Tension

There is a certain tension in the universe. It is both around us and within us. We are part of it. The planets and stars spin in their orbit, held in place by forces we cannot see and can barely understand. Space is vast. The edge of it, if there is one, is beyond our ability to see with even the most powerful telescopes humans have yet devised. Looking at the galaxy, it appears random, and yet there is order.

In our planet’s orbit it is no different. The earth on which we are totally dependent is somehow held in suspension between the gravitational pull of the sun and the outward expansion of the universe. Attraction and propulsion are constantly at work. The balance of these two delicate but irresistible forces is what allows the earth to continue its present existence. Were the attraction to win, the earth would be consumed in the sun’s fiery heat. Were propulsion to overcome, the planet would become another frozen mass hurtling through space.

As unlikely as it seems, the earth is held in the exact position, with the correct balance of heat and cold, wet and dry, gaseousness and solidity that allows life to occur. There are scientists who study the stars and planets of the universe in search of understanding, seeking places where life might exist. I have read that some such searchers have come to opinion that, of the millions of stars and planets in the galaxy, there may be as few as three places where such life may even be possible. It is a wonderful tension we live in.

It may be an appropriate metaphor for our life and the human quest for God. We are held in a tension between knowing and unknowing, seeing and not seeing, belief and doubt. There is, in our souls, our spiritual DNA if there is such a thing, this gravitational attraction that constantly pulls us toward God, that makes us search and long for unity with that divine force that is the very centre of our universe. And yet there is something that also holds us at bay. Something propels us constantly outward, further, seeking more and greater understanding in our search for truth, wisdom, and understanding. The road to transformation indeed travels both inward and outward.

I will leave it to the reader to ponder this tension. For me, and for now, it is a wonderful place to be.

Posted by Carman