The Music of the Spheres

Over a month ago, and for some nebulous reason, a friend presented me with the following: “...have you ever thought about if there is any significant difference between calling the universe into existence by word (ours) or by song (Narnia)?”

I hadn't, but found to my surprise that I had an strong prejudice in favor of Creation by Song. I couldn't explain it rationally— no fact I knew supported the idea. But the instinct— call it a sixth sense, female intuition, the Holy Spirit, what you will— refused to go away.

Three weeks later at my cousin's graduation, one of the 18 year-old speakers started going on about the Theory of Everything as it related to humanitarianism. Quantum physics. At a high school graduation. I found myself highly intrigued even though he obviously wasn't arriving anywhere: the “God made it all!” argument was perfectly evident to me, but he couldn't manage to reduce every unique embodiment of matter to a common denominator— even though his entire speech hung on the premise that it must be possible! He got to particle physics and... stopped where everyone else has to stop as well. Poor fellow.

But on the way home I began to think how like God it would be to have left a physical proof of His creation at the subatomic level, just like that for which the kid was searching. It couldn't be a result, like a watermark on an atom— it would have to be non-static, continuous, alive. That's when Boomer brought up String Theory.

His sources (click on them for their video context) have this to say about the current reigning Theory of Everything:

“Any particle should be thought of as a tiny vibrating object rather than a zero dimensional point. Like the notes played on a cello, vibration modes produce different particles: electrons, photons, perhaps gravitons.”

“Matter emanates from these strings like music... Nature is made up of notes, all the little notes that are played on these super strings.... All of a sudden we realize that the universe is a symphony, and the laws of physics are harmonies of a super string.... The fundamental problem of cosmology is that the laws of physics, as we know them, break down at the instant of the Big Bang... All our lives we've dedicated to the proposition that the universe obeys knowable laws, laws that can be written down in the language of mathematics. And here we have the centerpiece of the universe itself, a missing piece beyond physical law.”

“Just as the strings on a cello can vibrate at different frequencies, making all the individual musical notes, in the same way the tiny strings of String Theory vibrate and dance in different patterns, creating all the fundamental particles of nature..... What's really exciting about this is that it offers an amazing possibility: if we could only master the rhythms of strings, then we'd stand a good chance of explaining all the matter and all the forces of nature, from the tiniest subatomic particles to the galaxies of outer space. This is the potential of String Theory: to be a unified Theory of Everything.”

The maddening thing about String Theory is science cannot prove it— it's Theoretical Physics. No construct known to man can validate the idea.

Oh, except one. What is the line? “For by Him all things were created, both in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible....and in Him all things hold together.” Col. 1:16-17 So here we have, in scientific terms, an initial creative act followed by a creative sustaining act. As to the How— “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.” John 1:1,3 We don't always think of these verses as pointing to scientific principles, but make this last jump with me:

If String Theory is correct, the only thing that explains it completely is a voice making vibrating sound waves (strings) by continuously speaking existence somewhere beyond particle physics. And how might a voice “continuously speak”so that deadly silences are not left between words?

Singing.