The supernatural world is an interesting place.
On one hand we have the ghoulish, ghastly, other dimensions of time and space stuff: U.F.O’s, bigfeet and Yetis of varying degrees, Champ and Loch Ness Monsters, fairies and sprites, spirits, ghosts and demons. At the other end of the spectrum we have the culturally accepted supernatural characters: gods from Allah to Yaweh and a throng of Jesuses thrown in for good measure, Vishnu and a lot of individually crafted deities who reign in some alternate dimension with implied dictatorial powers over the lowly beings of Earth. In between we have vampires, possession, E.S.P., clairvoyance and so on.
For lack of a better word, I’ve always thought the supernatural world is neat. I’ve always been envious of those who claim paranormal experiences, for I’ve never seen a single ghost train, been abducted by aliens or seen a ghastly wraith rise from it’s rain-dampened grave. (I’ll take a pass on the demonic possession, body-probing or thousand-year old curses from departed pharoahs, if you don’t mind). I’ll also pass on the glassy eyed accounts of having Jesus/Allah/Satan/Buddha/Flying Spaghetti Monster/The Ghost of Ed McMahon etc. filling my soul on account of my desire and intepretation that Jesus/Allah/Satan/Buddha/Flying Spaghetti Monster/The Ghost of Ed McMahon is out there presenting themselves in vague expressions such as using their divine powers to let me hit the winning free throw with 1 tick left on the clock.
I mention the magical, mystical beings of imagination because I’ve been reflecting on an essay by David Quammen from his book The Boilerplate Rhino that’s got me thinking: with all the absurdly beautiful and amazing offerings in the natural world, why do humans crave there to be more? Isn’t the jaw-dropping imagery from something like Planet Earth enough to appreciate in its own glory without ascribing it to some dude in robes (gods tend to favor robes for some reason, maybe because cargo shorts and converse don’t inspire the proper awe and reverence, unless of course you’re Tony Hawk).
The obvious trigger in our wandering thoughts seems to be that proverbial elephant in the room, that one day like the fabled Norweigan Blue, we’ll all be stone dead. Most of us have come to fancy this whole being alive thing. It eats away at our intellect that we can’t figure out the details in the contract of life, who signed the other end and if death is truly the end of all those feelings, thoughts and emotions banging around in our inner being. Somewhere between our desire to be immortal and connecting this world with an apres life, we’ve concocted a dizzying array of explanations: Belinda Carlisle asserts “heaven is a place on Earth” while David Byrne insists heaven is a place “where nothing ever, ever happens”. There’s Zeus on his throne on a cloud reigning thunderbolts and trying to pick up assorted earthly women, or the traditional God with his long, itchy beard or old squid-face himself, Cthulhu. Some faiths have boring white guys in the mix too, say Joseph Smith or Jesus, who is oddly characterized as a pale skinned, blue-eyed, fair-haired dude despite being born in the middle-east. Artistic license I suppose.
With all that in mind, I can’t help but think that the end is irrelevant but by nature (and not supernature), if the clock wasn’t ticking, we’d be a species of professional loafers. That’s what makes evolution such an appealing concept. Doubters say that what’s the point of passing down genes to continue the species when an immortal species would save a lot of trouble, though probably not be quite as much fun? Evolution brings into the mix the wild card of improved genes and the daring notion from the minute we pop out of momma screaming and squinting to the time we’re on the menu for the local worm population, we can actually develop and improve ourselves and our world.
Perhaps we’ll learn encode something practical into our genes, like a music skill or the ability to whistle really loudly at sporting events by sticking our fingers in our mouth. Our perhaps our contribution need not be genetic at all. Maybe we’ll write a great book or walk on the moon or partake in some endeavor that moves the whole of mankind in a positive direction.
My point is– the supernatural is a really fun concept to play with and perhaps shouldn’t be excluded from our interests, but until we’ve explored all that’s laid before us in the natural world, maybe it’s best to hold off on relying on the mystical and magical to define our world when we have many more lifetimes of wonder at our feet.
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You bring up some interesting points….I think a big reason people believe in a higher power is fear. Fear of the unknown, fera of what’s next, as you said. I rarely ever talk about what I believe in and why I believe in it because I really don’t like people preaching at me about anything. I do believe in a god, not one that is an old guy with a long beard, but more like the divine watchmaker who set it all in motion. I think the most important thing is how one lives life, and acting in a spiritual way, whether that is believing in budha, Ed McMahon, or being aware of the beauty in nature. I think it is more about treating people and the world around you with awe and wonder and respect, and being thankful for the things you have. If believing in god and going to church helps that happen, then awesome. If going to church makes you ahte others because they are not like you, then I think that stinks.
Hey Steph,
I appreciate your thoughtful response. In many ways, I feel the same–though, instead of ascribing the system to a single, omnipotent being I think the very best we can speculate is there is a beautiful system in place, its author well concealed and in no hurry to be acknowledged. My gripe is more the politics of religion and the obvious role it plays in stunting people’s ability to question the world around them–to be satisfied in their ignorance.
That being said, the ultimate measure of a person revolves how they treat those around them– and in my estimation, that is human and animal life, not to mention the natural environment. If there’s anyone mission we humans must embark upon, it’s to open our hearts and learn compassion for all life.
Makes me think of the Greek Gods, who were always at odd with one another and whose feuds trickled down into the habits and ways of men–they may be the things of mythology now but they certainly are as plausible as any modern religion that is followed today.
It is so interesting that so much of the bible is like the Greek myths…I don’t think it is a coincidence….just sort-of a moral law for a society.
I think that too many people and governments use religion as an excuse to cause harm, which is such a horrible shame because it really should be used as mentioned, more of a way to live life peacefully and caring about the world around you.
I think we should probably rule the world.