I still clearly remember how I listened in complete amazement as we were taught the theory of evolution during my school days.
Born into a Christian family, I have always had a firm belief in God and the story of creation.
But now schoolchildren were saying to each other, well, if humans evolved from amoebas washing up out of the sea, then where does the story of creation and the Garden of Eden fit in?
They asked each other, and me, so do you still believe in God? What! I thought, why would anyone not believe in God—is there an option to either believe or not believe? This way of thinking quite alarmed me.
I clearly remember trying to work through in my mind what we were being taught at school about evolution and whether it should affect my faith in a living and loving God.
I could understand the theory of the survival of the fittest and evolution. But thought, something is missing in this internal debate I am having—what is it?
Love is what it is, I concluded.
A Spark of Divine Love
The burning question within me was, whether or not humankind evolved over millions of years or was created in the Garden of Eden—why have we been endowed with the capacity to love?
Why would parents love their children? I argued with myself—why would children, in return, love their parents. Why would people love their pets —if life is simply about the survival of the fittest?
My young mind somehow sensed that whether or not the truth is in evolution or creation, nevertheless God is love.
This initial simple belief developed and became more apparent to me over the years—to the point where I now see that a tiny spark of His divine love burns within each one of us, whether that has been adequately awakened or not.
St Paul wrote an amazing letter to the Corinthians. He told them (Chapter 13) that the most important things to have in life are faith, hope and love—and that the greatest of these is love.
Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. 1 John 4:10
