Saturday, March 29, 2014

The Triumph of Love

Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loves is born of God, and knows God. He that loves not knows not God; for God is love.

St. John 4:7-9

 A.   Cosmic Love

(1)   Before the daystar, I begot thee[i]

On December 25th of each year, Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. It is not the precise date of his birth. However, it does give Christians, at least, cause to celebrate in the face of the tightening grip of Winter (at least in the Northern Hemisphere, anyway).

Among the hymns sung Christmas is the French hymn Canitque Noel (O Holy Night). It captures the mystery of the night and its enduring message of Jesus birth in these words:\

“Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
till he appeared, and the soul felt its worth.”

Chapter 15 identifies the soul with the reflective consciousness described by Teilhard. It also identifies “original sin” as selfishness, one of the driving forces of evolution. Before humanity evolved with a reflective consciousness, there was no sin. Metaphorically, the first sin was Cain’s murder of Abel, an angry selfish response to God’s favor being bestowed on his younger brother that Cain thought should have been his.
The “sin and error” which the caused the world to pine were the bitter fruits of selfishness which, like the paths of glory, lead but to the grave.[ii]

Christian theology describes Jesus as the Son of God, the second person of a Holy Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit (One God in three persons). Having been taught from an early age that we can never truly understand this divine mystery, I will not try to explain it here. However, I have asked myself, if we are made in the image and likeness of God, where is the holy trinity of  our personality?

I came up with some tortured metaphors, if not answers. There is human psychological dysfunction of multiple personalities demonstrated in the 1957 movie The Three faces of Eve. Freud found three aspects to human personality: ego, super ego and id. How far of a reach is three persons in one God?

As Chapter 15 demonstrates, nothing appears as it seems in the Newtonian universe. The concepts of Quantum Mechanics including Quantum Information have turned traditional macro physics on its ear.

On January 4, 2005, The New York Times published the answers of a several scientists to the question: “What do you believe even if you can not prove it?”

Richard Dawkins, who in the Introduction to this book was anointed the “Atheist Pope” replied

“I believe, but I cannot prove, that all life, all intelligence, all creativity and all “design” anywhere in the universe, is the direct or indirect product of Darwinian natural selection. It follows that design comes late in the universe, after a period of Darwinian evolution. Design cannot precede evolution and therefore cannot underlie the universe.”

There is one problem. Certainly, the laws of physics both Newtonian macro and Quantum Mechanical micro were formed within a microsecond of the Big Bang. For Dawkins to hypothesize a role for the application of “Darwinian natural selection” to that infinitesimally small microsecond would be nonsense. It’s safe to say that Darwinian natural selection played no role in the creation of the basic quantum forces of our existence and the rules of physics that govern ‑ and design ‑ our existence. At the quantum level, consciousness plays a role. There is no role for consciousness at any stage of Darwinian Natural Selection,

Rosenbaum-Kuttner in Quantum Enigma quoted the answer of cognitive scientist Donald Hoffman to the same question:

“I believe that consciousness and its contents are all that exists. Space-time, matter and fields never were the fundamental denizens of the universe but have always been, from their beginning, among the humbler contents of consciousness, dependent on it for their very being.”

This book has defined God as the primordial consciousness which birthed the cosmos. In attempting to unlock the mystery of creation of both the Universe and our own consciousness, we have to rely on such objective facts as we can ascertain and the inferences and conclusion we can draw from them. The written Gospels are in themselves material facts whatever their veracity. So too is the Shroud of Turin. Can these material facts help us untangle the Gordian knot of our own existence. Do they in fact verify each other?

Jesus claimed to be the Son of God. He claimed to offer a way to the eternal life: that way was love. In the Introduction, it was stated that a Tennessee Williams remark ‑ that most important moments of life are when we break out of our own egoistical shell and really sense the presence of another person ‑ was in fact a definition of love.

Is such a definition real – or practical?

(2)   The Prophet of Love





[i]  Psalm 109:3, Douay-Rheims edition

1 comment:

  1. Design, logically, must precede evolution. Evolution is not a seminole dynamic nor is it a preceding mobilizer or impetus, but rather spurred by design.
    The absolute, continuous and timeless relevancy of the philosophy
    and "way" of love which Jesus taught, not only pervades, but is the foundation of human interaction and existence.
    And, although difficult to comprehend, there cannot be good without the knowledge or existence of bad (theory that for every force there is an opposing force - however, this may be a concept that only has application on the earthly plane). But, this does not negate the fact that "pure good" is the actual reality on the spiritual realm(heaven), but not of the earthly realm. This is because in order for our nature to grow in the intended direction, that being the endeavor of our spiritual nature becoming refined in order to become more loving, and thus closer to the nature of Jesus, who embodied "good", but was the only one to perfectly and fully embody love. By following the commandments and receiving the truth in love the truth that He proclaimed, we are trying to imitate Jesus in a greater way. The fundamental endeavor of every human is to have the desired attention and loved. However, the battle between good and evil is the continuous all pervading theme which rages on in the earthly realm. And, our experience on earth ( a discernment and growth process of the soul ), is like a visit to God's Master workshop, where He works on us here to make us closer to His image. There seems to be evidence that the spiritual realm, still an eternal mystery to earthly man, is greater and even more real than the earthly realm. Although, while on earth, man seeks for conclusive tangible and empirical proof for the existence of God, in order for God's plan for our transformative journey to be meaningful, there will always be uncertainty and doubt. However, in greater measure, overwhelmingly, implicit evidence in revelation is manifested. Supernatural miracles such as the Shroud, speak to us of God's existence and love for us. Simply manifest in the way we humans are built, with our nature's primarily craving a loving Father, family, and safety, implicitly evidences the purpose for our creation and the nature of the Creator. For now, however, we are left on the earthly plan to triumph in the battle between light and dark which rages on in earth and withinin our souls. Victory, perhaps may not be meant for us while trapped within our human bodies. But, the victory is squashing our selfishness so that we can grow closer to the image and likeness of God. This is what our Heavenly Father intended. Those, who prioritize selfishness and their pleasure, and rejecting the message of love, are not cooperating in God's plan. As we are often called to say no to our human natures, and thus, say no to sin. As Jesus said, "Father your will, not mine, be done." In heaven the souls' wills converge, as there is love in Heaven.
    Those who enter heaven, simplistically said, act heavenly. When we exercise our free will on earth in alignment with God's will, we are less selfish, and it is our experience, that we are Closer to Heaven. Loving behavior creates loving conditions. And, we all want to be joyful and protected, but we cannot receive what we do not give. That is why God gave us free will, and we will only be suitable for the loving realm of Heaven, if we don't reject God's love, and God's will for us to love our neighbor. With that said, the core of life is love vs. selfishness, and our eternal destiny is to be with Him in heaven. And, our life is a mystery to be lived, and not a problem to be solved. And, proof of God is manifest on earth, through a knowledge in the inner soul, to those who love Him.

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