Creation

Curiosity is the wellspring of creativity. The human desire to explore, to seek answers and to uncover secrets is the source of every invention and every technology, all of art, and all of religion. We have always been curious, for example, about the origin of the universe. What started this? How did we get here? Every tribe has invented and passed down a creation story. No matter how exhaustively studied, no matter what science may propose, no matter the evidence, the source of universal creation will never be more than a theory, never anything more than a myth dressed up in equations and so-called proofs.

Creation is not something that happened; it is perpetual, ongoing. The next moment in time does not exist yet. Universal conception is taking place now, constantly. The world and everything in it is continuing to take shape, to be formed, to become reality with every moment that arrives. The quaint idea that some supreme being initiated eternity and infinity does not pass the simplest test of logic. The supreme being is the mystery itself, always prompting our curiosity.

Lately the “Let there be light” story was replaced by a “Big Bang” hypothesis. Doubtless in ages hence, as the finality of the atom was replaced by string theory, the Big Bang will have become a cute antiquity. Maybe people will go back to believing in a mysterious deific force waving it all into being. It is certain that we’ll never know for certain. Human curiosity will doubtless persist, but it is hopeful that we will focus our curiosity not on the “How” but turn instead to a more important, personal question. “Why?”

Why are we here? Why am I here? What is our purpose, our significance? What can I make of this life I’ve been given? How will I honor my own creation? A desire for value in one’s own life prompts fundamental, existential questions: What is my purpose? How can I be of value? How shall I be satisfied with my life? These questions may never be answered but must be asked. The meaning of our creation is our responsibility to find, and the result of our curiosity will simply be a more rewarding search.