I always believed that there couldn’t be intelligent life on other planets for one of the stupidest reasons ever. I reasoned that when Jesus died for our sins, He only died for the sins of humanity. God surely wouldn’t let the rest of intelligent life throughout the universe be damned.
As I have grown in faith, I realize that the Passion is a very personal thing, and it has nothing to do with the rest of life throughout the universe. It was self-centered and arrogant of me to believe that humanity is special, but in my defense, I have to admit that’s what I been taught all my life. Humans are God’s special children, right? He loved us above all others and gave us the gift of free will and then when we ate of the tree of knowledge and discovered sinfulness, He sent His only Son to die just for us. Except, I read today that in other religions and spiritual journeys, humans are not superior to nature, but one with nature. It makes more sense to believe that. After all, wouldn’t the Earth be in a much better state right now if humans lived in harmony with nature instead of polluting it and causing climate change?
I started to contemplate this idea that humans are superior to nature. Yes, it is true, we have made amazing accomplishments. We have created beautiful works of art, made scientific advancements, and even achieved space travel. We have made the impossible possible. However, in another 100,000 years after the global temperature rises and kills off all living creatures on the earth and when the extreme weather events destroy and decay all those human accomplishments that we achieved, what will it matter that we had the ability to think and reason in ways that plants and animals couldn’t? At least, they managed to not destroy the very planet that gave them life in the first place. Additionally, I realized that God gave the plants and animals a gift that we don’t have. All plants and animals have instinct. To some degree every plant and animal when it is born, it has this knowledge of the world around it and how to live. It just knows what to do. I am kind of envious. It sounds great to be born and not have years and years of trying to figure life out. The most ironic part is that if human study animal behavior, they actually learn from animals. Somehow animals just have this other sense that allows them to tap into mother nature and just sort of know things like when the weather is going to change. There’s no way anyone should have ever suggested that humans were superior to plants and animals.
I also noticed that there have been some books and movies that suggest that the angels in Heaven are having a war because some angels got angry that God chose humans as His special children instead of angels. First, angels wouldn’t become jealous of humans. However, if they did, it wouldn’t be because they are God’s special children. My reason is that the angels are God’s special army. Angels are a special group to God in themselves. Again, I’m envious. Angels have these amazing wings, they can fly, have all sorts of powers, and they spend their time in service of God. I never seen an single artist depict an angel that was in a bad mood while everyone else was smiling and laughing.
There’s no reason for humans to see themselves as superior to anything in nature or in Heaven. Yes, we are God’s special children, Angels are God’s special army, and Nature is God’s special creation. We all have different relationship to God, but we all are a part of God.
My faith saved me. My God’s peace reside in all of our hearts.
