Skip to main content

Which came first?

Image
By
It is early Christmas morning and I am up early. Santa did not bring me anything. He never does. Does that mean I was naughty? Santa goes "ho ho ho" or rather "no no no" as in no gifts for you. I then reply, "ha ha ha, I am on the laughty list this year". How did I get here? Here as in this blog post. I went to search for something on Google and I mispelled Google and ended up with Goohle instead. Found out that Goohle is a mountain peak in Somalia. My interest peaked and I began on an adventure of learning. Goohle in reverse is elhoog and there was nothing interesting to me to find there. I then realised that Google in reverse is elgoog which led me to elgoog.im. A website that documents Google Easter eggs. It is Christmas morning and I am playing with Easter eggs. Go figure.

Then I noticed that if I rearrange the letters of google I can get "egg" and "ool" and "ool" is the abbreviation for origin of life as I found through Wikipedia. I then came across LUCA - the Last Universal Common Ancestor. According to wikipedia, "While no fossil evidence of the LUCA exists, the detailed biochemical similarity of all current life (divided into the three domains) makes it plausible." This lead me to the name Luca which possibly derives from Lucas with one possible origin meaning of "bringer of light". I then came across this video on youtube - How Did Life Begin? Neil deGrasse Tyson on Life on Earth & Beyond - https://youtu.be/KziWbJWwntg. Just before the 2:42 mark in the video, "tree of life" was mentioned and my interest was piqued.

The context from the video was, "By studying the basic biochemistry shared by many organisms we can begin to piece together how biochemical systems evolved near the roots of the tree of life." According to wikipedia, "The tree of life is a fundamental archetype in many of the world's mythological, religious, and philosophical traditions." I then learnt about the Baobab tree in Africa nicknamed the "Tree of life" or upside-down tree. Its branches resemble roots. According to my friend Bard, "The word "baobab" is ultimately believed to come from Arabic, specifically the phrase "bu hibab," which translates to "fruit with many seeds." This accurately describes the baobab's characteristic large, pulpy fruit filled with numerous seeds."

All this has me thinking: If we can talk about tree of life then we can talk about seed of life. Sol for short. Sol is also used to refer to the sun. Which has me asking, is the sun the seed of life? Which has me thinking back to Luca as noted before as "the bringer of light". What a journey I have been on. The sun is out and it is time for me to get to the mini mart to get a few items. I can't think of an interesting way to end this blog post. I am even wondering if I should even publish this blog post. Maybe I can end like I started by talking about eggs. Today is a good day for some non alcoholic ponche de creme (Trinidad's eggnog). After sitting on my thoughts I was able to hatch an ending that I find engaging or should I say egg-aging?

Want to hear a yolk? Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the other side... before the egg did! That is one way to answer the question, which came first, the chicken or the egg? According to wikipedia, "The question represents an ancient folk paradox addressing the problem of origins and first cause. Aristotle, writing in the fourth century BCE, concluded that this was an infinite sequence, with no true origin." I like that joke, yolk and folk all rhyme. No origin is something I did not consider when I started this blog post. Maybe, there is no origin of life. What does that even mean and how does that fit with my understanding of God and creation?
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Below the surface

By
This is a chapter from my eleventh book called Quotation Marks Sparks . __________ "You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf." - Jon Kabat-Zinn __________ I was looking at quotes that hit hard and this quote stood out to me. It seems mundane and obvious and often repeated. Life is about how we respond to the inevitable. It is not what happens to us but how we respond. I had to ask myself to dig deeper and look below the surface. Then I saw that when we surf we really become the waves. We become friends with the waves. The waves and us are the same. Further, the waves are created by us and in our heads. We can control the waves because who can surf all the time? Sometimes we just have to come to shore and build sand castles on shore. I asked my friend Gemini for feedback and he said that I was right, the Jon Kabat-Zinn quote initially seems like a simple call for resilience, but my deeper dive reveals profound layers. The idea that we can move beyond merely rea...
Post a Comment
Read more

Rain

By
This is a chapter from my latest book called (G)rains (o)f san(d)s. Learn more about the book here . Thank you God for the rain. It has just started raining here. I can hear the pitter patter on the roof. I can see the dimmed light through the window. The greenery in the yard is enjoying every chance of rain. The days have been extra hot this year. They say we are experiencing a super el nino in Trinidad. Given this every bit of rainfall feels special. Water is life. Without water there can be no life as we know it. Rain is part of the water cycle. Rain falling is like therapy. A calm state comes over my body. My mind relaxes. I appreciate my home and my shelter to keep me dry and safe. The rain is mentioned as a sign from God in the Quran and how it gives life to a lifeless land. The rain complements the sunshine as part of nature's balance. Sometimes we have to endure storms and floods and even droughts but there are lessons in these events. Community spirit is heightened and our...
Post a Comment
Read more

Nur al-Quran

By
It is 1037am and I have decided to write. I have been listening to the Quran more and more. I have also been trying to learn Arabic casually through social media. I am nearing the end of my second reading of the English Quran. The Quran is the word of God and God also tells us to follow the sunnah and life of the prophet (pbuh). The Quran is a miracle. The more I interact with the Quran, the more complete I feel. It gives my clarity. I have a purpose. I have goals. I have things I should be doing. Islam is a way of life and it builds character. Sometimes I listen to the Quran to forget about this world. This world is not my home. My home is in the hereafter and God willing in heaven. The more I draw closer to the Quran, the more beauty I see and hear and feel. Same goes to God. Same goes for the life of the prophet (pbuh). Same for Islam. If these are all the things I have in this world, I am happy. Reminds me of one of the duas I say daily. I am content with Allah as my Lord, Islam as...
Post a Comment
Read more