A few nights ago I took the dog out for a walk so he could ready himself for his evening slumber. Now, this post is neither about the dog, nor his slumber, but rather about the night or more particularly, my thoughts of that night.
It was the kind of night that one reads about in novels where the scene is set in an English countryside. You know the ones I mean, gentlemen dressed in suits of linen with women in their gowns and bonnets as they stroll down a cottage lane. Well it was that kind of night, sans gentlemen and ladies of course, just me and my dog. The moon and stars were out in full display, mountains and trees outlined against the sky while casting dim shadows upon the ground. There was just a hint of breeze, enough so that the air was clean and fresh, enjoyable to take in. A chorus of peepers were doing their best to gain my attention, (yes they were singing just for me), and succeeding admirably. The whole thing was wondrous which of course, got me to wondering.
Enveloped in this harmonious beauty, I found myself asking how could it be possible that all of this came about by random chance? Basing my answer on the evidence surrounding me, as well as other "evidence" provided me over the years, I concluded, it's not possible, in fact it's quite impossible. This notion of gasses existing forever until just the right sequence of chaotic events occurs, all on it's own, to provide a boom or a bang from which everything else comes forth seems, to me at least, to defy all reason. It's like saying we can have an easel, a canvas and a palate of paints and without any other interference we get the Mona Lisa. How insulted daVinci must feel. No, there must be some One or some Being to provide the spark, or in my example, the brush, for things to come about as they did. And so dear reader, this thought led me to another thought, or more accurately, a remembrance, for that is the way my mind works.
Several years ago I happened to observe a person of the Christian persuasion trying to "witness" to a Non-believer. Perhaps you've seen it yourself. The Christian was equipped with Bible in hand and was very eloquently quoting the Bible, book-chapter-verse, one quote after the other to prove the point to the "Non".
However, here was the problem as you have no doubt quickly surmised. If the "Non" does not believe in the Christian's God, he is not going to believe in the Christian's Book. This could only end one way,and so it did, with both parties walking away, neither one having convinced the other. Now, I'm not saying the Christian should not witness, in fact the Christian is called to witness. What I am saying is perhaps there is a better way to begin the process, for example by starting on some common ground. Which brings us back to my dog.
A favorite author of mine once wrote something which I only remember well enough to paraphrase. It went something like this. "The thing that separates man from the animals is that the man has the capacity to appreciate beauty". I thought of this line on that starry night, for while I was taking in all of the beauty that surrounded me, from the stars in the sky, to the shrubs on the ground, my dog took a sniff around said shrub and proceeded to relieve himself. Was the moment broken, no, not really, but it gave me a final thought, which was this.
If one really wants to try to convince a Non-believer, perhaps it's best to start not with a Book, but with a starry night and present the possibility that perhaps, just perhaps there is a some One or a some Being who provided the spark to the gasses, from which the rest of everything, including ourselves, evolved. And perhaps again, just perhaps, a little bit of that spark was placed inside each one of us.
Having completed our thinking and relieving for the night, my dog and I ventured back into our home and went to bed. I wish you pleasant dreams in your evening slumbers.
Cheers,
Dogwood
