This month's first blog post is about Change. LyraLynne has written an essay here (originally for a WriteTheWorld.com competition about this subject.
"You need to focus on the skill. What is the skill here? Change. Talk about change. How did their ideas change throughout this time period? What did that lead to?" My AP US History teacher's words rung in my ears as I rode the bus home. Sure, he was talking about an essay on the American Revolution, but, like most everything else, I made it relevant to my own life. How have my ideas changed about the world throughout my life? Curiosity got the better of me, and I pulled up the notes section on my phone. Lists are one thing that rule my life. I make lists for everything, though I only write them down if I know I won't remember them. Therefore, that day, I wrote them down. This idea about change resonated with me, and I started to ask myself, how have I changed? For example, in the past few years, I have been struggling to write an autobiography. How am I, a relatively humble person write an entire book about myself? I don't want to seem like I'm bragging, or complaining. I just want to get it out there, but every time I try to start I get stuck. Using this idea of change, I can bring a bigger idea to my life and reflect that on the paper. I got really excited. Naturally, I first thought about the obvious: Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy. However, I tend to over-complicate things, meaning I quickly moved into the more serious stuff. For example, when I was younger, I thought people liking the same gender, or wanting to switch genders was weird, and gross. Most kids do. As we grow older, and learn more about this, that's when we can take a step back and question our earlier thinking. I know I did. It's a sad fact how many children and even teenager's opinions are identical to their parents. That's just what they were raised to believe, and yet they don't feel the need to see things from a different perspective. Anger in arguments is just created from a frustration of not being able to see both sides. We are all blinded to the other person's evidence because we are too proud to admit that there is a different view point than your own, and one that should be carefully considered during a debate. That's why getting all the information is always better than the bare minimum. As a kid, you're sheltered from a lot of the horrible things in the world. However, this creates an image of the world that you have growing up. The world is good, everyone is nice, you'll get exactly what you want in life. Then, as you get older, that dream begins to give way to reality. You begin to think that the world is getting worse as the years go by, but it was really the same. The change was in you, because before you were blind to the bad and have now started realizing the truth. The world is not perfect. Personally, I had to grow up a lot earlier than I should've. It wasn't even just having cancer at 10 and again at 12 that did it. No, it was the difficulty of being the middle child with the maturity of the oldest. Both my older and younger siblings are on the autism scale (barely but evidently) and so I have to deal with the consequences of having two siblings with some form of mental disability. I love my sisters, but we don't get along well, and I am ashamed to say that I used to be embarrassed of them. I have really started to learn what it means to have a maturity and to be strong for others. It's not the fact that you are more trustworthy, or reliable, it's that you have a better understanding of the past future and present worlds, and can, therefore, guide others toward or away from them. I learned that lesson early on. Change in life can be good, but it can also bring disastrous results. Bad change can bring positivity and hope, good change can bring despair and loss of faith. It depends on the situation and your view of it. While dealing with cancer, it opened up my eyes to the world around me. I started noticing guys, caring about what I wore, just trying to fit in as much as I could so what was different stood out less. Most of these changes were subconscious. However, my attitude wasn't. Pushing away everyone, I developed a mindset of, this is not happening to me, I am normal, everything is fine, I'm doing well. None of that was true. My life became a fragile, suffocating bubble around myself that whenever someone came close, I had to back away for fear of it popping. The change was too much for me. It took years afterward for me to even think about it again. With a friend and confidant, I opened my eyes to the seemingly new world I was in. Life, living, became so much clearer. I knew that I wanted to express this internal battle I went through to help others to recognize their own. Only, I didn't know how to do that. The one thing I'm really talented at is school. Sure I can play the flute moderately well, and my singing doesn't make peoples' ears bleed, but I wouldn't consider it a talent. But, the fact that I could study for a test for ten minutes and only get around three wrong was a talent by almost anyone's standards. I held to that. I just didn't know how to express my feelings through learning. That's where my writing came in. I had been writing for a few years, but only fantasy and some science fiction here and there. I hated to read realistic fiction and non-fiction, much less write it. My new sight gave me the ability to open up to other genres, and I mostly write realistic/inspirational fiction now. I get to share my story in unique ways and hopefully inspire others to share theirs too. Like my APUSH teacher said that day, "Talk about change... What did that lead to?" Something I would've added on is, How do we go on from there? The best example for that I can give is another quote, this time from a phenomenal work of fiction. "I'm on a roller coaster that only goes up, my friend" (The Fault in our Stars, John Green). Our lives are all just one giant amusement park, and each one of us is riding a roller coaster. There are ups, there are downs, there's a loopty-loop here and there. The speed will change, it'll make you feel like you'll fall. Those who persevere are the ones who took the change and rode it all the way through. You might puke on the other side, your legs might be a little shaky, but you survived. You survived. -LyraLynne
0 Comments
Throughout all of our time here on earth, humanity has asked questions. From whats to hows to whys, we have a natural curiosity for the world around us. Although we have answered plenty of our ponderings, there are still tons more that might never be answered. Our best ways of predicting, or guessing at the answers are found within different groups. Perhaps the most popular is religion, more specifically Christianity. Religion is based around explaining certain monumental feats with one or more powerful beings. The next would be science, observing the world around us and attempting to answer the questions through experimentation. These two groups have been going at each other’s throats for centuries. The best example of this is probably the story of Galileo versus the Catholic Church. Though it might seem like they share no similarities, they actually have more in common than one might think. As Buddha once said, "Each of us is a God. Each of us knows all. We need only open our minds to hear our own wisdom.” Both Christianity and science have explanations for things such as the formation of the universe, the creation of humanity and the destruction of life, but throughout all of the differences, there is a thread that connects each of their ideas, leading us back to the main question: Is the world better explained by scientific means, or by the religion of Christianity?
How time and the universe began is the first, quite large question both science and Christianity have fought over. They have very different opinions on the answer. Christians, for example, believe in their scripture, or the Holy Bible. The very first book in the Bible explains their belief, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was waste and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep: and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” (American Standard Version Bible Genesis 1:1-3). As explained in the Christian faith, the all-powerful God created the entire universe in 6 days, making one part per day. Many scientists disagree with this belief, and along with many neutral parties, believe in what’s called The Big Bang Theory. “Scientists have gathered a lot of evidence and information about the Universe. They have used their observations to develop a theory called the Big Bang. The theory states that about 13.7 billion years ago all the matter in the Universe was concentrated into a single incredibly tiny point. It began to enlarge rapidly in a hot explosion, and it is still expanding today” (bbc.co.uk). Basically, they think that the world exploded into existence, and everything took billions of years to form with the Earth’s creation taking place very recently. Needless to say, these two are very different, considering 6 days is nowhere close to billions of years. However, this is definitely not the only nor most significant argument between the two groups. Perhaps the most famous, controversial question between science and the Christian faith, is how humanity came to be. It seems as if everyone has an opinion, one way or another. The generally accepted explanation between the scientific community is Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. “Darwin's Theory of Evolution is the widely held notion that all life is related and has descended from a common ancestor: the birds and the bananas, the fishes and the flowers -- all related...That is, complex creatures evolve from more simplistic ancestors naturally over time” (darwins-theory-of-evolution.com). Darwin suggests (with evidence) that every living thing is related, and has evolved over time through several processes such as Natural Selection and Genetic Drift. Christian lore however, explains something quite different. “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them” (Genesis 1:26-27). Essentially, God created man specifically, to be in his likeness. Humanity didn’t evolve from other creatures; they were created as humans immediately. Many Christians disagree with the Theory of Evolution, because they believe there is no evidence to support it. That evolution happens too slowly to be seen. On the contrary, many scientists don’t believe in the Bible’s version of humanity’s creation because they either don’t believe in God, or they don’t think the Bible is concrete evidence of the truth. Even neutral people have strong opinions. Whatever the case is, this question may never be answered completely, and we’ll probably never agree on the truth. However, there is still so much to be answered. One question that is not-so well known, yet definitely controversial, is how the end of the world is going to come about. For non-Christians, the Bible’s Armageddon may seem just a bit far fetched. “...there were lightnings, and voices, and thunders; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since there were men upon the earth, so great an earthquake, so mighty. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell…” (Revelation 16:18-19). This is just a snippet of the book of Revelation, where the entirety of the end of the world is explained in great detail. In short, once seven seals have been broken, everyone on Earth will die. Those who are enemies of God will go to Hell, and those who aren’t get to go to Heaven. Inevitably, many people disagree with this belief. However, on the other side, there are controversies between scientists. One of the only things that they can completely agree on though, is the death of the sun. “It is widely understood that the Earth as a planet will not survive the sun's expansion into a full-blown red giant star...while the Earth's orbit may also have expanded outwards slightly, it won't be enough to save it from being dragged into the surface of the sun, whereupon our planet will rapidly disintegrate” (phys.org). This essentially means that because the sun is a star, the sun will die in approximately 5 billion years. Because the Earth is in a pretty close orbit to the sun, when the sun expands and gets hotter and brighter, it will eventually swallow up the earth. Not to worry though. Most people believe humanity will most likely be long gone by then from the consequences of our own actions. While this argument isn’t a main part of the feud, it is still a big difference in the beliefs of the two groups. With all of the disagreements between the scientific community and the Christian faith, one main question remains. Could they actually be explaining the same things? Science and Christianity have many similarities that definitely outweigh the differences. Take creation for example. Yes, the Bible claims that everything was created in just 6 days while science believes it took billions of years, but there is one main point that sticks out. The first calendar that measured days as we do now was the Julian calendar that was instituted in 46 B.C. A long time after the creation of Earth. Basically, God wouldn’t have had the earth to measure a day from until he created it, so one day for him could have been billions of years. Plus, both groups agree that the universe most likely started at one point in time. The Big Bang vs. God saying, “Let there be light.” Not only do their versions of creation mirror each other, but their controversial sides of humanity’s development have similarities too. For example, when it says in the Bible that God created man in his image, it could mean a great many things. Yes, it could mean our physical body structure, or our behaviors, but it could also mean our minds. The human mind is an incredibly complex, not entirely known about place. The Bible could be saying that God modeled our minds after him. Therefore, leaving the door open for evolution. Even their forms of the destruction of the universe can be explained in pretty much the same way. Essentially, God’s wrath upon the earth could take the form of the sun’s death, so when the earth’s oceans evaporate, the atmosphere gets thicker, and will eventually become uninhabitable. If that doesn’t sound like an all-powerful being wreaking havoc upon creation, I don’t know what does. Their stories aren't the only things that correlate.Many scientists are actually devout Christians, such as Galileo, who was a Catholic himself. Other scientists who believe that there is a god include Nicholas Copernicus, Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin, and Sir Isaac Newton. The common threads between the two sides overwhelmingly outweigh the differences. Meaning, maybe these two aren’t so different after all. While we can’t go back in time and make things right between Galileo and his beloved church, we can start to make things right for the future. After all, if we don’t learn about the past, what’s stopping us from repeating it? Even though they have very different opinions on the answers to life’s mysteries, science and Christianity share the same ultimate goal. To find some solutions to the questions we keep asking ourselves. What is our purpose in life? How did we get to where we are now? What does the future hold? Who knows? We may never get closure. The rest of our days could be spent on us making educated guesses and relying on history to explain it for us. We could just leave it as it is, and move on to other things. Or, we could just go along with Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and proclaim that, “The Ultimate Answer to Life, The Universe and Everything is...42!” No matter what we believe, one thing is for certain. We’ll never stop asking, never stop wondering. Science and Christianity will never stop butting heads about the answers. Maybe one day we’ll get some definitive results. But until then, we have the right to our own opinions about the world, and the right to continue our curious ways, questioning anything and everything. After all, if we don’t have curiosity, what do we have? |
|