Leibniz, the philosopher and mathematician, asked the right question, “Why is there something, rather than nothing?” Why are we here at all? He did not just accept his existence in the midst of Nature, with all its thought systems trying to make sense of the various aspects of Nature. And when one looks at the Universe, it is so vast, so beautiful, sometimes so terrible, so complicated and intricate in detail, that the individual soul tends to be overwhelmed. As Job declared, only the presence of God within enables man to face God without. Immanuel Kant declared that he was impressed by two things: the starry heavens above and the moral law within. He too felt able to embrace the complexity of life within simple parameters. But most people, overawed by the complexity, find it easier to blind themselves to the significance of these things. And when I read of a scientist, who has explored this little bit or that little bit of Nature, say that his idea of the central order of things rules out the idea of a personal God for him, I think of the tiger giving the 10 year old Jim Corbett a withering look, and sauntering away. The scientist tells us that he has been looking down the microscope in his laboratory, and when he looks up he cannot see the horizon clearly. But whose fault is that?
And whose fault is it that even if we win this round in the battle for life, the next enemy is the company of designers and manufacturers of robots and artificial intelligence, who may be an even greater threat to humanity than those whose intolerant political thought ceased to evolve in the 14th century? But that debate is right outside my competence.
For myself, just being alive is such a privilege, it is best to give thanks one has lived, give thanks one has been given the inestimable privilege of an invitation to help the Creator create a slightly better world, and give praise while one has breath.