The Mystery of Something

Despite your view of creation or even evolution; how can you answer the question: why is there something and not nothing?

Yes, I have read all the latest in Hawking’s guesses on “The Grand Design” which amended his earlier book “The History of Time” which amended his previous book “The Theory of Everything” which amended his previous book “The Cosmos Explained” which amended …

I know about string theory, quantum mechanics, and even multiple universes. But search as I might, and I search a LOT, I can find no scientific explanation for why is there something instead of nothing.

The scientific community is back to trying to explain how everything ALWAYS existed which is the problem Darwin ran into with his “static universe” theory in evolution. Darwin was disproven when Hubble found the universe was expanding and growing. Then Hawking explained that that was a series of big bangs as gravity caught up with the expansion and pulled everything back into an infinitely small amount of space which set off another big bang of expansion. But now with quantum and multi-universe theory we are back to being told the universe ALWAYS existed on some “plane” or another. It is a mystery … even to the BEST minds.

There still is not an organized “Theory of Everything”. We still have not found the Higgs boson “God Particle” and have been smashing atoms now for a while to find out why matter has mass. We guess, we bust up atoms, we calculate, we explore (ALL great things) but we have yet to understand. There are many theories and some pretty confident in their theories but none can really answer the question.

Why is there something instead of nothing?

Weird question but a telling question. Christians have been debating when creation happened and how it happened but even young Sunday school kids can tell you the answer: “In the beginning, God …” But of course that is too mysterious for our scientists. So you go on exploring, discovering, smashing, and searching and in the end of it all you will come up with the same conclusion.

“Science leads people away from God. GOOD science leads them back again.” Louis Pasteur.

The Mystery of Funerals

I have “performed” many funerals in my days and they are a mystery to me.

I have sat with the families of those who’s loved one was a professing Christian and with those who had no idea what their loved one believed in.

I consider myself a relatively perceptive person but you don’t have to be a psychic to understand the emotions at a funeral. So let me describe the three types of funerals that there are.

First is the Christian funeral. The key word is hope. Most of the Christian funerals I have attended and led are celebrative affairs. There is sadness in the loss of a loved one, but that loss is believed to be just temporary. “We will see them again!” is the hope-filled statement. Most of these end the day with a celebration at some home or church. Did you catch that? A CELEBRATION at the end of life, what a mysterious blessing for Christians.

Second is the UNKNOWN funeral. The key word here is questioning. These funerals are filled with the questioning of the loved ones about the one loved. Did you know him well? What did he believe? Will he go to heaven? Where is he now? Why did this happen? How could God allow this to happen? In these funerals I spend most of my speaking talking about grace and about not being able to understand God’s ways. In other words … I lie to make the people feel better. So it is not an evil lie, it is one designed to give some comfort in a difficult time. I spend most of my time focusing on the living and introducing them to the mystery of HOPE: a hope that will bring a celebration at the end of life and not a questioning. The mystery is that how you live your life will determine the joy or sorrow of your loved ones at the end of your life, when you are gone.

The third kind of funeral is the weird one. The key word here is makeup, as in cosmetics. Just like the body of the deceased is made up to look “almost” alive, so the funeral is made up to look that way. Smokey Robinson sang about the “Tears of a Clown” but I would say this is the opposite of that: the clowning of tears. These people will generally call this funeral a “Celebration of Life” or “A Sharing of Memories” or even “A Universal Transformation” or some such ridiculous BS. They will get together and share thoughts and remembrances of the loved one. They will light candles, drink beer, smoke a cigar, or even go on a ski trip or have a party all in the name of the loved one. All of this is to fulfill the wishes of the deceased or the family of the deceased. Tears are covered in makeup. Sorrow is drowned in alcohol. Sadness is partied out. All to clown up death. All to try to avoid the elephant in the room: what happens after we die? What happens when we enter that undiscovered country?

“To die, to sleep; to sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub; for in that sleep of death what dreams may come when we have shuffled off this mortal coil, must give us pause … the undiscovered country from whom no traveler returns” (Shakespeare’s Hamlet)

The Mystery of Heroes

Why do men and women go off to war? What is it that compels them?

Sure there are times when we are forced to fight because of a ruthless dictator or humanistic intentions like greed and pride. But most often wars are fought for a “higher” cause of some kind. Sure we can argue whether the crusades were good or bad and whether the leadership was right or wrong, but what about the normal foot soldier?

Where does the idea of serving your country and patriotism come from? Where does the idea that there is something more important than SELF come from? Why do we celebrate war heroes and put them on a pedestal?

My father came to Las Vegas on his 90^th birthday for a family reunion. We went to a show on the strip in Vegas and I informed the performers that my father, a WW2 veteran, was in the audience celebrating his 90^th birthday. When the performer introduced him, the callous Vegas audience full of locals and tourists gave him a standing ovation. Many, even beyond the family, had tears in their eyes.

Every month we get news stories of our heroes coming home from the latest front to a filled auditorium and to a cheering, tear filled crowd.

Every month we hear of firemen, policemen, and normal people who rescue strangers from a burning car, a crumbling home, and even a lunatic with a gun. We celebrate them, give them medals, and cheer these people who put their life at risk to save others.

We celebrate heroes because they remind us that there is something, some mysterious thing, more important that SELF. Heroes remind us that ideals and ideas are worth dying for. Heroes show us that there is no greater love than to sacrifice yourself of another.

What is this ideal that is celebrated? What is this mysterious thing? Christianity tells us this is how we were made: in the image of God. That difference between us and the rest of creation is what causes us to seek something outside and above ourselves to believe in and 

even sacrifice for.

A mystery that we are willing to die for.