In the beginning יְהִ֣י
Ancient Lightning May Have Sparked Life on Earth
More than a billion strikes a year likely provided an essential element for organisms
In the beginning יְהִ֣י
Genesis gives us two completely different yet both wonderful creation stories that, if we stop to read and Reason and read again, make more and more sense - - each depending on how one needs and images God in the context of life's moment, perspective, gazing into TImeSpace from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope or looking up into the heavens as Aslan sings Creation into Being. It is always God for us whether distant or close, both are Heilsgeschichte, holy history, our sacred stories that, like the tribal stories of Native Americans, need only be true for us, must only meet our needs as needy people where we are, not the scientific proofs of future ages.
Like an old time campfire story, perhaps spun by the tribal spellbinder those forty years of nights in the wilderness as the travelers looked up at the stars, the primitive story in Genesis Two, said to be far older, is the more personal. y'hVah Elohim himself, our very own Protector Who inhabits the pillar of fire in tonight's darkness, digs up earth from the ground, forms a mud doll, blows into it the breath of life and, lo! has a companion to visit with and an earthling, one of us, to work the ground.
The more refined story in Genesis One is said to have come later, after the return from Babylonian Exile. As we rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple, a Temple priest who teaches Theology-101 as adjunct professor, notices that while we were far away by the Kebar River in Babylon, the common folk who were left behind in Judea intermingled with local natives and picked up their pagan beliefs and observances. Instead of the God of Israel, they are worshiping the sun, the moon, the stars, the weather spirits, and the spirits of the earth who bring forth grain if sufficiently appeased with sacrifice. So the Priest sits down and writes out a story of creation to show that all these things the pagans worship are nothing but creatures of our One True God, the God of Israel, the Creator of all that is, seen and unseen, Elohim, who in the beginning SAID - - יְהִ֣י yeHI "BE" and all that is came into being.
Actually, if one is of such a mind, this morning's news simply affirms what in Faith we already believed
יְהִ֣י -> Big Bang
יְהִ֣י -> lighting strikes
Lightning may have sparked life on Earth
That finding could have implications in the search for life beyond this planet.
Lightning may have sparked life on Earth
Nature Communications
- Article
- Open Access
- Published:
Lightning strikes as a major facilitator of prebiotic phosphorus reduction on early Earth
Nature Communications 12, Article number: 1535 (2021)
Abstract
When hydrated, phosphides such as the mineral schreibersite, (Fe,Ni)3P, allow for the synthesis of important phosphorus-bearing organic compounds. Such phosphides are common accessory minerals in meteorites; consequently, meteorites are proposed to be a main source of prebiotic reactive phosphorus on early Earth. Here, we propose an alternative source for widespread phosphorus reduction, arguing that lightning strikes on early Earth potentially formed 10–1000 kg of phosphide and 100–10,000 kg of phosphite and hypophosphite annually. Therefore, lightning could have been a significant source of prebiotic, reactive phosphorus which would have been concentrated on landmasses in tropical regions. Lightning strikes could likewise provide a continual source of prebiotic reactive phosphorus independent of meteorite flux on other Earth-like planets, potentially facilitating the emergence of terrestrial life indefinitely.
Whoever cannot see this, Your God is Too Small.
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