Sunday Thoughts:

Through the Eyes of an Atheist

One of the biggest spiritual awakenings for me came from looking at the world through the eyes of an atheist. Although I may never fully let go of my irrational and hopeful belief in the supernatural, I have found that I can engage in John Lennon's suggestion to “imagine” a world with no heaven, hell, or religion. It is during these exercises that I begin to see how fantastic of an adventure life really is.

Through the eyes of an atheist, I begin to consider the incredible random and low odds that produced the universe, this planet, life on this planet, and little ole me. It is then that I truly realize what a miracle it all is. Existence doesn't have to come from some god to be miraculous. In fact, the idea that it didn't makes it even more breathtakingly incredible.

Through the eyes of an atheist, I am forced to consider the very real likelihood that this is my one and only life. The thought that all of me and my consciousness could be completely eliminated by illness or accident one day makes every day I get on this planet even more precious and wondrous.

Through the eyes of an atheist, I marvel a the idea that my body can be recycled into various other physical forms as long as physical matter exists, the thought that my molecules came from stars millions and billions of years ago, and the concept that they may assume some physical form that I can not even imagine millions of years in the future. Being just a bit of that piece of eternity fills me with a great sense of connection to the universe, to the earth that shares even more experience with me, to living creatures that are even more similar, and to my fellow human, who has the most similar experience and matter with me of all.

Through the eyes of an atheist, the idea that human consciousness, thought, and emotion arise from simple electro-chemical processes in the brain is equally phenomenal to me. And the fact that these thoughts and emotions can be turned into symbols—either spoken or written—which can then alter the electro-chemical processes in the brain of another being far away or in the future is nearly a supernatural event in and of itself.

There are moment when all of these realizations occur spontaneously and simultaneously, usually in the midst of reflection, joy, friendship, or communing with nature. And in those moments, it is a spiritual experience for me.

Through the eyes of a believer, I blindly searched for these elusive concepts for years and years. Ironically, it has only been through the eyes of an atheist that I am simply unable to ignore the eternal and the profound.