It is impossible to envision the nothingness that preexisted the very first act of creation, because there was nothing there: not even time, because time is a measurement that requires something to exist that can be measured. Was there light or darkness? I don’t know, because before it was created, there was nothing to generate light, and darkness would have been the absence of something that did not exist.
But, even before creation as we know it, there must have been something, because according to some brilliant thinkers, creation came into existence when some things collided, making a big bang. But what went bang? And most importantly, to my uninformed, non-scientific ignorance, there must have existed a math-science-stew because all that was created seems to comply strictly with what we have come to believe are the laws of nature, physics and mathematics.
And to those who think what I wrote so far is incomprehensible, I say “Exactly! That’s my point.” Scientists can conjure elaborate hypotheses, but no one knows for sure how matter first appeared, and certainly no one knows why. All that can be said with confidence is that a power beyond our comprehension caused creation to happen with a chaotic uniformity, and all that has been created dances to the rhythms of math and science under the baton of a power or force that is greater than us, but which has imbued humans with the ability to ponder the mystery: to seek explanation of why the minuscule orb we call Earth is the only garden within our tiny solar system that teems with life of all forms, from the simplest of plants to the most complex and lethal of all the animals, humans.
I suspect that of all the animals on Earth, only humans have the ability to ponder their own nature — to ask, “Who am I and why am I here?” — while at the same time being the alpha predator and perhaps also the most superfluous of all life forms. The majesty of the night sky would be all the brighter without the polluted air that we create. What we have called the balance of nature would be closer to equilibrium in our absence, for the forests, the mountains, the rivers and fertile valleys would flourish, providing abundance to the forest animals and the birds of the air and to the creatures of the waters. We need them for our survival, but we threaten their survival. And just think of the human civilizations that were destroyed when explorers and colonialists invaded lands only to subjugate Indigenous populations, plunder their cultures and enslave their people.
The products of our ingenuity deplete the natural resources of our fragile planet, all to manufacture things that serve our rapacious appetites for material possessions but that, for the most part, are of little to no value to the other lifeforms with which we share this tiny astronomical island of life. And we do this with the foreknowledge that there will be an end when, hopefully in the far distant future, our earthly home will be no more; it will cease to exist.
As gloomy as this might seem, I believe that facing the reality of our tentative existence has the potential to shake us awake so that we turn away from futile competition, from the gluttony of excessive consumption, the insanity of war, from prejudice and cruelty. So that we recognize, for the sake of those whom we love most — our children and their progeny — that we must embrace the love that will open our eyes to the beauty of creation, of what truly brings us happiness (which is not the same as amusement or entertainment, a topic for another time).
It is my belief that creation is the word of God and that what follows is the wisdom of God, which is what makes life the greatest of all gifts.
Happiness is not compatible with selfishness and cruelty. It is not compatible with domination and conquest. It is not compatible with wasting the lives of others in war or economic deprivation. It is not compatible with dishonesty and exploitation. Happiness is the joy of knowing that each of us is loved (even if not liked) by those around us and of knowing that we have each other’s backs.
To me, happiness is doing my best to love my neighbor, to live the beatitudes and to perform the works of mercy. In other words, happiness is the unselfish sharing of the bounty of who we are and what we have to offer others.
Jim Palermo lives in Southampton.