A Sermon by the Rev. Daniel Charles Davis

for the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Winston-Salem

March 12, 2006

Where do we come from? How does that affect who we are? These are fundamental questions. Are we an accident or an intention? Does that affect the way we perceive ourselves?

Let us listen to several Creation stories. I start with Genesis 1, but with some translation choices.

Elohim is typically translated as God. Literally it is a plural of the word for strength or power.

I am choosing to use the word Energy. The Hebrew word for spirit, Ruach, is also the same as the word for wind. I am choosing to use the word wind. The Hebrew word yowm is translated in Genesis 1 as day, but in other parts (e.g. Gen. 4:3) it is translated more generally as time.

Depending upon context, I use the word day or the word time. I am choosing to use the word epoch, which is a period of time in which momentous things occur.

In the beginning, Energy created the Heavens and the earth. The Earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep – physicists and astronomers call this the point of singularity. A void deep darkness sounds like a black hole to me. – and the wind of Energy was moving over the face of the waters.

And Energy said, “Let there be Light.” And there was light. [Astronomers describe the first sound of energy as the big bang.]

And Energy saw that the light was good: And God separated the light from the darkness. God Called the Light Day and the Darkness night and there was evening and there was morning, one epoch.

[This first epoch is described by astronomers as a fraction of a second. The biblical story then jumps ahead millions of years, past the formation of planets, and describes the formation of the atmosphere.]

And Energy said “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” And Energy made the firmament and separated the waters that were under the firmament from the waters that were above the firmament. And it was so. And Energy called the the firmament heaven. And there was evening and morning, a second epoch.

[This part of the Genesis is hardest to square with modern science. Early humans noticed that water came from the sky and sprang forth from the ground. Using logic based on what they observed, they theorized that the earth was surrounded by water and that the firmament was an envelope of air separating the waters above from the waters below, a place where human life is possible. We now have been able to observe that the atmosphere does not keep the water out but holds it in and keeps it from drifting out into space. Yet we can still marvel at the energy and forces that keeps the atmosphere in place. We can be grateful for the space, for life that existed before we were born and will exist after we are gone.]

Genesis 1:9-13 describes the third epoch, the development of plants that grew on the earth. This part of the biblical account is congruent with the theory of evolution, that plant life emerged before animal life forms, although the Bible makes no mention of microscopic one-cell forms which preceded both plants and animals.

The fourth epoch seems out of sequence to the modern mind. It describes the placement of the sun, moon and stars into the firmament. If it is taken literally, we are asked to believe that plants grew without the sun. Astronomers would place the events of this day after the big bang and before the formation of the earth’s atmosphere. But taken poetically it may describe the human experience of the world. A fetus in the womb is floating in liquid darkness. Then, at the moment of birth, there is light. Then the child realizes that she is breathing, no longer immersed in water. The mother lays the child down on soft grass and the baby rests. As she recovers from the shock of being born, her eyes begin to focus and she realizes that the overwhelming light has many sources.

Genesis may not be describing the universe in the order it was developed but in the order in which ancient people discovered it.

The fifth epoch again conforms to modern understanding. It begins with “let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures.” It describes the formation of sea creatures, mentioning whales as the first mammals. It describes the formation of birds but leaves out their immediate ancestors, the dinosaurs, which the writers of Genesis had no evidence of.

The sixth day describes the rise of land mammals, culminating in the creation of humans. This order of Creation not only agrees with the theory of evolution but also with an ancient Tibetan Creation story that says humans came from monkeys.

Once, a saintly monkey made his way to the Himalayas to enjoy the ecstasy of undisturbed profound mediation. The beauty of his personality captivated the heart of a female rock-demoness, whose attempts at seduction were unable to weakens the monkey’s vow of chastity. So she suffered the pangs of unrequited love. But a frustrated, angry demoness is a great danger in this world, and bearing this in mind, and full of sympathy for her suffering, the monkey finally succumbed to her entreaties. In due course, six children were born of their union and from these, it is said, the entire population of Tibet eventually descended . . . Tibetans account for the variety of personality types by claiming that the first six monkey children included one representative from each of the six realms known to Buddhist cosmology. [1]

This story makes the mechanics of natural selection seem mundane.

During the famed Scopes Monkey Trial, conservative Christian Americans were outraged by the idea that humans descended from monkeys. In contrast, Tibet honors its monkey origins. If the school system starts teaching Genesis, I will ask that they give equal time to Tibetan monkey love, or perhaps this African story of origin:

The Dogon of Mali Believe that Creation began with a being called Amma, an egg which was the seed of the cosmos. It vibrated seven times, then burst open to reveal a Nommo creator spirit. This fell to earth and was followed by a female twin, then four more Nommo pairs. The Nommos created and organized the sky and the earth, the succession of day and night, the seasons and human society. The idea of a “cosmic egg” as a source of the universe is widespread throughout Africa. [2]

This story contains the notion of singularity, a point when the universe was contained. Then it cracked or exploded.

There are many other myths. Native American and Australian stories talk about a time when the earth was covered with water. These Origin stories in all their commonalities and differences tell that humanity has long wondered, where did we come from? What does it mean?

There are several questions that are difficult to answer. In reality, we can never know what happened at the beginning, or even if there was a beginning. The questions are unanswerable. What happened before the black hole? Who created God? Was there a cosmic chicken before the cosmic egg?

The true answer is, we do not know. But the human mind cannot let a mystery be. We make conjecture from the objective data. There is a satisfaction in having a story to believe in. But the scientific story changes in the face of new evidence. The big bang theory replaced the steady state theory that supposed that there was no moment of Creation. New evidence could result in a new theory.

Subjective stories are not limited by objective reality. They ask the believer to suspend current reality and just assume that things were different way back when. Having an unchangeable story of our origins helps some people impose order on a chaotic world. The changeability of the scientific method is a source of anxiety. Those who embrace the theory of evolution must reconcile themselves to the fact the theory itself has evolved over the years. They have decided to trust the process.

Creationists decide to trust in the producer. Today’s anthem* proclaims that nature proclaims the glory of God, asserting that beauty points to the presence of an artist. But it is no less a miracle to observe that the beauty of nature may be self created.

Is it enough for humanity to chose a meaning for our existence? Do we need the hope of an ultimate controller? If we feel the universe is spinning out of control, we may desire a controller who will ultimately set things right. But if we accept the universe spinning as it is, we assume that it is all right because after all it has brought us this far.

The first chapter of Genesis has God declaring the Creation good. This is a moral assertion. It reassures some because they see that this is the voice of authority. But no human was actually there to hear God say Creation is good. So this conclusion must have come from human intuition.

Each of us needs to decide if the universe is for us or against us. Or is it neutral? This presumes that what is good for us is the ultimate good. It may not be.

Evolution claims that humanity is the highest evolved form. Christian Creationism declares that humanity is made in the image of God and the crown of creation. This really strokes our ego.

Both science and spirituality conclude that we humans are pretty darn nifty. Creationists want to keep humans special and not be reduced to just an animal. Evolutionists argue that we are not just an animal but the best of the animals.

These are self-serving stories. What if we are not the main characters of history?

Simple marketing points to the new and improved.

Using this criterion, each mutation of the bird flu might be the crown of creation. What if the purpose of our species is to be hosts to the ultimate rise of viruses? Perhaps if we thought of ourselves as the offspring of monkeys and demons, we might be a little more humble.

The many stories of our origins can never be totally reconciled with each other. We may call the energy of the universe God, but that still does not answer the question of intentionality. Why did God create? Why did energy escape at the big bang? If God is still creating, then we are not the ultimate. If God is done creating, then all we have left is a decaying world. If the universe is expanding, then everything will eventually break apart. If, as some theorize, the universe will someday contract again, then what was the point of expanding in the first place?

All that we know is, we are here now. Our search for meaning is best located in the present moment, because at each moment we hold the ability to decide what our past means. Some who believe that God created a good world now believe that creation has fallen. Some who believe in evolution conceive humanity as a cancer that is polluting the planet.

Whether we are the image of God or descendant of monkeys, we decide whether we are less than or more than our ancestors. The scope of history is much longer than our life span. Will we spend our brief years arguing where we came from, or will we work to make life better in the present moment?

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1. World Mythology, Roy Willis, General editor, Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1993 p. 104

2. ibid. p.266

* “The Heavens Are Telling” from The Creation by Franz Joseph Haydn