Deep Time: Reflections on Evolution and Spirituality
John M. Herndon
Belief in deep time is a religious journey;
it looks at our existence and connects us to the life of the planet, the solar
system and ultimately the Universe. Why
do I say a religious journey? When I look at the totality of existence I see
unlocked before me the creation and destruction, the order and the chaos of
everything that is and has ever been. Some people say that the creative force
is propelled in to motion by God- a divine being who wills everything in to
existence- including itself. What if the divinity exists in and through all
beings not just self contained as a single being? I am not just talking about
plants and animals that are capable of reproduction and self sustaining existence-
but also rocks and dirt (the product of rocks wearing down over time). When we
really think about rocks and dirt do reproduce in a way. Volcanoes bring molten
rock from the depths of the earth and deposit it on the surface, where it did
not exist before. Rocks travel by water currents, glaciers, wind, earthquakes,
and by many different means. This re-distribution I think of as a way of
reproduction.
The structure of the earth has evolved
of billions of years and it has changed millions of times and is still
changing. Plants and animals have appeared and disappeared; mountains and hills
have appeared and disappeared over billions of years. Who knows what the future
face of the earth will look like a million years from now? When I begin to
think deeply I get a profound sense if the divine- not the watchmaker or even a
being but a force called life that binds everything together deeply.
As a result of these meditations I
reject the terms religious and secular, it is a false dichotomy to my way of thinking.
Of course I believe in the separation of church and state- or religious
organizations and government. Bu religions who seek to involve their beliefs in
government are really just ideology and not faith in divinity. Essentially I
equate religion with experience, and because I am a human being therefore I
experience. I am a religious being not driven by dogma but I am driven by my
experience of the divine in everything that surrounds me. The term secular does
not make sense to me. I do not seek to impose my faith on others I only seek to
see the divine in everything I experience. My life is not ruled by dogmatic
rules that give me a reward in some sort of heaven or if I fail to assign me to
punishment in hell. I adhere to a moral and ethical code because I must live
outside myself, I must belong to a community of beings that treat each other as
gifts to be cherished and my gift is to live in paradise here and now. If I
choose to treat others with disdain and live only for myself I am punished with
a living hell here and now. I do not deny that other people of faith may
disagree with me but this is the way I choose to be religious, I choose to live
deeply with the evolving universe. I choose this church because we have chosen
to live deeply and we have chosen to act in the community to affect justice-
social justice. For the record I belong to a church that lives Social Justice-
a radical notion that the poor and disadvantaged should be empowered to change
their lives for the better.
Back to evolution- Because I think
about evolution, and read and study it, I get a profound sense of connection to
all things and that means I have responsibilities to care for and nurture all
things.
I think in the deepest sense that the
reason fundamentalists refuse to accept evolution is because it requires us to
all be good stewards. If we know we are related at some deep evolutionary level
then maybe we think twice about stuffing chickens into tiny pens one on top the
other several high so that they live a miserable existence just to feed us and
make someone some money. Maybe then we decide to become vegetarian or maybe we
decide to mindfully and sustain ably use the animals and the plants we use for
food. Deeply we are all related- even to the rocks and dirt. The essence of
life that we derive from also provides the same essence to all things. Have you
ever thought of where we stand now and what existed here a million or even a
billion years ago?
[The
following is copied and cited at the end and is not the work of John Herndon,
it is used to illustrate a point and not intended to be representative of any
work by John Herndon]
Radioisotope data from meteorites and moon rocks indicate
ages of 4.5 to 4.7 billions years before the present, and scientists consider
this time to represent the beginnings of our solar system. It is curious that
the oldest rocks found on Earth have radiometric ages of only 3.8 billion years
old.
These ancient rocks may record one of the first mountain
building events of the young planet Earth. Earth has been a dynamic planet for
a long, long time. Continents have come together and broken apart several times
before Pangaea, the most recent time when all the continents were together as
one.
All continents were united in a supercontinent called Rodinia.
1.7 billion years ago and began to break apart 1.5 b.y. ago. This time of
continental breaking and stretching was accompanied by volcanic activity.
During this time Illinois was on the edge of the continent. Volcanoes may have
dominated our landscape - violent, eruptive volcanoes, like Mt. St Helens, whose rocks are
similar to those found very deeply buried beneath the Illinois corn fields.
The separated continents began to move together during what
is called the Grenville Orogeny, 1.2 b.y. ago. As the continents pushed
together, sediments and rocks got compressed and pushed upward. Lofty mountains
probably marked the zone of joining, creating another supercontinent, Pannotia.
Years of erosion followed, and 1.15 b.y. ago the sutured
supercontinent once again began to break apart. Cracks developed along what is
now the Gulf of Mexico and up what is now the Mississippi Valley. Cracking
continued along the Gulf but not along the Mississippi Valley; the continents
separated, leaving behind a "failed arm" or aulacogen, which would be
an area of weakness for the rest of geologic time - a zone along which one of the
world's largest rivers flows; a zone we know as the New
Madrid Earthquake System.
During the ages of volcanism associated with plate motion,
the earth's atmosphere slowly changed to one that could support primitive life
forms. Among the oldest fossils are stromatolites, found in rocks 3
b.y. old. The fossil record in Illinois, however, did not begin until the
Paleozoic Era, which began 542 m.y. ago. During the earliest Paleozoic, the
Cambrian Period, the Midwest was emergent, so Cambrian rocks are scarce. It was
not until the end of this time that the Cambrian sea slowly covered Illinois
with a thin blanket of sand.
By the beginning of Ordovician time (490 m.y.) the sea had
deepened in the Midwest, and Illinois was the site for the chemically deposited
limestones and dolomites that are so abundant today.The Appalachian Mountains
were on the rise during the middle Ordovician Period, as the continents began to
come together to form Pangaea.Sandstone and shale began
to wash into the shallow Illinois sea as rivers carved away at the emerging
highlands to the east. The St. Peter Sandstone that resulted from this sand now
forms the ridges near Starved Rock and Matthiessen State Parks
and around Oregon, Il.
The next time period, the Silurian (455
m.y.), is well represented in Illinois. Silurian limestone is the dominant type
of bedrock of northeastern Illinois. Life flourished in widespread warm seas.
Illinois ws equatorial during the Silurian,and reef development, teeming with sponges, corals,
and shelled organisms, was extensive, extending from what is now the Ozarks to
New York. Along I-80 outside Chicago is a large quarry, the Thornton Quarry,
which is in the Silurian reef limestones and dolomites.
By the late Paleozoic all the continents gradually united to
form the last super continent, Pangaea. Because of the mountain-building
activity during part of the Devonian Period (405 m.y. ago), Illinois was
emergent, and the sedimentary record is absent. But by late Devonian, the seas
had returned. A deep basin had developed in the Midwest, called the Illinois
Basin, and black, organic-rich sediments were carried into the stagnant basin
forming a thick layer of black shale found in Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky.
During the Devonian the evolution of
amphibians began. Until the appearance of these vertebrates, the Devonian
landscape was dominated by insects, spiders, and primitive plants. The
diversification of life on land was underway.
Widespread seas returned to the Illinois area during the
Mississippian Period (355 m.y. ago). The resulting limestones are thick and
rich in fossils, such as crinoids (sea lilies) and shelled organisms.
Trilobites, on the decline since the Devonian, would soon be extinct, as the
more adaptive fishes replace them in the ecological niche.
Near the end of the Mississippian, the structural effects of
the rising Appalachians were felt in Illinois in two ways. The lead and zinc mineralization
around Galena occurred at this time, as hot brines moved upward through the
rocks, carrying lead and zinc with them. Millions of years later, French
explorers to northern Illinois discovered lead ore (galena) mines used by the
Native Americans. These deposits proved to be very important during the
westward expansion of a fledgling nation. Illinois' first industry developed
from the mining and processing of the lead for ammunition. These limestones are
the sites of many of Illinois' caves and karst topography.
Rivers flowing from the rising Appalachians carried sediment
that was deposited throughout Illinois. Broad deltas spilled into the Illinois
Basin, setting the coastal floodplain environment for a very important time in
Illinois history: the Coal Age.
By Pennsylvanian time (300 m.y. ago), the final stages of
the Pangaea plate collision resulted in a gradual uplift of the continent and
withdrawal of the Mississippian seas. The Illinois region was left a coastal swamp, similar to the Everglades, the Dismal Swamp,
or the Louisiana Bayous. Luxuriant forests covered the flat Illinois landscape.
The area was along a coast with a large river meandering back and forth,
forming sandy deltas which frequently change abruptly from one place to
another. This river emptied into the Illinois Basin, forming a vast and
wandering delta/swamp environment. The resulting accumulating organic deposits
formed vast coal deposits, of great economic
importance, which underlie about 2/3 of the state.
Much has been learned about the life forms of the
Pennsylvanian Period in Illinois from the fossils from Mazon Creek. Special conditions of
rapid burial and preservation have resulted in fossilization of both soft-bodied
and hard-shell sea creatures and many terrestrial plants and animals. The area
of Mazon Creek was along a coast, with both swampy, forested areas and shallow
coastal marine zones. Organisms found in Mazon Creek concretions include
jellyfish, hatching fish with egg sacs, clams, insects, amphibians, shrimp,
crabs, and, of course Illinois own curious Tulley Monster. The Tulley Monster
is a shrimp-like animal found nowhere else but the Mazon Creek area of
Illinois. It is the state fossil.
Pennsylvanian sandstones and Mississippian limestones have
been carved into the interesting formations seen at Garden of the Gods in Shawnee State Forest, in the southern
part of the state.
Following the Pennsylvanian Period is a huge gap in the
Illinois geologic record. Illinois may have been emergent during the Permian
Period (280 m.y. ago) and throughout most of the Mesozoic Era. Rocks of the
three periods of the Mesozoic (Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous - the age of
dinosaurs) are absent in Illinois, except for a small deposit of Cretaceous
sediment in the southern part of the state. Some very important events occurred
during this time which affected Illinois.
Many meteorite impact craters formed during the Mesozoic
Era. As a matter of fact, some scientists attribute the triggering of the splitting of Pangaea and the Cretaceous extinctions of
dinosaurs to cataclysmic meteorite impacts. Two such impact structures exist in
Illinois, buried under hundreds of feet of glacial debris. One, which may be of
Ordovician age, is near Glasford, Il. The second underlies Chicago's neighbor,
Des Plaines. It has been determined to be post-Permian, and may be part of the
Mesozoic meteorite madness.
The Cretaceous was a time of volcanism as well as impact in
Illinois. A line of five volcanic crater-like features, called cryptovolcanic
structures, extends westward from Illinois into Missouri. All of these are
roughly circular, are associated with faults and fractured rock, and are
accompanied by unusual (in Illinois) igneous rocks and mineral deposits. Magma
deep below the surface moved upward, releasing gas and hot liquids in violent
explosions in some areas. One of these places is the Hicks Dome cryptovolcanic
structure, in the southern part of the state. During its formation it produced
mineral-rich fluids that moved upward through rocks in southern Illinois near
Rosiclare, leaving behind the beautiful and valuable deposits of fluorite, the state mineral.
The Cenozoic Period began 63 m.y. ago. Pangaea continued to
move apart, as it continues to do today. In the West the moving plates crumpled
the edge of the continent causing folding and faulting of rock and sediment and
the formation of the Rocky Mountains. The Early Cenozoic was not as exciting in
Illinois, however, as the general period of non-deposition of the rock record
continued. Illinois was emergent at this time, except for the southern part of
the state, where 400 feet of sand and clay were deposited by rivers as they
emptied into the the shallow sea. These clays, called "Fuller's
Earth." were found to have very absorbent properties, and, in 1947, a new
Illinois industry was created around the mining and processing of this clay for
catbox litter!
The Cenozoic Era was the beginning of modern life. Mammals
occupied the air and water, but dominated the land; this was the Age of
Mammals.Many types of mammals evolved, including human life forms, whose
appearance would ultimately dominate and change our planet forever. The warm
bloodedness of mammals allowed them to be more adaptive to changing environments
and to be better able to survive harsh climates. During the Late Cenozoic, the
Pleistocene, conditions changed and, in more northern latitudes the climate
became colder as the Great Ice Age began.
The surface of Illinois was profoundly affected by the Ice
Age, as massive glaciers moved across the state. The rolling plains comprising
most of Illinois are made of hundreds of feet of glacial deposits. Ponds, bogs,
and lakes dot the till which filled in valleys and covered most of the state
with sands, gravels, and soil. Bluffs of wind blown glacial silt, called loess,developed along the
Mississippi River Valley. The glaciers blocked rivers and caused them to change
their direction of flow; they gouged out other river valleys, widening and
deepening them. These would fill with water from the melting glaciers to form
the Great Lakes.Not all of Illinois, however, was covered by glaciers. Near
Galena, there is a driftless area around Apple River Canyon State Park.
The thick, fertile glacial debris that covers the state
makes excellent farmland. There is more than corn, however, that comes out of
the glacial till. Mastodon and mammoth fossils have been
discovered in Illinois. Fossil evidence indicates that stag moose and giant
beaver, bison and tortoises roamed the grasslands and forests that stretched
before the ice sheets.
The area around Chicago is not directly covered by glacial
material. Chicago is flat; much flatter than our fertile rolling prairies. This
is because Lake Michigan was once much larger than it is now, and the area
occupied by Chicago was a mucky lake bottom. As the ice sheets advanced and
retreated, the level of the lake lowered and rose. Islands, such as Blue
Island, and spits appeared and disappeared with the rise and fall of the water
level. The last and final retreat of the ice sheet left us with the magnificent
lakeshore we have today.
(the above section on Paleozoic Illinois is copied from http://cuip.uchicago.edu/~fvaughn/illinois_eyes/text.htm
This is a small sampling of the vast history of Illinois, it
is a deep history that most of have not really thought much about. Take time to
think deeply and meditate on where we are today and how we are connected to all
things, hopefully like me you will get a profound sense of the divine. I
frequently sit in my backyard at night looking up at the stars knowing that my
history is part of their history and that ultimately history never ends or
begins- it just is and so am I - so are you.
Link to reading of the day:
http://thisibelieve.org/essays/48384