Where Did The Atoms Come From?

If everything in the universe is composed of atoms and nothing but atoms, we are at once struck with the question, "How did these invisible electrical units know to come together in such an infinite variety of forms? Each form from the tiniest crystal to the largest mountain displaying a degree of perfection that transcends the highest human intelligence.

The LAW OF INERTIA states that a body that is motionless will tend to remain motionless until acted upon by some outside force. It is theoretically possible to reason back to a time when there were no atoms (hence nothing physical); back to the time before the whirl of the first electron. At such a time there could be nothing in existence except the primal energy which was never created but which has always existed. The eternal energy would have existed in no shape or form and with no boundaries; it would be a limitless ethereal sea of invisible energy existing throughout infinite space. ("and the world was void and without form"). Something within that infinite ocean of eternal energy had to act in order to cause an infinitesimal electron to revolve around a center of attraction to form an invisible atom, as well as attracting the proper elements together to form worlds, suns and universes. What was it?

Of two things we can be certain:

1. The reason reports that the first cause does exist. Some force or natural law set energy into motion.

2. The reason reports that the first cause could not be composed of atoms, it is therefore not physical. Out of necessity it had to exist before the creation of atoms.

The highest scientific teachings of the nuclear age is that the vast panorama we view as the physical universe is atomic energy condensed into solid forms and shapes. If we are to accept these discoveries, then there must be some type of force or intelligence guiding it and directing it in order for it to be molded into the beautiful and complex shapes and patterns we find so abundantly throughout nature, throughout the universe and throughout the infinite space beyond.

Let us consider our universe for a moment. Take our sun for example; our sun is the incandescent body of gases about which the earth and other planets revolve. The sun furnishes the vital elements of light, heat and energy for our solar system. It is the nearest star to the earth whose distance is approximately 93 million miles. This star is about 865,000 miles in diameter and its mass is about 822,000 times greater than that of the earth, while its volume is more than 1,300,000 times the earth's! Imagine how many invisible electrical units it took to supply the nuclear energy which created the first sun. In considering our own galaxy we realize the twinkling stars we see in such abundance are suns millions of times greater than our sun, situated trillions of miles apart.

The nearest sun to our solar system is alpha centura. Astronomers have estimated its distance at 12,000,000,000,000 miles away. If you could board a rocket ship traveling at the speed of light, (186,584 miles per second), it would take you about four and a half years to reach the nearest star. So, the light from this luminous body requires four and a half years to reach us. There is light visible in our galaxy from stars that extinguished themselves through nuclear fusion hundreds of years ago, but their light is only now reaching us. If the light from our nearest neighbor takes 4-1/2 years to reach us, then we never see a star the way it is, only how it existed many years ago. In the distant reaches of infinite space, there are stars being born which we shall never see because it takes the light more than a lifetime to reach us. Astronomers now tell us there are some billion, billion stars in our universe, and the universe is expanding at a constant rate. Our minds cannot conceive the magnitude of the heavens.

Realizing the vastness of space is beyond our grasp, let us consider the absolute precision of the celestial spheres. Contemplate the preciseness of the rising and setting of the sun, the lunar periods, the rhythmic ebb and flow of the tide, the changing of the seasons, etc., and realize that our planet is whizzing around the sun at the incredible speed of 66,000 miles per hour. If it deviated a few miles an hour faster or slower, the whole orderly process would be thrown out of balance. Science tells us that our planet has been revolving at the exact same speed for millions of years and will continue to do so for millions more. What power, mechanical or otherwise, has kept things running with such precision for so many millenniums?

Next, consider a common wayside flower, with its simple purity and exquisite beauty, and the delicateness of its tiny veins and sweet fragrance; it is an artistic masterpiece that offers more loveliness than the human understanding can grasp.

Next, consider the tiny bee that collects the nectar from the heart of the flower and in the process covers his hairy legs with the pollen that insures survival of the species for the plant. The harmony that exists between the two is reciprocal. It is impossible to say whether flowers exist so that bees and insects may have food or whether bees exist so that flowers can have an effective means of reproduction.

Either way they each fulfill perfectly their part in the vast scheme of things.

A small phase of nature's grandeur, but no less a miracle than the sun and the moon. Considering the miracle represented by the simplest of flowers, take close notice of the endless array of flora and fauna, the thousands of species of flowers, shrubs and trees and hordes of animals, each one more incredible than the one before. Ponder the complex life cycles of the jungles, the fields, the forests, the mountains, the desert and the ocean, each of them teaming with life and the miracles of the life process. In each we find harmony, balance and order.

Next, consider for a moment your own being. Observe your many structured wonders; the miracle of your flesh, bones, teeth, hair, nails, veins, arteries, capillaries, blood, cells, tissue, organs, glands, taste buds, vocal cords, nerves, muscles, tendons, ligaments, vertebrae, spinal cord, nervous system, brain, eyes, ears, nose, etc., etc., etc.

Yes, LOOK INTO THE ATOM
LOOK INTO THE UNIVERSE
LOOK INTO NATURE
LOOK INTO YOURSELF...

And what does the reason report but an order, a balance, a harmony, a perfection that must be attributed to some force or power which animates, regulates and controls the orderly functions of matter. We witness through out the physical universe some vast form of creative power expressing itself in an infinite variety of forms. The human language is possessed of no terms that can adequately describe this phenomena. But the ones we are forced to use are those such as: force, power, will, intelligence, life, energy and consciousness; all the manifestation of the mysterious principle known as MIND!

Not a mind as we know it in our limited concept, but a mind so magnificent the finite mind of man can only stand in reverent awe! One of the highest intellectual attainments is to grasp the fact that the intelligence responsible for the creation of the atoms, as well as the orderly, harmonious functions of the universe is in everything and through everything. It is the same force or law that keeps the electrons in place around the nucleus as well as the planets around the sun.

We penetrate matter with the microscope and space with the telescope, finding universe within universe. All of which are animated, regulated and controlled by an uncomprehendable, unknowable intelligence. Carrying the idea to the ultimate extreme, we find that advanced thinkers postulate that, "this infinite intelligence eternally expresses itself in the creation of an infinite series of universes, infinite time and infinite space being employed to produce infinite variety. It is held that in all the infinity of time and space there have never been two universes precisely the same. Infinite variety has accompanied infinite number." (William W. Atkinson, Mastery of Being).

What more can be said? The complexity and vastness of creation is entirely beyond the conception or comprehension of our finite minds. It is sufficient for our present state of understanding to know that all things perceived by the physical senses, from the smallest grain of sand to the mighty suns revolving in the misty reaches of space, is the result of invisible electrical charges of the primal energy condensed into mass according to certain orderly and harmonious relations. The atomic structure of the physical universe is the result of the attraction, repulsion and condensing exhibited by the pairs of polar opposites within each invisible solar system, called atoms by scientists. Without this action reaction between the positive and negative electrical charges, there would be nothing physical. No physical plane. No universe.

Yet we find a universe that is not only more vast and complex than we can comprehend, but one of transcendent beauty, order and harmony from the minute to the magnificent.

The question now arises, how do the invisible electrical units know how to attract, adhere, condense and fuse together to form suns, planets, trees, flowers, insects, animals and complex living creatures such as ourselves? There must be something in operation throughout the universe, other than blind mechanical forces and inert matter to yield such a multiplicity of forms, all displaying magnificent perfection, order and harmony.

That this something exists and functions through the universe is a primary datum of observation. The subject of which is dealt with in the next lesson.