Friday, 31 July 2015

Good morning friends.

As I got up from bed to day, as cheerful as I could, with the dawn of a new day, I mulled through the news I read yesterday, that NASA has reported on 23.7.2015 the discovery of a planet almost similar to our own planet earth. They have named it Kepler 542b and it is supposed to be having all the necessary ingredients for formation of life and could be harboring intelligent life as on earth. This set me thinking.

The speculation this discovery could lead to will basically revolve around the question of finding an alien life away from the earth. What if this planet has been able to produce life and what if that life form has evolved into something as intelligent as human beings on earth? So do we have company? Will they look like us or like ET? Have they advanced in science and technology as we have or are they still primitive? Or have they overtaken us in as we imagine in our science fiction? Will they be visiting earth to harvest human beings or their parts? Above all can we find how they evolved and was it a repeat of earthly evolution and if so what lessons can we learn from their process so we could understand our own process. The array of questions could be just baffling.

My own suspicion is that NASA and the others in the so called advanced countries are seeking answer to these questions, mainly to prove that there is no God, who created the world and that life has evolved on its own and that life could originate anywhere in the universe given the ingredients of life-forming process were all there. 

To us in India or in most of the underdeveloped countries, as we rush to catch up with the advanced ones, such questions seem irrelevant. We all believe in a God, who created the world and all that is there in it. How could we deny God? For a Hindu belief in an impersonal Brahman or personal gods like Krishna or Shiva is almost taken for granted. A Muslim would believe in Allah, the passion of whom is all consuming. For a Christian, belief in a personal God, who lovingly created this beautiful world and takes interest even in our day to day life, is paramount. Faith in Almighty God is a great solace to countries with large population, who struggle to get three square meals a day for themselves. 

Life is not that simple in the West. I think many of their intellectuals are on a journey to disprove the existence of God. They are a rule unto themselves. They do not need a God. They themselves are gods, why have an outsider as God? They can achieve everything themselves and be on their own. This is the picture of post-modern, post-Christian era, and pluralistic era that has dawned on the earth. So they are in search for an alibi, to thumb their noses at God.  

It is a sad, sad day for us and our children to be part of such a world, but our God, is able to work in all things for the good of those who love Him. (Romans.8:28). That is where my hope and solace lie. May be that is the only solace I can offer to you too on this beautiful, sunny day!