Eternal Delight

"Energy is eternal delight," wrote William Blake, the English poet/painter (1757-1827).

Scientists tell us that, to the best of their knowledge, they believe that energy lies at the very core of the universe, of all that is--animate and inanimate. Christianity (like most religions) teaches that God is at that same core of all that exists. Could the two be one? Can energy be benevolent? Forgiving? Gracious? Is energy the "father" of all life? Have we religious types personified energy and named it "God?" Are we somehow reducing God if we think of God as the energy that lies at the heart of all that is? Or, are we expanding our understanding of God?

One thing seems certain; both God and energy are committed to Life with a capital "L."

"God" is a word we have been using to describe the life force at the root of all for a very, very long time. And we must admit we have made "God" in our image. (Even Jesus suggested we call God "Our father in heaven.") Have we boxed this life force, this energy, this "eternal delight" in by doing so? In naming it, have we created a way to control or contain it? Have we unwittingly created a golden calf idol just as the Israelites did when Moses spent too much time on a mountaintop getting the Ten Commandments?

Challenging questions! Questions that take us to the edge of the "universe" of our understanding of both God and energy. They invite us continue the ever-important conversation between science and religion. And they invite us to revisit what we believe, how we came to believe it and why we continue to believe it--certainly an appropriate endeavor in the season of Lent.

Meanwhile, we can eternally delight in both science and religion, in both the physical and spiritual "worlds." Along side the physical universe, we can expand spiritually.