Writing in his book, the Wonders of the Universe, Professor Brian Cox explains the process that resulted in the formation of the Himalayan mountains, and he describes the chalky, granular structure of the Himalayan limestone which is actually the petrified remains of sea creatures, the bodies and shells of coral and polyps that died millions of years ago in a now non-existent ocean.
Professor Cox goes on to explain how these biological remains are converted into solid rock, and then announces, “We know that the Himalayan limestone is predominantly biological because we have found fossils at the top of Mount Everest!” He then writes, “There is perhaps no better example of the endless recycling of Earth’s resources that has been going on since its formation almost five billion years ago. We humans are also very much part of that system. As unsettling as it may sound, every atom in your body was once part of something else. It may have made up an ancient tree or a dinosaur, and you’ll be pleased to know it was certainly part of a rock.”
Professor Cox finishes by writing, “The reason this can happen – that the rocks of Earth can become living things and that living things will eventually die and become rocks again – is simple: everything in the Universe is composed of the same basic ingredients.”
Everything in the Universe, which by definition means everything here on planet Earth (human beings included!), consists of the same matter or chemical elements. When various life forms die, these chemical elements break down and are absorbed into the earth where they become a part of something else. So we could say that life is a continuum, and that all objects in life are connected. I want you to hold that thought, because I’ll come back to it again shortly.
In chapter 6 of Mark’s Gospel, Jesus comes to his hometown and begins teaching in the synagogue. Everyone is amazed to see and hear Jesus because they all know who he is, but they’ve obviously never heard or seen him behave the way he does in the synagogue. They ask themselves, “where did he get this knowledge and power?”
Mark tells us that Jesus is unable to perform the same miracles in his hometown that he has been able to perform in other areas of Galilee, and that Jesus is amazed by the lack of belief from those in his hometown who know him. Their lack of belief, or lack of faith if you will, is in stark contrast to the strong faith of Jairus, the leader of the synagogue in Capernaum whose daughter Jesus revives from death, and the woman who has been suffering from haemorrhages for 12 years. The key in both of these instances, is the belief that they can be healed by Jesus. It is not so much what Jesus does to enable the healing, rather it is the belief of those seeking the healing that has the biggest impact on the outcome.
Which brings me to another story in Mark’s Gospel where Jesus talks to disciples regarding faith. Having just told them to, “Have faith in God” (Mark 11.22), Jesus then says to the disciples, “Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you.” (Mark 11:23 NRSV)
This saying which has been attributed to Jesus is probably the creative work of the author of Mark’s Gospel, and even though the words they ascribe to Jesus are a form of hyperbole, or exaggeration, I can’t help but wonder if there might be some truth in those words. My reason for saying so is connected to the thought I mentioned earlier about life being a continuum, and that all objects in life are connected.
In a recent sermon, when questioning the traditional Christian image of God as a supernatural being existing outside of the Universe who enters into the Universe at given times to bring about His will, I suggested that we could perhaps think of God as the very essence of being, and that if God is the essence of being, then God is already part of us, and we are already part of God. There is an unbreakable interconnectedness between us and God, and between all things and God.
If God is the essence of being, then it follows that God is the essence of all objects in life, and as previously mentioned, science has already proven that all objects in life are connected, which then follows that everything is connected with God. Let’s now consider the story of the woman in Mark’s Gospel, who had been suffering from haemorrhages for 12 years. She too would be connected with God, and with everything around her. If she believed so strongly, that is without question, that a particular outcome could be achieved, is it totally beyond the realm of possibility that her connectedness with everything could actually change or influence the activity of particular objects? Perhaps something akin to the ‘power of positive thinking’? Could this result in what we might describe as a miracle?
