God and Nature Winter 2020
Orphan of the Universe |
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By Dean Ohlman
In the beginning was unconscious, senseless cause.
Then magnum crepitus:
Nothing exploded into something;
Immateriality burst into materiality;
Purposelessness caused a cosmos; and
Randomness feigned design.
For millions of eons after the beginning, something was here,
But nothing was aware that something was here.
There was no plan and no person in the universe--
Nowhere.
Then lifelessness created life;
Insentience awoke;
Obliviousness became consciousness;
Impersonality gained a face;
Asexuality engendered sexuality;
Ignorance developed knowledge;
Instinct evoked insight and thought;
Thought formed the word;
Nonsense found meaning;
Life begot love;
Amorality gained a conscience
And organized an ethic.
So this undesigned, complex bundle of matter became a designer.
This unplanned, carelessly erected building
Became a careful planner and builder.
This cosmic anomaly wrote poetry.
This uncreated creature created music and art,
And it weeps in wonder over the
Stunning beauty and mystery of its
Purposeless, meaningless environment.
Mankind: sad orphan of the universe,
Naturally selected survivor of chaos,
Aware that it’s a what with no answer
And a why with no because.
Dean Ohlman is retired from Our Daily Bread Ministries in Grand Rapids, MI. He served as a writer, editor, and script writer for Day of Discovery TV. From 2008 to 2012, he hosted a blog for ODB on “The Wonder of Creation,” which can still be viewed online at https://wondercreation.wordpress.com. Dean’s last TV series for Day of Discovery is titled “The Wonder of Soil,” which was based on his booklet of the same title. His booklets on the wonder of creation are online here: https://discoveryseries.org/author/deanohlman. Dean has been active in the Christian creation-care movement for thirty years.
In the beginning was unconscious, senseless cause.
Then magnum crepitus:
Nothing exploded into something;
Immateriality burst into materiality;
Purposelessness caused a cosmos; and
Randomness feigned design.
For millions of eons after the beginning, something was here,
But nothing was aware that something was here.
There was no plan and no person in the universe--
Nowhere.
Then lifelessness created life;
Insentience awoke;
Obliviousness became consciousness;
Impersonality gained a face;
Asexuality engendered sexuality;
Ignorance developed knowledge;
Instinct evoked insight and thought;
Thought formed the word;
Nonsense found meaning;
Life begot love;
Amorality gained a conscience
And organized an ethic.
So this undesigned, complex bundle of matter became a designer.
This unplanned, carelessly erected building
Became a careful planner and builder.
This cosmic anomaly wrote poetry.
This uncreated creature created music and art,
And it weeps in wonder over the
Stunning beauty and mystery of its
Purposeless, meaningless environment.
Mankind: sad orphan of the universe,
Naturally selected survivor of chaos,
Aware that it’s a what with no answer
And a why with no because.
Dean Ohlman is retired from Our Daily Bread Ministries in Grand Rapids, MI. He served as a writer, editor, and script writer for Day of Discovery TV. From 2008 to 2012, he hosted a blog for ODB on “The Wonder of Creation,” which can still be viewed online at https://wondercreation.wordpress.com. Dean’s last TV series for Day of Discovery is titled “The Wonder of Soil,” which was based on his booklet of the same title. His booklets on the wonder of creation are online here: https://discoveryseries.org/author/deanohlman. Dean has been active in the Christian creation-care movement for thirty years.