'THE OBJECT OF MAN'S CREATION.'  WORLD CONFERENCE OF RELIGIONS ; 28th September 2019
Prince George, BC. by Marie Hay.

Dear friends,
welcome and may God's peace be with you all.
I wish to thank the Church of the Latter day Saints , for the warmth of their hospitality here today;
and to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at for,
choosing such a wonderful topic for our inter-faith dialogue, 
'The Object of Man's creation'.
This topic relates to a Quranic concept, as to the reason why, God created man.
When contemplating this concept as a Christian, 
I believe God has given us three essential sources of knowledge. 
These sources, help us on our life's journey,
to discover the purpose and meaning of our existence.
These three are;
(1) The whole of Creation.
(2) The Bible (both old and new testaments).
(3) Our lived experience (which incorporates all the sciences,humanities and the arts.)

To start first with Creation:
I will begin with a story.
A good friend of mine is an amateur astronomer.
One night, when we were examining the heavenly skies together, 
I asked him,
" how many stars are there in our Milky Way Galaxy?"
"At least 200 million" he replied.
 I asked,
"well how many galaxies are there then , in our Universe?"
He said "we think 200 billion galaxies".
So I tried to do the math in my head..............
200 billion galaxies, multiplied by 200 million stars.........
and immediately all the circuit breakers of my brain blew!!
My friend also added "and the oldest star we see, is 14 billion light years away, which is our best guess, as to the age of our observed Universe" .
"But".......he continued
"although our Universe is full of stars, planets, black holes,nebulae and supernovas ; outside of it, there are massive structures, which are exerting unimaginable gravitational forces, on it. These structures are likely, undiscovered other Universes,existing in the infinity of space."
I was totally amazed by his knowledge .
It seemed to me, these Universal spaces of God's creation are infinite.
We do not know if God' Universal space ever had a beginning, or if it will have an end.
To look into the infinity of Creation itself, is like peering into a looking glass, which  reflects to us the infinity of God, the Absolute One, the Creator of everything in existence.
As a Christian, I believe that evolution is the way that the HOLY creates in time, space and in all spheres of life.
With our best guess being, that the Universe is over 14 billion years old; it is really humbling to realise that humans only came into existence  400,000-600,000 years ago. We as humans are in the sixth iteration of life, on planet earth.
As far as we know, we are the first species to have evolved a consciousness about our own personal existence and that of a Creator God.
One of my favourite theologians is Fr. Teillard de Chardin.
He has given us some insights to the deepest questions of our being.
He wrote "the truth is, that LOVE is the threshold of another Universe."
"At the heart of this Universe, each soul exists for God , and as human beings we are called in our lives to harness FOR GOD,
 the energies of LOVE."

Teillard said, " The God of Creation and the God of our worship are one and the same. 
God's purpose is to lead us, into an infinity of freedom and love."

For meself, Christ is the Universal Anointed one; who is beyond time.
Christ dwells in all of creation and anoints all matter with God's Spirit.
God's unfathomable, primordial complex, breathes into the matrix of our souls, a cosmic praxis. 
This cosmic breath evolves us into conscious, feeling human beings, who are called to participate in the shaping of the world we live in.
The breath of God, enlivens us to make a difference in the world and to be generous contributors, to the evolution of creation.

A second source of our understanding about God, comes from the Bible.
The old testament has its roots in the ancient Hebrew Torah.
The new Testament , refers to the life and times of Jesus , 2000 thousand years ago.
In my tradition , we read the Bible as a collection of allegorical-cultural stories. These stories speak to us about our imperfect human nature and the perfection of the Divine.
The Bible also informs us, of the unceasing call by the HOLY; for us to be in an all encompassing 'RELATIONSHIP OF LOVE' with God, with our Neighbour, with Mother Earth and all of her living species.
This Divine call is relevant for all people, in all times.

The THIRD source of knowledge from God, which stitches together the matrix of life's meaning; is that of our 'own lived experience'.
This integration of Creation,the Bible and lived experience, has  led me to the following core values.
As a Christian, I am called to
a radical acceptance of,
and love for human diversity and inclusivity,
to fight for social justice,
to care for the poor and the oppressed,
to be present to Mother Earth, through a reconciling relationship of loving , environmental stewardship,
and to practice the values of compassion, justice, mercy,and tolerance.
I am called, not  to shy away from political activism, or from questioning tradition, if this is what is needed.
My faith seeks to honour all narratives, in a world of many beautiful, religious traditions.
So much understanding of who God is, can be gained through inter-faith dialogue and co-operation. 
Feminist and liberation theologies, are powerful influences in the evolution of my Christian faith.
Going forward therefore, into this 21st Century,the two commandments of the  New Testament ;
(1) to love God and (2) to love my neighbour,
challenges me 
to work towards a sustainable ecology for Earth and all her living species.
to strive for reconciliation with Indigenous peoples ,
to make black lives matter,
to honour women and children's rights, as human rights,
to promote gender equity, both binary and non binary.
to ensure that no human being, is ever considered to be illegal,
to foster loving relationships,
to know that kindness is everything,
and that the God of creation is in 'all' and 'all' is in God.
The outline above summarizes for me, the "object of humankind's creation".
To conclude,
within the context of a loving dialogue,
I share with you a powerful prayer of creation.
O GOD
in the accelerating expansion of the Universe,
in the spiraling of the Galaxies,
in the explosions of the supernovas,
in the equilibrium of the earth's ecology,
in the evolving of society,
in the functioning of our organs,
in the chemical processes within our bodies,
in the mighty forces locked within the miniscule atom,
in the astonishing behaviours of entangled quantum particles which knit together, the fabric of your Universe,
MAY WE,
in wonderous adoration,
know that we live entirely with your PRESENCE,everywhere and in everyone.
For this,
 'is the object of why humankind was created'. 
AMEN.