Anthony J. Fisichella...
Evolutionary Design Part II
It has been said that the opposite of evolution is design. Maybe evolution somehow is the design, as held in the Mind of the Cosmos. The two words that are most often and inappropriately used with respect to evolution are, "blind" and "mindless" as in blind and mindless forces at work. The antithesis is true. Evolution is anything but mindless and blind. It is driven, governed and directed by the cosmic mind that permeates the system. It is based upon the accumulated knowledge and wisdom of the ages.
What we need is a different definition for evolution. As earlier stated; evolution is a series of progressive awakenings or the Process whereby Life becomes aware of Itself. Evolution is an outward, objective expression of a inner subjectively driven impulse, governed by a Divine Plan. It is informed by intelligence and guided by those who are more advanced developmentally. Evolution is, therefore, purposeful with its intent being the development of forms that are increasingly more sensitive and responsive to environmental demands across planes of reality. Further, it is intent upon an expansion of consciousness within these forms that sees itself as ever more responsible to its surroundings and this also across planes of reality. This requires the awakening of the spiritual faculties that recognize the fundamental unity and inter-dependency of all Life. If evolution is internally directed, not merely outwardly driven, the questions that must be resolved are, by whom, and how? The obvious though unsatisfactory answer is God. The how, we shall explore. Let’s see if a more definitive answer is possible as we proceed.
Ask yourself; is the notion of a divine creation any more wondrous than creation vis-à-vis the big bang? Did it all happen in the twinkling of an eye or is creation an ongoing process? Is it any less a miracle if the act of creation took six billion years instead of six days? After all time is a factor of the world of form that is the product of Creation. Did it all happen in a heartbeat or is it a Process of indeterminate duration? In the absence of the sun, created on the fourth day, how can we be certain how long the “first days” of the initial creative process endured? Does anyone in this day and age truly believe Bishop Ussher’s calculations of the genealogy of the Bible that dates planet Earth’s birth, and presumably the universe created in the same six day period, at 4004 BC?
There are those fundamentalists who would have us believe that the fossils that establish the age of Earth in the millions or billions of years, or the explanation for stars that are literally millions of lights years away are merely an appearance of age that God built into the system. This is truly a stretch and positions God as a trickster engaged in a great Cosmic Deception. For what purpose? To make us think the system is older than it is? Then why not a consistent view with respect to the Bible’s genealogy? And incidentally, so what? In questioning the chicken/egg syndrome, it has always seemed to me more pragmatic to simply understand the ongoing process of chickeneggchickeneggchicken…, than to be preoccupied with which came first or what set the process in motion.
Intellectually, if we cannot fathom the First Cause, we certainly can pay attention to the Process as it proceeds under the Law of Cause and Effect (Karma) and how it lawfully unfolds within our everyday lives. It would do well to realize that “Truth” is the connection between cause and effect. It is to this natural cipher of the Divine Process – the occult relation that exists between Spiritual Cause and physical effect – not merely that of the physical world vis-à-vis Newtonian physics, but that of the interplay of spirit and matter, where we may encounter the keys to enlightenment that warrant the attention of the soul. As Dorothy Chappell, Dean of Natural and Social Sciences at Wheaton College asserts, “We have two databases; scripture and nature.” “Many of us believe God has revealed Himself in both.” The predicament is that these revelations are subject to biased interpretations that often contradict each other. Both scientists and theologians put their own spin on the data.
Is your child any less a blessing having undergone a nine month period of gestation or would he/she be more so having appeared in an instant? Is a preemie any less a blessing than a child born of a pregnancy run full term? What if our children were born full grown? It certainly would eliminate much of the difficulties of child rearing. Also much of the fun and joy. If growth and change is the way of life, why should the word evolution be so disconcerting to some? And if spiritual growth, toward some exalted condition called enlightenment or illumination is the name of the game, how do we do it in the limited span of three or four score years? Did Jesus? The Christian community would say yes, in merely thirty. Or even more incredibly, that he was born in possession of all the spiritual qualities and perfection that you and I must somehow earn. Is it any wonder much of the religious community cast aspersions upon the notion of a group of Elders of humanity, the flowering of human evolution, often referred to as Masters, Adepts or Mahatmas? In the absence of a process of spiritual growth such individuals could not exist except as the products of some arbitrary and capricious act of God.
Is Jesus any less a wondrous individual if He cultivated and developed His marvelous qualities as opposed to having had them bestowed upon Him uninvited and unearned? To the contrary. Might we view Him differently if we perceived him as having evolved His miraculous character and powers over eons of time, and him the forebear of an eventual, exalted humanity?
Is it any wonder we hold Him in such God-like esteem, seeing the majesty of His Being and assuming He came forth full blown, from God, with all those wondrous capabilities. I think the reverse is true. He is more amazing having struggled His way up the ladder of Being, and more relevant to those of us who are to follow. I think we would honor Him more if we realized He earned the faculties He exercised, instead of being gifted with them by a benevolent and capricious Father. And, can any human soul accomplish the “stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13) in one incarnation? Wonders surround us. Are many incarnations any more or less wondrous or incredible than one?
If the Divine wanted (I use the word “wanted” figuratively) an evolutionary process as the way of it, who are we to insist, no? Why not let Life speak for Itself? It does so through every form, process and law governing existence. Study the forms, understand the processes, and work within the laws. Use all to penetrate to the Heart of Being and hear the “Marriage Song of the Heavens.” The evidence is compelling.
Why didn’t God create butterflies without the necessity of a caterpillar? Why the tadpole to precede the frog? Why an embryo and a fetus to give birth to a child? And why the uncanny relation that exists between a human fetus and that of many lesser life forms? Why a hundred or more useless, vestigial organs in the human body? Please don’t tell me, “That’s only for God to know”. “Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” (John 8:32)
Are evolution and design, contradictions? If there is a divine “Plan” or design in process of unfolding within the universe, that would seem to contradict natural selection. Maybe not. Maybe we still don’t fully understand the process of so called natural selection. Why couldn’t the Divine use a Process, call it what you will, to initially create and further, to continually evolve the manifested universe? We put our spin on natural selection and the survival of the fittest and search for a missing link because we don’t fully grasp the ramifications of the Process at work in and through it all. And suppose that Process initially unfolded in some previous system or life cycle and we, but an ongoing replication and extension of that Process? If this is but the continuation of an unknown process begun even before the inception of the Earth, is it any wonder we have missing pieces? Life is Self organizing, Self renewing, Self maintaining and Self governing. But, who or what set the parameters (the Divine Measure)?
Perhaps if we recognized that no one system of thought possesses a monopoly on truth and perhaps if we could acknowledge that it would be in the best interest of all concerned if we were to become as slaves to truth instead of prisoners of dogmatic ideologies, we might then discover that the truth lies somehow in a marriage of seemingly disparate views. Maybe all the systems, in some measure, are right, and maybe all, to varying degrees, are wrong.
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