God, Evolution, Jesus, and So On: A Book for Kids

1. God evolution Jesus and so on a book for kids Rev Dr Jason John ecominister, scots church adelaide http://ecofaith.org

2. Once there was this God, you see. The God. Just God. All alone.

3. Once there was this God, you see. The God. Just God. All alone. But you can’t be God if you haven’t got something or someone to be God of.

4. Once there was this God, you see. The God. Just God. All alone. But you can’t be God if you haven’t got something or someone to be God of. You can’t be the God of love if you haven’t got anyone to love, and if nobody loves you.

5. So whoosh! http://www.esa.int/esaKIDSen/SEMSZ5WJD1E_OurUniverse_1.html)

6. God gave birth to the universe. A gazillion degrees centigrade. Ouch!

7. You can ask a physicist what happened next, or become one and learn for yourself. Basically, after a really long time, all the hot energy started turning into stuff. Like our Sun

8. Our Sun is a star. And there are more stars in the universe than there are grains of sand on every beach and every desert on the whole world!!! http://seekers.100megs6.com/PlanetEarth3/gms_full_1%20Australia.jpg

9. Our Sun is a star. And there are more stars in the universe than there are grains of sand on every beach and every desert on the whole world!!! Go to a beach and try to count all the grains. Imagine- every beach and every desert in the world!!!

10. If God is the God of the universe, then God is really, really big!!

11. Anyway, our Sun span round and round and bits fell off. They became the planets, like Mars, Saturn, and of course Earth! http://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/images/content/84036main_solrwalk.jpg

12. Now all this was pretty amazing, but nothing compared to what was to come…

13. All around the universe, including RIGHT HERE… The stuff came alive! http://www.sethwhite.org/images/animals/a%20teeming%20mass%20of%20sea%20life.jpg

14. first greeblies, then grooblies, then sluggy things… Then crabs and stuff like that, then fish, then frogs and so on.

15. Poor frogs! They can hop around on the land a bit, but if they get too far from the pond they dry out and die. http://www.landmark.mdbc.gov.au/education/encyclopedia/wildlife/frogs/images/Corroboree_Frog.jpg

16. Then lizards and snakes and so on. They are both reptiles. Reptiles have tough skins that keep the water in, so they can wander all over the place. Like the blue tongue lizard in my back yard http://www.onset.unsw.edu.au/issue2/Nationalpark/blue_tongue_13_zoom_fullsize.jpg

17. There are almost no blue-tongues left in Adelaide, because humans keep driving their cars around too fast, and don’t keep their cats under control. If you see one you are very lucky- look after it!. They like raw eggs- ssshh- sneak into the kitchen and give them one now!

18. Anyway, eventually some reptiles evolved into mammals. All mammals have hair and boobs and can keep warm even in cold, cold places. That’s right: we are mammals too! But before all these kinds of mammals could appear… http://www.languageguide.org/im/animals/images/mammals_padded.gif

19. The dinosaurs had to disappear!! Because they were EVERYWHERE, eating our great great great great great grandparents (which were just little rats) http://www.feenixx.com/LOE-1/Images/Dinosaur_Evolution_poster.jpg

20. Then BANG! http://cse.ssl.berkeley.edu/SegwayEd/lessons/cometstale/comkkk1.html

21. A comet and a few volcanoes and all the dinosaurs died out. And our little ratty relatives went yay! Eventually some of them became primates. You know, monkeys, apes, orang-utans and things like that. Oh yes, and humans! Humans are not just mammals, we are apes. http://piclib.nhm.ac.uk/piclib/www/image.php?img=58639&frm=ser&search=neanderthal

22. Did you know there were at least four kinds of humans until recently!? You might have heard of the Neanderthals, but there were others too. Homoergaster, neanderthalensis and erectus

23. There was also a human species so small that they were only hobbit sized. Well, really, they were hobbits! They lived until very recently. Perhaps they are still alive, hidden in the forests in Asia!

24. Imagine meeting Sam and Rosie’s great great great great great grandchildren one day! http://www.ulujain.org/film/rotk.shtml

25. So the dinosaurs came and went. All kinds of humans came and went too. Our kind of human will go too, eventually. But there will still be animals around- All kinds of animals which have never been seen before. Can you imagine what they might look like? http://www.proza.com.ua/visions/we_are_family.shtml http://www.millionaires.co.in/category/science/

26. So the dinosaurs came and went. All kinds of humans came and went too. Our kind of human will go too, eventually. But there will still be animals around- All kinds of animals which have never been seen before. Can you imagine what they might look like? http://www.proza.com.ua/visions/we_are_family.shtml http://www.millionaires.co.in/category/science/

27. (Don’t worry, humans will still be around for a long, long time yet!)

28. So, LIFE has been very busy for about three billion years before our kind of human ever evolved. What was God doing all this time? ?

29. So, LIFE has been very busy for about three billion years before our kind of human ever evolved. What was God doing all this time? ? Well, certainly not waiting around for us humans to arrive!

30. Even though we did eventually evolve, God was the God of love for billions of years before we arrived! Loving the sluggy things, the frogs, reptiles, dinosaurs and rats. So every living thing is important, because it gives God a new experience of LIFE, a new thing to love and be interested in.

31. And who knows what God says to the dolphins in their dreams?

32. Is God real? Sure!

33. Can you see God? Kind of…

34. Many people think that God is like a big human in the sky… So if you look at other humans, they say, you see God. They are a bit right! www.unl.edu/HumanR/teach/

35. But God is the God of LIFE! not just of humans, So whenever you look at LIFE, you are looking at God. animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/ site/

36. Whenever you really look! http://www.economist.com/images/20020413/1502SU1.jpg

37. But its not just that a cat is like God, and a dog, and a human, but LIFE- the whole evolutionary past and ecological present (Evolution is the way LIFE changes shape into different animals and plants. Ecology is how all the different forms of LIFE live together now)

38. But its not just that a cat is like God, and a dog, and a human, but LIFE- the whole evolutionary past and ecological present Humans are here (“evolution” is the way LIFE changes shape into different animals and plants. Ecology is how all the different forms of LIFE live together now)

39. So LIFE shows us lots about God. Christians like me also reckon that Jesus shows us lots about God. Jesus was a carpenter, born in Israel a long time ago. Not long compared to evolution, or even how long humans have been around, but pretty long. He walked all over the place talking to people, so he got very grubby. He spent most time with people that others thought were too grubby to even be seen with!

40. So LIFE shows us lots about God. Christians like me also reckon that Jesus shows us lots about God. Jesus was a carpenter, born in Israel a long time ago. Not long compared to evolution, or even how long humans have been around, but pretty long. He walked all over the place talking to people, so he got very grubby. He spent most time with people that others thought were too grubby to even be seen with! He might have looked like this (but grubbier) http://findinggod.org/fgprogram/2.asp?bhcp=1

41. You could spend you lifetime trying to work out exactly who Jesus was and exactly what he showed us about God. Lots of humans do. Like me. I’m still trying to work it out, I even get paid to!

42. Anyway, I think the gist of the whole story of LIFE, God, Jesus and us is a bit like this. Most animals just live. They live, they have fun, they get sad, they have kids and so on. That’s a good way to live.

43. Anyway, I think the gist of the whole story of LIFE, God, Jesus and us is a bit like this. Most animals just live. They live, they have fun, they get sad, they have kids and so on. That’s a good way to live. But some humans get so afraid of things that they stop living properly. They might buy lots and lots of things to make themselves feel better… but it never lasts Or they may be mean to other people to make themselves feel better… but it never lasts Or they might just keep to themselves and not talk to anyone. Or watch heaps of TV to make their brains turn to mush. Or go bam bam bam on the computer all day http://www.artshole.co.uk/arts/artists/Pierre%20dAlancaisez/TN_35-16-child-square-eyes.JPG

44. But if they do those things they don’t have time to see LIFE properly, or to see God properly. They don’t have time to love themselves, or each other, or God. Or they might just be too afraid to. http://www.worth1000.com/web/media/34177/The-Scream.jpg

45. So maybe Jesus is what happens when God comes to humans and says, “DON’T BE AFRAID! I LOVE YOU!” “SO LOVE YOURSELVES. LOVE OTHERS JUST THE SAME. LOVE ME.” “HAVE LIFE, LIVE IT TO THE FULL! LOVE IT!”

46. There’s more to it than that, but that’s a pretty good start. The rest you will have to work out with family and friends.

47. ♥ So the bottom line is that because we are here God loves us, like God loves every kind of animal, and has for billions of years. And the exciting thing is that we can love God back!

48. ♥ So the bottom line is that because we are here God loves us, like God loves every kind of animal, and has for billions of years. And the exciting thing is that we can love God back! It might be true that humans can love LIFE, and the God of LIFE more than any other animal on the planet can. It’s a big job!

49. Will you help?