Long ago, in my genetics class at American University, I found my faith. I admittedly had lost the slim, tenuous thread of faith from my childhood years before. Depression in adolescence can be easily attributed to moodiness and hormones. The desolation of coming of age only compounded by the maw of depression. Adults and parents are often too consumed with their own responsibilities, that unless a child is bleeding from their eyes or on fire, all is right in the world….or right enough. I found my faith in the unzipping of the DNA helix.
Reverse transcription and the genetic replication, cell differentiation and the pluripotent, omnipotent cell. It was my first comprehension of the supernatural. And in that laboratory, counting fruit flies, I found a Creator. God was not the personal Lord and Savior the televangelist promises I can find if I just call the number flashing on the bottom of the screen. God was an architect, a visionary whose mind was far greater than any human comprehension. Scientific breakthroughs and Ah-Ha moments chisel away at the collossus separation man from divine. Our infant diet of knowledge slowly increases. If we are God’s creation, His child, where is humanity in the developmental stages? Have we even started to crawl yet? Do we have even a rudimentary language with which to speak to the heavens? He boiled it down to the most simple building blocks, the Gerber formula for humanity: love everyone, hate no one. Hate bad, love good. Love. From love grows compassion, empathy, concern, regard, respect, tolerance, humility, generosity, kindness, joy, happiness, contentment. I certanly like the imagery of a God made Man, a brother Jesus, who I can sit with, laugh with, break bread and walk a dusty road. The tangible humanity of Jesus is wonderful and inclusive. I just like my superheros, the designer of the atom, the architect of the bone marrow, the visionary of the cosmos, the animation of the species, the creator of Light from Dark.
Even the Supreme Being does DIY. Imagine, He existed for how long before He decided being in the dark was getting old? Was He discontent? So He decided to let there be light, and there was light. And the phenomenal journey of divinity began of which I am a speck on a speck. I found God in the microcosm.