Life on Mars

This past week I saw the movie March of the Penguins, read an article about life teeming at the bottom of the Artic Ocean, and saw a snippet from some PBS program about how sea life thrives in the "draino-like environment" around certain volcanic vents under the sea. I then thought of our attempts to determine if life has existed on Mars by looking under various rocks there. Given the way life flourishes on this planet, perhaps we won't have to look very hard if and when it turns up in other places.

All this reminds me of that passage in Genesis that paints a picture of the Holy Spirit "hovering over the face of the deep", bringing forth life. I am also reminded of the prayer to the Holy Spirit that begins the Orthodox Vesper Service:

O Heavenly King, Comforter and Spirit of truth Who art everywhere present and fillest all things. Treasury of good gifts and Giver of life. Come and abide in us and cleanse us of all impurity and save our souls, O Good One.

I am learning to believe in a good and generous God, and this helps me conclude that wherever God creates life it will be full, irrepressible, and obvious. However, if one believes that life comes about by some random combination of circumstances (i.e. without love), then there is no reason to expect life to be abundant.