And now for something lighter: From Noah

My son and my mom

My 20 year old son Noah, currently a senior at Calvin College, worked this past summer on the grounds at Calvin.  He came home one day and said a story had been mulling in his brain all day.  He went upstairs and about thirty minutes later sent me the story that you can read below.  This is a creative view of a pre-creation story, as imagined by a young man in the Star Trek/Star Wars era.  I love my son and how God weaves creativity and imagination in each of us!  Enjoy!

Hello reader. If this has fallen into your hands than I can only assume all has gone as planned and humanity has begun to put itself back together. If that is true there is something you must know about the history of our civilization and the truth about what you have been taught.

Humanity was once a great power. After we conquered and expanded across the depths of our home world, we looked to the stars for new territory. We had the technology to do so and in our arrogance we assumed that because we could, therefore we must. We sent probes and ships all over the galaxy and it was not long before we first encountered a species outside of our own. For the first time in decades we had a new focus. A whole other civilization, with technology vastly superior to our own. They were peaceful in nature, not prone to war, a civilization without any sort of weaponry. We conquered them easily.

In hindsight I recognize our mistakes. It is shameful how many of us thought nothing of squashing this peaceful civilization and taking their technology for our own. We just wanted power and our pride blinded us to the concept of repercussions. We amassed armies with the resources from the planet we wrongfully stole, and built great ships. Monuments to our invincibility…or so we thought. We discovered several other planets with life and quickly dispatched them, seizing their land for our own. Some resisted but our military might proved unstoppable. We kept pushing farther into the depths of space, searching for more to discover, more to conquer. It was then that for the first time we were discovered. A galactic tribunal made up of alien species that had existed since long before humanity first climbed out of the evolutionary pools. They held us (rightfully) accountable for the destruction of the many innocent species that we crushed underfoot. We were deemed unfit for continuation in the galaxy, “too dangerous and volatile” to be allowed to continue our exploration. War was declared; humanity was to be wiped from the galaxy. 

We were determined not to go down without a fight. With all of our ships, our weapons and military power we were certain there was no way these Others, as they were called by us, could ever challenge us! But we were wrong. We were quickly destroyed and pushed back out of every system we conquered until all that remained was Earth. I remember the flashes of light still in the sky as the last of our mighty ships fell to pieces and crumbled down to Earth. They came down in pillars of fire, using their knowledge of terraforming to cause the very earth beneath us to give way. We begged for mercy at this point, vowing to never enter the skies again. They responded sadly, saying that we would never learn. Our race was never taught the proper lessons and was too set in our ways. I wish I could say they were wrong. 

It was at this point that I stepped forward. I made one final plea to the Others. I showed them our history, our culture and our passions. I made the case for humanity’s potential…for YOUR potential, dear reader. For while my case won them over enough to where they agreed to not wipe our species from existence, their condition was that humanity would need a clean slate. A fresh start. A beginning where they could teach humanity all about this concept of love and care that we had never known. Humanity would need to begin again; all remnants of our previous civilization destroyed and scattered. They would send their leader, whose name I can only loosely translate to you as Yhwh, (as it is called in their tongue. The pronunciation is difficult to be written), to do this through writing. Yhwh would watch carefully over humanity. Determined to teach us the ways necessary for harmonious survival in our universe, it would start a book, starting with a parable the fall of man due to their arrogance, using myself as an example for all other humans to look upon. They…or should I say you, will see the mistakes I made. This Other being will stay with humanity, acting from a distance. It will disguise itself as something different, a creator as it were. It will remain here, ensuring our survival, protecting us, and guiding us in the hopes that humanity can find love and peace. As we become more self-sufficient Yhwh has assured me that it will step back and allow us to decide what path to take. But make no mistake; there was a time where we did not truly know love. Do not ignore the teachings that the Others have offered you. The Earth has been around for much longer than their book would say as has humanity. The Book details your creation but really what it details is humanities rebirth. Soon their terraforming will be complete and Earth will be habitable again. I will be deposited without any memory of any of this and will be charged with the recreation of our race.

My name is Adam. In my world I was a historian, a guardian of the annals. However to you I will most likely be known as the First of our Kind. You will have been told I have caused all the pain and suffering our race has endured, but you have been told a tale. The snake was our hubris- the tree of knowledge of good and evil; our thirst for exploration. Humanity was given a second chance, human. We failed the first time because of our pride. We will not be given a third chance. Make use of the chance you were graciously handed and ensure that you do not follow the path we did.