For anyone who looks through these postcards it should become clear that part of my reluctance to say is because the picture is far from a clear one … in fact it’s a very confused one.

In terms of politics I think I would probably describe myself as a “conservative liberalist”, although many people would see that as a contradiction in terms and quite a few would probably see it as a typical “wishy washy liberal” standpoint – neither one thing nor the other.

In terms of religion, it should be obvious that I hail from the Christian tradition, but that there are issues with which I would disagree with the church.  At one point I used to describe myself as a Christian Atheist, but now I tend to feel that this is perhaps going a bit too far, (and perhaps a bit arrogant), and I would settle on Christian Agnostic.  Once again, it’s a case of “neither one thing, nor the other”.

Part of the problem is that I don’t believe in “absolutes” … yes, I know that, logically, that is an “absolute” in itself.  A paradoxical contradiction just like “Never say Never”.

When I was studying Ethics, I was quite taken by the view of relativism of “it all depends …” in Situational Ethics.  If it is wrong to tell lies, then why is it considered appropriate to be tactful? … to either tell a “white lie” or to “lie by omission” by avoiding the question?  If it is wrong to kill, then why is there capital punishment, war and so on?, and why aren’t we all vegetarians? …  and other more esoteric questions.

One of the sources of inspiration which, in hindsight, I think I can claim turned out to be one of the biggest influences in my life in that it set me thinking critically on such themes was a “hymn”, (or was it a “song”?), now known as the “Universal Carol” – Every Star Shall Sing a Carol.

Every star shall sing a carol,
Every creature high or low.
Come and praise the King of Heaven
By whatever name you know.

God above man below,
Holy is the name I know.

When the king of all creation,
Had a cradle on the earth.
Holy was the human body,
Holy was the human birth.

Who can tell what other cradle?
High above the Milky Way;
Still may rock the King of Heaven,
On another Christmas day.

Who can count how many crosses?
Still to come or long ago.
Crucify the King of Heaven,
Holy is the name I know.

Who can tell what other body?
He will hallow for his own.
I will praise the son of Mary,
Brother of my blood and bone.

Every star and every planet,
Every creature high and low.
Come and praise the King of Heaven,
By whatever name you know

Back in 1969, when I was a trainee lay preacher in the Methodist Church in my home town of Malvern, there was a new supplement issued to the Methodist Hymn Book called “Hymns and Songs”.  It proved to be quite popular, especially amongst the young people, with its catchy folk tunes and new lyrics.

One of those was “Every Star shall sing a carol” by Sydney Carter.  Carter was born in North London just after the start of the First World War.  He began his songwriting for theatrical revues and television.  By the time Hymns and Songs came out, he had already made a name for himself with Lord of the Dance sung to a catchy “shaker” tune, which is still, apparently, very popular.

I’m not sure if I like “Every Star …” because of the catchy tune it was set to or because it happened to coincide with an interest in Science Fiction.  The theme of the hymn, (song?), was that if the Christian message was appropriate to mankind here on earth, then what message might Big G have sent to other civilizations elsewhere in the cosmos.

It’s not far from this position that you come to the position of the Bah’ai, that Big G reveals himself in different ways to different peoples at different times, even here on earth.  Each faith, of course, claims particular veracity for itself as the unique path to the truth, enlightenment, and to the Almighty and a lot of mankind’s woes over the centuries can be traced to the rivalries between these claims.  Some people even claim that more wars have been fought, more lives have been lost, in disputes over religion than any other cause.

That may or may not be true, however, it does provide a challenge for anyone who professes a faith to address – especially when it includes a claim to universality.

Our view of the Universe is, at the moment, fairly limited.  It’s a bit like the old Ptolemaic view of the cosmos which had the Earth at the center of the universe with the sun, moon, stars and planets circling it.  When this was challenged by the theory that the earth, in fact, orbited the sun, there was uproar in the church and an inquisition in order to stamp out the heresy which we now know to have been true.  The understanding that the sun is itself not the center of the universe, but a constituent part of a larger galaxy rotating around a center was more easily accepted.  The idea that the galaxy is itself just one of many seems a natural corollary.  Nowadays there are even suggestions, albeit mainly in science fiction, of multiple, parallel universes.

But, then again, who knows?

As the search for the existence of life elsewhere in the universe continues, (intelligent or otherwise), mankind is being prepared to face the fact that “we are not alone”.

The Vatican apparently says that the discovery of extraterrestrial life, (intelligent or otherwise), does not pose a threat to Christianity as the expression of God’s will for mankind.  In a way, they may be right.  After all, the faith found a way to adapt to the discovery that the earth orbited the sun.

Well, SETI, (the search for extra terrestrial intelligence), may not yet have produced evidence to put that to the test, but a new report in the Journal of Cosmology, (http://journalofcosmology.com/Life100.html), may have. It’s by a “well respected” scientist from NASA who has a long history studying “extremeophiles”, (bacteria and other microorganisms that can thrive in environments most life as we know it would find hostile, such as high salt, high acidity, high heat, and deep freezes), who has been examining meteorites and claims to have found fossils in them – evidence of life, “not of this earth”.

The journal is a little known on-line publication which has been around for just a couple of years and which seems to have a somewhat mixed reputation, and similar claims were published in the more well known journal “Science” as long ago as 1996.  The editor, however, has invited members of the scientific community to review the report and promises to publish the results.

I don’t pretend to understand the science and won’t try to comment on it, but I do welcome the chance that it offers us to consider our place in the universe …