In Barbara Brown Taylor’s book on science and religion, “The Luminous Web,” she makes the case that the theory of evolution does not have to stand in opposition to a belief in divine creation. In fact, reading Taylor’s book is like listening to a symphony or reading a great poem, written to a creator with all sorts of surprising tools at his disposal.
Let me share with you just one little insight that helped me to see the hand of God in what the physicists are discovering. First, in the early chapters of the universe, there was nothing but stardust and energy. Then the stars were born. They aged. Their internal nuclear reactors broke down and they collapsed in upon themselves, creating so much heat that they exploded into supernovas, which can release more energy in one minute than all the other stars in the sky combined. As they do, they shower all their elements around the galaxy. Their gifts are, specifically, oxygen, carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen.
Now, if you remember your organic chemistry, you will remember that our bodies are made of 65 percent oxygen, 18 percent carbon, 10 percent hydrogen and 3.3 percent nitrogen, plus a smattering of other elements. In other words, we are made of stardust!
According to an old Jewish folktale, one day God said to Abraham, “If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t be here;” to which Abraham replied, “True, but if I weren’t here there wouldn’t be anyone to think about you.”
You see, the creation has finally produced a creature capable of reflecting on its own origins. That’s the beauty we ought to see when evolutionists and creationists argue. What a wonder that we can consider the question at all! Here we are, curious creatures with stardust in our souls, able to look back and consider the creation itself – to wonder where we came from.
But even more important than that, we are the one creation capable of turning back to our creator and saying “Thanks.” We humans are, so far as we know, the only creatures capable of expressing gratitude to our creator. It is what we were created to do!
The Westminster Shorter Catechism asked, “What is the chief end of man?” The answer is: “To glofiry God and enjoy him forever.”
We’re born to give thanks – created to give glory. Formed out of stardust, that we might give God praise. When you truly think about it, we ought to sing.
