Thursday, March 21, 2013

In the Beginning



This is my personal interpretation of what some call Genesis, Chapter 1.  I'm making it as simple as possible.  I try to keep things as simple as I can anyway.  Some people, whatever belief system they use, are reluctant to use a specific name for what some religions call "God", so I am using a universally understandible name. Pat.  My beliefs are that this force - for lack of a better term - has no physical form, so has no sexual orientation, race, or other physical prejudice. Pat has given us the most rudimentary understanding of life in a way we can understand it, and the ability to choose our actions and beliefs.  Being a very finite being, I cannot, or will ever be able to even remotely understand the magnitude of how things work or why.  I can however base my beliefs and decisions  on what I have learned is right or wrong, what has happened before, the wisdom of others and predictions for the future.  I do not believe that science and faith have to be opposed to one another.  One can support the other to make it all understandable.  I hope you like the story. 

At the very start of everything we know there was Pat.  Pat had been there for… well, forever.  So Pat was hanging out a long time ago, and said “Pat!  Why don’t we do something today?” so, this is the story of what Pat decided to do.

1.       Once upon a time, Pat created the stuff of the universe.
2.       There wasn’t any rhyme or reason to it, so Pat looked at it and Pat watched it and moved around it for a while.
3.       Then Pat said “This is a mess!  Let’s get some of this stuff organized and make something. Pat gave it a zap and it made a big bright light.
4.       Pat thought “Hey, that’s the right idea!” So Pat let the dust settle into stars and galaxies with planets, ours specifically.
5.       Pat called the bright time “day” and the dark time “night”. Then Pat decided to let it brew for a while. That’s what happened first.
6.       Pat decided to work on our planet some more. Pat said “let’s separate some of this stuff into gas and liquid.”
7.       So there was some gas and some liquid.
8.       Pat called the gas “sky” and then let it brew some more. That’s what happened second.
9.       Then Pat got busy again and said “let’s get all the liquid in one place and get something solid in here.”  It happened just like that.
10.   Pat called the solid stuff “earth” and the liquid stuff “sea.” Pat really liked it.
11.   Pat said “let’s get some stuff growing in the earth and making seeds to spread around.”
12.   Some of the stuff became plants and the plants started spreading around. Pat liked that too.
13.   That’s what happened third.
14.   Then Pat said “let’s make sure we’ve got enough light and dark times(but not too dark so make sure the moon is out at night), and we have to give everything a time to grow and rest so we’ll make days, seasons and let it all do it over and over every 365 days or so .”
15.   The days had sun and the nights had the moon.  So that’s the way it was.
16.   Pat made sure the sun and moon were just right so the sun was nice and bright during the day and the moon kept it just a little light at night. Oh, and Pat made sure you can see the stars too.
17.   Pat made sure the sun and the moon were working just right.
18.   and made sure we had enough day time and night time too. Pat said “That’s great!”
19.   So Pat thought for a while and waited. That was the fourth thing that happened.
20.   Pat said “It’s time to make some animals. We’ll make lots of fish and animals in the sea; and birds flying around in the sky.”
21.   Pat made great big squids, and sharks and whales and all kinds of fish and all the other animals in the sea. Pat made all the different kinds of birds too.  Pat liked it.
22.   He made them healthy and strong and said “Alright everybody, I’ve given you everything you need. Fill the place up.”
23.   Then Pat waited some more. That’s what happened fifth.
24.   Pat’s next idea came up. “Now let’s put animals on the land part. We need some mammals, Insects, reptiles and amphibians.” and it happened.
25.   Pat made sure they could all reproduce in their own way.  Pat was very pleased with how everything was working out.
26.   Pat said “Let’s all get together and make humans who are creative, smart, responsible, and kind to take care of all the animals we made.”
27.   They all got together and made men and women to represent them. They did! They made people who were just like they are.
28.   Pat made them healthy, creative, smart, responsible, and kind; and said “We want you to take care of things around here; it’s a big job so make some more people. You are responsible for taking care of the fish and birds and all the other animals on the land too. “
29.   Pat said “We’ve given you all the fruit and vegetables you need to stay fit and healthy.  So eat them.
30.   I’ve made sure all the animals have plenty of healthy vegetables too.” And that’s the way it was.
31.   Pat looked everything over and thought it was really, really great.  That was the sixth thing that happened.