December 25, What Does It All Mean?

 

Take Y Chromosome Adam, Mitochondrial Eve.

Two hundred thousand years of mutations, selection’s sieve,

And voila! Homo sapiens observes the passing scene,

The cosmos down to molecules: just what does it all mean?

 

Does life mean what we make it mean, and no more and no less?

Can we divine a grand design apparent in this mess?

Are we the only galaxy-wide living things there are?

Might James Webb find more evidence around another star?

 

In Winter Solstice season, we may think about a plan.

Was Jesus truly Son of God or was he just a man?

If Biblical creation stories prove to be a myth,

Should that mean that all Bible teachings be dismissed forthwith?

 

The teachings of the ancient ones grew from their data base;

Though quite short by our standards, they faced problems we still face.

Like lying, stealing, greed, and murder, pestilence and war.

They wrote down their advice for us, which we should not ignore.

 

Because some rules are ancient, that does not mean they are wrong.

And, lying, stealing, greed, and murder have gone on too long.

They all cause the same problems now that they caused long ago.

They were wrong then; they are wrong now; bad seeds that we still grow.

 

What does it mean that Christ and Newton were born Christmas day?

Accomplishments of both of them deserve a holiday.

The universe is wondrous, whether Big Bang or God wrought.

Mankind: from “Let there be,” or Darwin?  Both a noble thought.

 

So we ask, “What does it all mean?” in 2022.

We doubt if we will all agree in 3022.

We humans are a curious and most contentious group,

What you’d expect from creatures rising from primordial soup.

 

To me, the Big Bang is more wondrous; think what science shows.

From energy to atoms, molecules, then life arose.

Then evolution, speciation, Homo everywhere.

Right here on Earth, the universe evolved to self-aware.