Lately my mind has been wandering, as it often does. I find myself enjoying just sitting back and taking time to think. Usually the topics of my own mental discussion vary so widely that sometimes I can't keep up with myself (which leads to a bit of confusion and humor). Just last night I spent a grand total of 4 hours riding on my motorcycle, and it was some of the best thinking time I've had in a while. One thing my mind kept going back to last night and recently was thoughts about what most people refer to as "The Big Picture" of life. I started thinking about existence in a broad sense, asking the usual questions of, "Why are we here?" ; "How did we get here?" and the like. Then I decided this morning to do a little research.
Something that has always sparked a great interest in me is outer space. The shear size and complexity of what occurs outside of our own planet is simply amazing. To think that there are cosmic events so large and so powerful that were they to occur closer to our planet, or even in our own galaxy, our entire planet, which we have grown fond of and daily take for granted, would be consumed or destroyed. Even in our own galaxy, such power exists. Just look at our Sun. Scientists agree that the sun's positioning in our solar system is nothing less than perfect. Were it any further away, the average decreased temperatures would cause severe freezing and eventually destroy all life. Were it any closer, the extreme heats would do just the same. To think that our little world is so fragile is very humbling. Then I broadened my research a little more.
Scientists have been studying the universe as a whole for centuries, and focusing their efforts very strongly in the last century or so. Recently, scientists have been attempting to figure out just what this universe we exist in is made of. And many have come to the same conclusion: the majority of this universe is made up of a mysterious, powerful force that they have named "Dark Energy". Their estimates say that Dark Energy makes up roughly 73% of the known universe. Another 23% is made up of an equally mysterious substance they call "Dark Matter". The reasons these forces are called "Dark" is because that, although they are nearly 100% sure of their existence, scientists still can't quite figure out just what they are. As for the remaining 4% of the universe, that is Normal Matter, or the things we can experiences with our senses. Mind you, that 4% covers the entire known universe in terms of some form of physical, experiencable substance. Which means that our entire planet, including all the life that exists on it, makes up less than 1% of the entire known universe. 1%.
Despite all these discoveries about the shear size of the universe, the intricacy and fragility of life, and the immense power that the universe holds, many still believe that a random occurance started all this and it just happened to fall into simple perfection entirely by chance. Mind you, I am not one of those believers. To think that there is something other than an all powerful Father to us all that created this universe to its exact specifications is beyond me. And in the Bible, God claims that he holds the entire world, and even the entire universe, in the palm of his hand. Think of it as you holding a marble.
Knowing that this God, who I believe created this massive universe and everything in it, is holding it in His hands and controlling it as He sees fit, and knowing that He is watching over someone as small and insignificant as me, is simultaneously the most humbling and comforting thought I've ever had.
Our entire existence, shrunk down to a marble. Kind of makes you feel a little smaller, doesn't it?
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