Rosh Hashanah marks the beginning of the new year, but it’s more broadly about creation, about origins.

 

Today’s class for little kids at our local UU Church (to which my family belongs) was about creation.  The big bang figured prominently in the lesson.

 

Which got me thinking about myth and science regarding the origins of our universe, and about the politics of all this.

 

When people relate to biblical and other creation stories as though they’re literally true, rather than myth and metaphor, well . . .

 

When people relate to scientific explanations of our origins as if a literally true description of the beginnings of the known universe can end one’s search for meaning and intimacy with and within this universe, well . . .

 

And so biblical literalists and secular materialists face off overtly about the facts of our origins as they talk at cross purposes.

 

Here’s the key thing:  It’s always the beginning.