Name That Tune

In his homily this morning, Father Wayne Marcotte talked about God's relationship with science, and that they are not always at odds. He talked about the theory that all things are, when reduced to their smallest component parts, merely energy. I believe he was talking about String Theory, which posits that all things are made up of vibrating strings of energy, which interact to become the building blocks of the universe...atomic particles and molecules that form all we recognize as matter.

I was put in mind of the creation story as written by J.R.R. Tolkien in The Silmarillion. In the first section of that great work, the Ainulindalë (The Music of the Ainur), Ilúvatar creates the Ainur (eternal spirits) whom he instructs to create great music and harmony from which the universe is created according to his great theme. Of course, one spirit (Melkor) creates his own music and great disharmony and dissonance. In his book, the titanic voices of the great spirits create the universe.

Is this an insight into how God may have created our own universe, or merely a beautifully interesting allegory? Alas it remains a mystery -- albeit a musical one...

Mick

Name That Tune

As the theory goes, at the heart of things,
Matter does not matter -- it's energy
That vibrates, in the form of tiny strings,
Which congregate to create you and me.
To this tired old mind, it seems apropos,
That deep in the heart of this universe -
When you get just as small as you can go,
That music would be there -- chapter and verse...
What an absolutely glorious thought -
Everything made from vibrating strings!
That all of the wonders the Lord has wrought,
Was created when the Creator sings.
That God sang me to life, makes me feel fine,
And to be made of music, most divine!

Mick McKellar
June 2009