Why the Universe Story?

Chapel Themes October 1, 2025October 1, 2025

by Ed Shurna

For past 30 years I have been a student of the Universe Story and I longed to share that story.

Why? Because for much of my life I wondered why we are on earth. My faith told me that I was born with original sin and that I was redeemed by Jesus and my time on earth was a stopover before getting to heaven. I needed to avoid mortal sin and with God’s mercy enter heaven. I prayed this story and believed in this story but I kept wondering why we were spending time on earth if our goal was heaven. Why not just start with heaven and forget about earth?
Earth was seen as a backdrop for my relationship with God. The earth was secondary. People were primary. We were supposed to have dominion over the earth. That meant using the earth for our welfare. There was no inherent value to the earth.

Then I read Brian Swimme and the Cosmic Christ and I began to look on our short time on earth in a new way. The old story no longer worked for me. I needed a bigger God, a God that encompassed the entire universe. Thanks to centering prayer and reading the mystics I became open to a larger mystery. Earth was not a stopover before heaven. Earth was where God is. God is not off somewhere in the heavenly sky. God is part of the fabric of creation
We are not born with original sin. We are imperfect because the universe is a work in progress. We don’t have it all together because we are part of an unfinished universe. God is not in heaven, some far off place. God is here with us as we grow together. As we evolve God evolves with and in us.

We are the latest chapter in the story of the universe.…we have a unique role to play in this story…it’s not about the after life…it’s about our unique role in this life. God needs us and we need God.