Today is Earth Day. I feel a deep spirituality whenever I look at Nature. This quotation from Gerald Manley Hopkins always tend to remind me of this feeling that God is in Nature: “The world is charged with the grandeur of God.” One only needs to look at the skies, contemplate its vastness the multitudes of stars, or enjoy the ocean breeze and be carried away by all the beauty of the mountains to know that there is indeed a God.
There is in astrophysics a phenomenon known as the Olber’s Paradox. Scientists estimate that there are more than 100 billion galaxies. In our Milky Way galaxy alone, which is just a medium sized one, there are an estimated 200 billions of stars. With so many stars and galaxies, constantly exploding and giving out light and energy, the whole universe should be all lighted up with all those shining stars and be ablaze with all the energy they give forth. To see literally, “a world charged with the grandeur of God.” And yet, why is outer space, for the most part, a cold and dark place?
Existentially, we encounter a similar paradox in our daily lives. For all the good that people, often unseen and unheralded, yet why does evil seem to be stronger than good. There is enough food on earth to feed everyone, yet why do millions still go to sleep at night hungry? We have never had as many people on earth as we have today, yet why are there still many people who are alone and lonely? We have the most and best gadgets for communication, yet why do people seem to be apart more that ever?
In spite of these paradoxes, I still believe that light is stronger than the darkness. That life, no matter how fragile it might seem, does not end with death. That in spite of the pain, suffering, and struggles in life, goodness will triumph over evil. We tend towards the source of that light, that life and that goodness. That for me is the grandeur of God I see in Nature