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Universal Consciousness

The Alain Aspect experiments in Quantum Physics involved splitting light photons.  Two paths of light were created out of one.  One of the paths of light photons was reoriented using a polarizing instrument. Both paths were then measured for the polarized orientation.  It was assumed that one of the paths would retain the reorientation and the other path would be unchanged.  No matter how many times the experiment was conducted or the measuring instruments set up, the same result was obtained.  BOTH paths of light had been changed.

The results had a dynamic influence on theorists.  At one time, it was assumed that you could not have action at a distance; contact of some type had to be responsible for change.  The Aspect experiments changed that belief. Today, it is believed that when subatomic particles are involved, they retain their affinity for near subatomic particles no matter how far they are separated. Distance on a subatomic level cannot be treated the same as distance in our visible world.

Physicists are now rethinking the Big Bang theory. The idea that if all life and what we know of the universe began at one point in the Big Bang, than all of life and substance had a common origin.  If it all had a common origin at the subatomic level, than everything affects everything else no matter what the distance.

What implication does this have for Christian thinking? Does it further explain what we know of God?

A careful reading of the Old Testament reveals that God held the individual responsible for his/her city. He held the city responsible for one person. Why?  God saw humanity as a single entity.  In the beginning we were one with God.  Humanity chose not to be one with God but to be its own individuality and so the course of its future was set by its own choosing though God did have a plan to reestablish that unity thousands of years later in his son Jesus Christ.

 We retained our unity with one another longer than we retained our unity with God. We see the city of Babel united against “the rest of the world” to the point of disobeying God’s command to go out into all the world and care for it – multiply in it and bless it.  God dealt with that arrogance by taking away the ability of the people at Babel to fully understand each other.  We see languages developing as group isolation separated people into “island” communities. This was the direction that humanity chose; it was the development of individuality or what they thought was individuality.

Today we understand unity better.  We know that if the rainforests continue to be burned down that the weather will be affected across the globe. We know that if the midwestern United States continues to dry up its aquifers, that will have global implications.  We know that if the “civilized” world does not care for the rest of the third world countries, poverty will lead to anarchy and anarchy lead to a global breakdown as our economies become more intertwined.

In our families, we see the devastation of individuality.  We have seen and are seeing an increase in divorce and abuse and illiteracy.  People feel isolated amidst the crowds and are losing the social grace that existed in small communities. God created us to live in community, and as community; as long as we live our lives counter to that, we affect the entire world adversely, according to the Aspect experiments.  What we choose to do individually, has profound implications for the future of humanity because that’s the way the world works.

In our arrogance, did we not think that nuclear bombs would not affect our earth, our universe, and our humanity?  We will never know the entire implications of those years; the variables are too many. At the same time, we cannot know for certain how the lives of individuals like Gandhi or Mother Teresa have sustained us all.  But somewhere, sometime, we need to begin making decisions with global humanity in mind, each of us individually and collectively.

What was God’s plan for restoration?  Jesus. He came to tear down the dividing walls of hostility and make out of humanity one people. He opened the floodgates of heaven.  He came to restore women to their rightful place, to heal the sick and bind up the wounded. Most of all, Jesus came to restore us to God.  We now have the means to restore our spirituality; to restore our authority and dominion over the earth.  God gave us back the ability to reconcile and restore our world.  If we do not do that, He will hold each of us individually and corporately responsible.

Humanity made a decision years ago.  It decided for nuclear power rather than solar power. We will feel the affects of that for decades to come. We make decisions for war rather than peace. Political activism is a choice and so is silence. The knowledge of evil is a choice.  We make decisions day by day and choose moment by moment what we will expose ourselves to, what we will think and what we will believe and what we will pursue.  Like it or not, we affect the universe and God will hold us responsible for our choices.

Universal consciousness?  What will we take out of consciousness and make concrete in our physical world?  Good or Evil?  Joshua said it many thousands of years ago, “ Choose you this day whom you will serve.  As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

I’ve thought about this more concretely since reading Mitch Albom’s book, The Five People You Meet in Heaven. Mitch spoke to the topic of universal consciousness through a warm and endearing story. He reminded me of my obligation to choose wisely. We may never know how we affect the future of our world; we can only be certain that we do.