"Worlds without number have I created"

There’s a collection of documentaries on Netflix called “Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey.” It’s hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson, who I’m actually not a huge fan of. He’s kind of corny (he reminds me of LeVar Burton from Reading Rainbow, except he talks about science, which is WAY more interesting), and he gives me the impression that he has a pretty low opinion of those who do not believe in evolution. I also get the impression that he isn’t a religious man, although I don’t know if that’s true or not. But regardless of his personal views, the first episode was absolutely eye-opening to me, and I think everyone should watch it if they can. Seriously, do it. Like right now. Then come back and read this, and maybe you’ll have an even more open mind. That episode actually strengthened my testimony of Heavenly Father and his divinity.

This theory of evolution is a pretty touchy subject, and can create some tension between men of God and men of science. I think it’s pretty difficult for some of us to accept the fact that we’re related to monkeys, and I still have problems with that. It’s hard to feel special when your “ancestors” are merely animals. But I, personally, have decided to consider that fact or theory or whatever you may consider it, and I’ll tell you why; here’s my theory (I know others have considered this as well, so I apologize for the redundancy).

SCIENCE DOES NOT CONTRADICT THE EXISTENCE OF GOD; IT PROVES IT.

It’s no secret that I am obsessed with science, and this is basically the reason for that. I have never seen greater physical evidence of His power in anything else in this world. While searching for God through prayer and scripture study is the most important way to learn of his love for us, it’s not the only way. My belief in anything is greatly strengthened when I understand the physical evidence behind it. Again, I didn’t say that I needed PROOF. I just get excited when spiritual things are backed by science.

I believe that evolution and the “Big Bang” are, in fact, realistic ideas. You may not think so, but I would encourage you to at least open up your mind to the possibility. I don’t even know if I’m going to accept it as absolute truth yet because I don’t know for sure, and there might be doctrine that disprove it, but this theory of mine makes me feel pretty dang important in the eyes of God. So I think I’ll accept it until someone tells me it’s absolutely wrong.

Billions and billions of years of evolution has led up to this point. Maybe we are relatives of monkeys. It wouldn’t be a crazy idea, after all. All of creation is built from the same components, which makes us all inherently connected. The same iron found on Mars can be found in our own bodies. To me, that’s pretty poetic. I see that as a beautiful thing, that we are connected to every object and living thing in the universe. Wow.

You look at the vastness of this universe and of all existence, and you may feel small and insignificant. I mean, the number of galaxies in the universe is just staggering, and their beauty is equally staggering. There are not words to explain the wonders we see in the physical world; it’s enough to make a person cry! It’s also enough to make one feel unimportant in the grand scheme of things

But we are the exact opposite.

If you accept both God and science, this idea is much more real. WE were the purpose behind the Big Bang. All of the trillions of galaxies and stars were created in order for our existence. “Worlds without number have I created.” HE created; not chance. But why?

FOR US.

I mentioned in a previous post that our passion is what mainly sets us apart from all other life, but it’s obviously not the only thing. I think of our passion as something that comes with our spirit, and that wasn’t necessarily created in this physical world (maybe it was; the concept of the creation of our “spirit” still leaves me mind-boggled). But we can also think and reason and make choices when no other creature can. Our ability to create things is proof enough that we have divine worth. The immense difference between us and other “intelligent” life is incomprehensible. I don’t know what the next “most intelligent” species is, but I think there’s a good chance that it actually IS monkeys (I mean, we’ve found a way to communicate with them for heaven’s sake). So it would seem that we may have actually evolved from monkeys. But, how can we then say that we were created in the image of God?

We were created in His image, but maybe it took a long time for us to get to that point. I don’t know if it says anywhere that our creation was achieved in an instant. In the documentary, they talk about the “cosmic calendar,” where it puts all of time, from the Big Bang to the present day, into one calendar year. Everything we know, everything we read in history books about people who have once lived, happened in the final SECOND of that “year” of creation. Biblically, we have only been a species for thousands of years. So what about the dinosaurs? I mean, the bones are there and they’re super old, so how were they created and why? Well, maybe God was just giving us something to keep us busy and occupy our time. I don’t know. But I don’t believe that it proves that God is not real, nor does it prove that evolution is not real.

I was told by one of my religion teachers that God still has to obey the rules of nature that are set for us. If that’s true, then it all makes sense! Evolution would’ve just been a necessary part of the creation of our bodies. But I believe that God started our spiritual “timeline” at the creation of Adam and Eve. How does that explain our prehistoric, cavemen ancestors? Maybe they just didn’t have the luxury of having a spirit. But at the point that Adam and Eve were created, the creation of our bodies was complete, OUR existence began, and our purpose was revealed.

Russell M. Nelson said in a conference talk, “could an explosion in a printing shop produce a dictionary?” Understand that I’m not questioning his authority as a leader of the church. He’s right; saying that some chance explosion created who we are today and the complexity of our bodies and its regenerative properties is most ridiculous if you don’t include a divine creator in the equation. There is no way that it could happen by accident. But the theory makes me wonder if it wasn’t an accident. If God has to obey his own laws of nature, then the Big Bang might have been necessary for the development of the most basic elements that make up our universe and our bodies.

So maybe that’s the purpose behind evolution; it was necessary for the creation of our bodies (which was created by God of course). But Heavenly Father is also the creator of our spirit. So I’ll reiterate; the creation of Adam and Eve was the beginning of the human race as we know it to be today, and that is the point where we were set apart from other species. Again, you look at all living things and even after all those million of years of evolution, we are the only ones that have been able to think and create to the capacity that we have achieved. I mean, I guess it’s possible that we could continue to evolve as a species, and as far as I can tell, we have when it comes to our capacity to understand things of this world. But I don’t think that we would have nearly enough time to evolve into some kind of super-human that can fly and see through walls and so on. When it comes to the evolution of the human race, I think this is the end of it.

By understanding where we came from and how we came to be, we can better understand God and his love for us. Of all of the incredible creations and beauties of this universe, it is obvious that we are certainly His most precious. We are His children, and He knows each of us personally. If He put all of those billions of years of effort into creating my body to be the host of my spirit, I find that as proof that He loves me more that I can comprehend. He did all this for ME, and imperfect person, who may seem insignificant, but in relation to all things in the universe, I am of incredible importance. Regardless of our choices, we are important to our Heavenly Father. Everyone is a child of God, even if they are a part of a different religion or political group. He made the same effort to create them. So love them.

I know that there are still some holes in this theory, but even in science, we’re NEVER going to be able to understand everything and how it all fits together. When it comes to scientific discoveries, I believe we’ve only scratched the surface, which is why miracles may seem impossible to us. Maybe it’s the science that we DON’T understand that explains the possibility of miracles. But that idea would require an open mind from both those that believe in God and those that do not.

This is not doctrine, it’s just an idea. And while I can’t prove it, I don’t think you can disprove either. But just think about it, mmkay?

Just some food for thought.

We Are ALL Average.

Here’s something that I’ve thought about for a while now. In fact, I first came up with this idea during my first year of college. Here is where I elaborate.

In my first blog post, I made a comment about how I feel when people think I’m smart because of my major. I also said it would be a conversation for another day; I guess that day is today. I actually get a little irritated when they say that, and now you’ll know why, because here is the theory that I’ve come up with:

One of the secrets to being happy and satisfied with life is learning how to be okay with being “average.”

Well, to make you more “okay” with it, I’m going to redefine the meaning of “average.” From this point on, you’re going to hear a lot of references to school. (Deal with it.)

I REALLY don’t like to think of myself as smart; that doesn’t mean that I think I’m stupid either. I decided to pursue a career in Biochemistry because 1) the subject and its capabilities is incredibly fascinating to me, 2) my academic strengths happen to be math and science, where ideas may be a little abstract, and 3) if I needed to support myself and/or my family, I could. I’m not doing it because I’m smart, and it would be easier for me to do this as opposed to another field of work. I’m going into this, realizing that there are going to be people that are way “smarter” than me.

While you may be really good at something, there will almost always be someone better. That’s just a fact of life. But in my opinion, that’s the issue; we always want to be the best. That is our goal. We are so obsessed with being “the best” that we aren’t satisfied with being “good enough.” We never want to be average. But you know what? I know I’m average, and I’m perfectly okay with that, because first of all, being average means that there is PLENTY of room for growth. Second of all, being the “best” means that there’s only one way to go; down. How discouraging. But it doesn’t have to be.

Throughout high school, I was always so angry when grades came out because I always (LITERALLY) got ONE B. All A’s except for that dang B! This curse started the first quarter of my freshman year of high school. I was taking a lot of classes, 0 to 7^th block, so it was a decent work load. But guess what my first B was in… P.E.  Oh I know what you’re saying, “How do you get a B in P.E?!” Trust me.

I know.

You want to know how I earned a B? (Even if you don’t I’m still gonna tell you.) I had a hairline fracture in my leg, and it kind of hurt! So I got a doctor’s note that excused me from participating, but I would still have to make it up later. Well, that would have been fine if it would have actually been healed by the time I needed to make those days up. Surprise. It didn’t. Hence, the B.

I’m still just a little bitter about it, in case you can’t tell. But it was something that was completely out of my control.

I struggled with it for the rest of high school. Every time I got that one B, that little voice in my head reminded me that even though I was “good,” I wasn’t good enough to be the “best.” Instead of being proud of myself for getting good grades, I got frustrated with myself for falling short, and it all started with that stupid B in P.E.

I know that this probably isn’t a new concept, but what I’m trying to say goes past just “falling short” of the best and learning to be ok with it, since you did your best. I’m sure you did, but what are you “falling short” of? Earning a 4.0 GPA? Because the truth is, there’s someone else that’s better, and then someone better than that person, and so on and so forth. So, (now I’m using some physics concepts. You can tell I love science. Nerd) relative to each individual person, they are ALL average. So what, you’re more average than that average person?

If you compared yourself to others in a small group (such as a class), you’d probably be able to put yourself on a definite scale of intelligence. But if you look at the big picture, it would be impossible to do so. To better illustrate what I mean, I’m going to liken this to:

 THE UNIVERSE.

(Cue dramatic music. Go listen to "The Planets-Mars" by Gustav Holst. Listen to the whole thing. You won't regret it. I PROMISE.)

 

(I just felt like comparing something to the universe was so dramatic that it needed a dramatic introduction. Also, my knowledge of astronomy might be a little dated. So if I’m wrong, just go with it, because it fits my analogy perfectly.)

Everything in the universe is moving out and away from each other. If you were to put all planetary bodies in a straight line, and put yourself on one of those objects, it would seem as though everything from your left and right was moving away from you (much like how there will be people “better” than you at something, as well as “worse”). But put yourself on one of those other “moving” objects that you see (slash, put yourself in someone else’s shoes), and you would see the exact same thing. I would seem that everything is moving away from you, and you are stationary. But regardless of what you see you are still moving. You aren’t moving towards or away from anything, you just “are.” (I know it doesn’t make sense, but it does in my mind)

“This person is moving forward, doing this and that, and I’m just stuck here.” Nope. That is an invalid statement.

ANY comparison you make between yourself and another person is completely invalid; you’re still moving. So put yourself on one of those planetary objects, and instead of thinking about what’s happening on your left and right, just consider you; consider the big picture. You are just like them. You are moving. And maybe, if you’d just pause for a second, you’d actually be able to feel it.

Think about it.

We always look at our abilities in comparison to what other people are doing. Always. And if you don’t think you do, then I don’t believe you; we can’t help it! Sometimes we don’t even think about it negatively, either.

“That person’s best is better than my best, and I guess that’s ok.” Well that’s fine, “I guess,” but what I truly believe is that we shouldn’t EVER consider what other people are doing.

“This is my best. I have done all I can do.” There. Just leave it at that. Don’t even think about whether or not it’s good compared to another person. I PROMISE you, God doesn’t care what your best is compared to someone else’s best, and neither should you. (Good grief, how many times can someone say “best?” Well, not enough apparently, ‘cause I ain’t done yet.)

You did your best. They did their best. Therefore, you are EQUALS. You both did all you could do, so just leave it as it is. And because of that, along with my “universe” analogy, we are all just “average.” So no, studying biochemistry doesn’t mean I’m smart. And if I am smart, then so are you; they only thing that’s different is our interests.

At first, I was going to say “don’t even make goals!” I decided that wasn’t a good idea. But I would hope that we could make goals differently. “One day, I want to be as smart as Bill Gates.” That’s respectable, I guess. But it’s a goal based on what someone else has done. Instead, make goals without any preconceptions of what other people have done. Difficult, I know, because we already know what others are capable of, but I truly believe that this could make us purely satisfied with how “successful” we are. Take a class with the goal of learning about the subject. Just forget than there are other students in the class. Don’t even make it a goal to get an A, because then you’re judging yourself based on a system. Don’t even EXPECT to get an A if you try your hardest; just learn all you possibly can. If you do all you can to learn about the subject, then you might get the A, but you might not.

I’ll admit that I hate that there’s even a way to measure if someone is the “top of their class.” I’m not trying to negate everything that that person has done to get there, but that means that thousands of students “fell short.” Some of those students may have worked just as hard, if not harder than, that one individual. And it obviously isn’t true; if someone didn’t graduate at the top of their class, it doesn’t mean that they failed or didn’t try hard enough. And I don’t believe that their effort was greater than mine, but I may see it that way. This obviously applies to more than just school, but in the words of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, “you are smart enough to make unspoken applications.”

So here we are. We are equals, just working within our own capacity, and no comparison should EVER be made. That is such a relieving thought to me, and I hope it is to someone else. I am equal to Bill Gates, and any other famous or successful person in the world; my best is just as good as their best.

So yes, I am a Biochemistry student.

No, that doesn’t mean I’m smart.

I am perfectly average,

And I am more than okay with that.