God:

The True
Cosmological Constant
Or
For the Trekkies out there...
God
The Real
Space-Time Continuum

When will we ever figure out the universe? I think we won’t.

Ever since the dawn of man, we have come up with one explanation or another as
to what the universe is all about and we’re still going at it.

In the days before written history there were cultures that thought the stars were
either gods or the spirits of ancestors that had gone before. The different beliefs
expressed by various cultures on this are too numerous to mention.

Let’s fast forward to the “age of enlightenment” sometime during the renaissance,
we had people who believed that the Earth was the center of the universe and
everything else revolved around it. Of course the universe revolved around us! It
was pre-ordained by God that we should be the center of attention. When someone
suggested that this was not the case, they were tried for Heresy and probably were
excommunicated from the church. It wasn’t nice to fool with Mother Nature or the
church for that matter.

Well, as time went by, mathematics and physics became instrumental in helping
astronomers figure out some of the workings of the universe. It seemed that one
new fact came rushing forward almost on a daily basis. With Albert Einstein and his
theory of relativity being trumpeted as the watershed work in physics, things
seemed be ready for the secrets the universe that seemed so elusive would finally
be exposed. We had nice new telescopes and photographic processes to record the
sky with. Yea, we were on top of things now. Human intellect was now poised to
come into its own.

Einstein had the mechanics of the universe all sorted out except that in his theory,
the universe was in constant motion. This obviously was a mistake because popular
scientific opinion said that the universe was static. Everything was fixed. The only
motion was the rotation of the galaxies and planets due to gravity. Of course you
might have a rogue asteroid or comet that was going off course because of some
gravitational pull or collision. Einstein had to make up an equation up that
compensated for the difference between his changing universe and the stagnant
one astronomer’s said was so. He came up with a factor he called the
“Cosmological Constant”. This equation compensated for the variables and made
the universe, as it was supposed to be... static.
Several years later, Edwin. Hubbell (the astronomer that nifty telescope is named
after), discovered that indeed the universe is moving. Boy, Albert can just throw
that useless factor out the window. In fact, the universe was expanding. Years
later the Big Bang theory became popular. (Rumor has it that it was a monk who
proposed this theory and that the Pope eagerly validated it to tie the universe and
the creation story together. It was judged that the universe exploded I guess
around 12-15 billion years ago. It was believed that the universe would eventually
slow down and then begins to retract onto itself back to the primordial ooze that
was here before the big bag happened.

But guess what.... Scientists now claim that the universe is not slowing down at all.
In fact it’s actually speeding up! How can this be you ask? Wouldn’t gravity
eventually put the brakes on the whole thing? Well the astronomers surmise that
there is an unknown force in the universe that is exhorting itself between the areas
of mass (mostly galaxies). This force overpowers the effect of gravity to the point
that the galaxies will soon become so far apart from each other that gravity will
have a negligible effect.

Unlike gravity, this unknown force remains constant. Where have I heard that
before? They don’t know what it is or how it got there but they have come up with
a few names for it. The most popular name is “Dark Matter”. If this “Dark Matter”
can’t be seen, measured, or quantified, doesn’t this just make it another equation to
make the universe fit into our primitive perception?

If the scientists are correct, this means that universe will expand forever. All the
suns will burn out over time and the universe will be left a very cold dark space.
Just goes to show that when you thought you were on the right track, you’re thrown
a curve ball.

What are our chances in getting answers to these questions:

1. What created the “Big Bang”?

2. How could there be total infinite empty space?
3. If the universe is not infinite, what’s could be before and what could be after?
4. Where did the energy that condensed into matter at the Big Bang come from?
5. Will the Red Sox win the World Series again?

So here are my thoughts on this... No matter how much we learn or decipher what
the universe is all about, we will always be far from figuring it out entirely. I mean,
if we are able to figure it, we would be on an equal level with God. In fact, God
would become just one of us. We may nibble around the edges in getting answers
but when it comes to the real basic questions, we will fall woefully short.

You get my drift.

Even though it is human nature to be curious, I believe we will never see the true
meaning of our existence totally just as we will never know the full plan God has in
mind for each of us on this world. This is not to say that we should stop trying to
figure things out. A lot of good can come about from seeking the answers as it
already has with insights and cures. I believe that the more we delve into the
mysteries of our existence and the universe, the more we should realize that there
is a higher power at work here.

I humble myself to God awesome power and revelation in our lives. We are meant
to do His will in this ever-changing world. In some things we need to trust God in
providing the answers in His time. If we rely on society to provide the answers
need, we will be placing our faith and trust in those that could make up those
convenient equations that make things fit comfortably.

No matter what the situation or condition we find ourselves in, we need to trust in
the constant love, grace, and salvation our Lord offers us always. The true
cosmological constant in my mind is that unchanging, unconditional love we most
dearly need. Other things will change or disappear like ancient gods or leaching,
but God’s love in constant and everlasting.

If I was going to wager I’d bet on God and His glory vs. man and his self made
destiny.