The Pattern of Life

Everything in life has a pattern, a blueprint made without hands and it is a good thing. It provides predictability, which allows us to keep time and maintain schedules, plan even to send a man into space and bring him back alive. It brings us the seasons, the sunrise, the sunset and the rains which nourish the soil, yielding it's fruits.

In man and animal, it is the genetic code with it's DNA index. The essence of life, is mysterious because it is known only by God, (Psalm 139) but it reigns at His behest, regardless of how men, in their ignorance, try to explain it away. The patterns of life are seen even in it's rarities.When God said "Let there be light", the majestic frequency of life began. Light is composed of both electric and magnetic fields. (electromagnetic radiation). Frequencies are measured as wavelengths. All matter consists of atoms that vibrate at the frequency of it's constituent elements. When a visible wavelength strikes a substance, energy is emitted in the form of light particles called photons, which our eyes detect as color. All of the characteristics of light make possible it's numerous applications such as visual identification, radio and television, the invisible frequencies on the spectrum of light, such as X-rays, microscopes, telescopes, eyeglasses and so on. The functions of light are mostly theoretical, because no single explanation satisfies all it's observable traits. For example, a person viewing a distant galaxy, say 200 million light years away, could be said to be viewing photons 200 million years old, but it could also be said that  a photon, that has no mass, exists for zero time, and therefore does not exist at all. Such is the state of scientific inquiry regarding light. Light theory is based on our ability to measure it's variety of compositions and effects. If there was no pattern of behavior to study, none of it's amazing uses could be developed or even theories of it's nature postulated.

Though light is integral to all of God's creation, it is only a small part of creation. Notice God's first communication reduced to writing..."In the beginning". This simple preposition chronicles the creation of time. We think of time in relation to matter, because we understand the composition of all matter to consist of atoms in motion. Motion would require movement from point A to point B minimally. Of course that would require time. Yet the existence of time is not quantifiable. We can think of time only with relation to deterioration. In that sense it is linear, because the 2nd Law of thermodynamics says all matter increases in entropy. That is it becomes less and less complex...to what end? The first law of thermodynamics says energy is neither created or destroyed, so as matter deteriorates the energy released changes form. That can hardly be described as linear in time. So what we see in the cosmos is a maintenance of all that exists by the hands of our creator. We might think of this as a minimalist pattern, but when you consider that all of creation is in multidirectional motion, there is hardly anything minimal about it. All we know about time comes from the lawgiver; God. He told us about the beginning and describes an end to the material world.  Time, matter, space, energy and their synergies are supported by the pattern of life, but only as long as God allows it. 

   As we examine life in it's innumerous forms, it is obviously both ordered and complex. There is no chaotic entity and all we see is a product of design.  When we look at plant and animal life, distinctions are readily apparent but is there such a stark difference between animal and human life?  If so, how does our designer set us apart? There are many things that distinguish us from animals, such as speech, art, music, appreciation, admiration, esteem, and so on, but the single most outstanding would have to be rational deliberation.

   The world distracts us from this most important of distinctions in favor of food, fun, sleep and sex; elements we share with animals. Rationally. we know all such things are temporary, and though renewing them is essential, their effects are fleeting and even potentially dangerous, without meaningful guidance. For example: the wrong kind of food (or drink) can wreck our health. Not all fun activities are safe; too much or too little sleep can result in poverty or incompetence. Sex can have disastrous results, if it is outside the marriage bed or unplanned.

   So, it is only when we channel the essential things of life that we reap the greatest of benefits and avoid pitfalls.  History tells us that the ancients were self centered and only concerned about food, fun, sleep and sex. That world produced slavery that allowed freedom to use other men to do the menial tasks and freed them to pursue more of the big four (food, fun, sleep and sex). Greek thinkers saw this kind of freedom more as slavery, because it kept them tied to a life no greater than animals. Socrates, Plato, Herodotus and other philosophers and historians identified the inevitable outcome of these lifestyles. Alexander the Great was also convinced the world of slavery could not elevate mankind to it's real potential so he decided to infuse the world with Greek culture, beginning with conquest. As the Roman Catholic church tried to do in forcing Christianity, Alexander also wanted to force Greek culture on the world.  He was successful in conquest of the barbarous world he lived in and the spreading of art, literature, the sciences and the Greek language.  Greek became the official language of Alexander's empire and continued by the Romans.

   In Athens, the apostle Paul wrote of disputes with the Jews in the synagogues and the marketplace and his encounter with Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. He viewed the plethora of gods spread throughout the city and was glad to have the opportunity to tell them that they were too superstitious for worshipping gods that lived in temples made with hands. The Greeks were among the first of cultures to engage in deliberative speech and the relative peace that existed in the Roman Empire allowed for …"the dispensation of the fulness of times [in which] He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth" (Eph. 1:10) Places like the Areopagus were places where people could assemble, argue and discuss their views of the world. Such places were the "Ekklesia" or places of assembly. Places where Christians assembled were ekklesia (church in English). These were not only homes of Christians where the apostles taught God's word, but any peaceful place where they could both learn and worship.  

   "Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!" (Rom. 11:33)  This knowledge and wisdom is made known from the church...as Peter said  …"His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, (2nd Peter 1:3)