Life Force

 

Published June 2, 2007

 

“Belief in evolution doesn’t erase moral structure”

 

In her May 13 column “Gotcha’ question about evolution turned GOP debate into a game show” Kathleen Parker states that for some people “evolutionary theory reduces man’s world to a godless accident bereft of moral meaning or structure.”

 

Without meaning to be disrespectful, I think the problem that most people have accepting evolution stems from their perception of “God” as a conscious being that exists separate from them.

 

Believing, as I do, that ALL creation comes from, and is part of, the same source (which I’ll call “Divinity”), and that the only purpose of this source is the creation and support of all life, evolutionary theory makes complete sense, since it is essential to the various species’ ability to adapt and survive.

 

Since I recognize my connection with the Divinity, I understand that I am “interpenetrated” (Emerson’s word) by this “life force.”  Consequently, rather than my life being “bereft of moral meaning or structure,” I feel a profound obligation to conduct myself in a manner that respects, promotes, and supports all life.

 

Viewing myself as an intimate part of all creation enables me to see myself in all living things.  Feeling this connection frees me from the urge to judge, ridicule, harm, or remain angry with any person.  (That’s the ideal, anyway.  When I’m stuck behind someone who’s going slow in the left lane while yakking on their cell phone, it’s sometimes easy to forget the connection).

 

In my view, the “divine force of creation” is an irresistible force that just “is.”  It doesn’t judge and it doesn’t punish (although, when we act against it, we suffer negative consequences).  Plants and the other animals abide by it naturally.  We human animals, if I read the “Adam and Eve” story correctly, must silence our “conscious minds” in order for the force to be felt from within.