God, the Universe and Everything

A mathematical re-writing of Genesis 1 (based on the NIVUK translation - in italics)

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty – a new page of a new book waiting for the ink to hit the paper. Darkness was over the surface of the deep, there was nothing…. And the Spirit of God, the pen of the author of creation was hovering over the waters.

Then God said, ‘Let there be light’ and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated light from darkness. The light moved across the darkness at a constant speed that could not yet be measured (but by God who knew that the speed of light was a thing that would be discovered thousands of years later by creatures he had not yet created). There was nothing to bend the light, and the light just shone. God called the light ‘day’, and the darkness he called ‘night’. And there was evening, and there was morning – the first day.

And God said, ‘Let there be a vault between the waters to separate the water from water’. So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it, the water contained properties yet to be discovered, properties which would mean that floating, living, buoyancy would be things that could be identified – things that right now, the creator only knew about. And it was so. God called the vault ‘sky’ – a place where one day machines would fly, a place where mysteries would be unravelled and the most beautiful discoveries in the universe would be founded. And there was evening, and there was morning – the second day.

And God said, ‘Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.’ And it was so. And now the tides that follow trigonometric patterns yet to be discovered were flowing as God called the dry ground ‘land’, and the gathered waters he called ‘seas’. And God saw that it was good.

Then God said, ‘Let the land produce vegetation: seed bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.’ And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed and according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. The plants grew in spirals and the seeds grew in sequence. The trees produced fractal patterns and the cycle of the seasons would be shown in their slumber….. And God saw how much there was to discover and it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning – the third day.

And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.’ And it was so – God made two great lights – the sun and the moon – and he also made the stars. The sun and the moon would govern the seasons and the months and the years and the days and the great constants of the universe were first seen…… and the possibility for space travel and discovery was imagined. And trigonometry raised its head again to see the way to the stars. Those stars contained the building blocks of creation, ready to transform and change…. And God saw that it was good. That was evening, and there was morning – the fourth day.

And God said, ‘Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky’. And God showed long before flight was discovered that flight was possible. And God showed that diversity was key to creation as he created the great creatures of the sea and every winged bird according to its kind, through gentle change and nurture they survived. God blessed them and said grow and be fruitful…. And the breeding patterns of life began, ready from the start to be measured and multiply. And there was evening, and there was morning – the fifth day.

And God said, ‘Let the land produce living creatures: the livestock, the creatures that moved along the ground, the wild animals….. and it was so. God made all of these and he created ecosystems that could be measured over time – perfectly balanced – perfectly beautiful. And God saw that it was good.

Then God said, let us make humankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the creatures. Human beings will have the ability to understand all of this. Human beings will have the ability to make good and bad choices, they could knock a system out of joint or nurture it to work as was intended. Human beings will be filled with wonder at the science behind the world, and as they discover more they will choose to create or destroy.

So God created humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

Trees and their stumps....

There is not much I like more than sitting and walking amongst trees - particularly this time of year when the colours of the leaves are changing and the autumn sunshine accentuates the oranges and reds and yellows and golds and browns. Every time I look at the frosted glass in a my front door I think there is a light outside because the orange and yellow of my garden hedge shines so brightly. 

As I sit I listen to the sound of the wind through the leaves and it brings peace. As I look and as the leaves wind their way to the ground, I follow the shapes of the branches, which so often demonstrate the beauty of the maths behind the creation. Fractals and chaos, spirals and movement, reaching upwards towards the sky above the canopy of the forest or wood or the tree itself. 

A couple of weeks ago I took my second trip ever to Tatton Park (you have to pay for parking - I can't go too often).... last time I went to Tatton Park it inspired my whole dissertation - it's a dangerous and inspirational place to go. A haven of peace underneath the flight path of Manchester Airport where you can dream of far off places whilst enjoying the beauty of an English country estate. 

It was a beautiful autumnal sunny day so after my obligatory stop for soup and cake I went for a walk in the grounds round the lake, avoiding the stags with large antlers who were making some very strange noises.... and, as always, I was taken in by the trees. 

I stopped to take a photo when in front of me there was a perfectly formed tree. 

I admired its shape, it's almost perfectly fractal growth, how the leaves were almost dropping in formation and how it stood majestic, on its own, proud of the tree it was. It was a the tree that all trees wanted to be, the tree that set an example for all.... perhaps not huge yet, but with great potential for growth. 

As I walked on there were other trees that caught my eye in all their shapes and sizes, tall ones reaching to the sky, shorter ones reaching out to their neighbours, ones that framed the picture beautifully and ones that were almost obscured by the light of the sun. 

But then I came across this one.

A tree?

Surely a 'once was tree' and now a pile of broken branches....?

No, not at all....

As I walked up I noticed that although the tree looked to be on its last legs - it looked like it had been hit by a storm and had fallen apart in the process... it wasn't.... because out of the stump was growing new life. The growth on the picture is not the tree behind, but is directly from within the stump.... new life in the tree graveyard growing in unexpected ways. 

That tree had probably once been the tree that I first saw standing majestic and beautifully shaped, but then the storm had hit, and it broke apart.... 

But then it began to grow again.... 

At times of brokenness.... at times when there appears there is nothing left.... as long as that core remains... there is potential for new growth... growth in unexpected ways.... growth that comes to bring restoration....

Anyone who has heard me preach recently will know that I am, at the moment (well a lot of the time actually) inspired by the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah is a prophet full of hope through times that seem impossibly difficult. Isaiah describes his calling in chapter 6 and how God promises him that even when all is stripped away a stump will remain.... the holy seed.... that stump is a promise that restoration will come.... in God's timing. In God's way. 

As we look at the world around us, and at our own situations in all their brokenness, we should not simply compare these to the tree we used to be and mourn the loss of our branches, we must instead look ahead remembering that it doesn't have to be this way..... the life, death and resurrection of Jesus shows us another way... the best way. There is always hope... and that might be realised and released in unexpected ways and places. 

Just wait and see... 

"A green shoot will Sprout from Jesse's stump, from his roots a budding Branch. The life- giving Spirit of God will hover over him, the Spirit that brings wisdom and understanding, the Spirit that gives direction and builds strength.... each morning he'll pull on sturdy work clothes and boots, and build righteousness and faithfulness in the land"  Isaiah 11:1-5 (The Message)