As a teenager, I believed in possibilities.
I believed in the possibility that dead people sometimes hung around their old house, just in case they didn't like the new occupants.
I believed in the possibility that this planet wasn't the only one capable of supporting intelligent life.
I even believed in the possibility that the universe didn't just spring into existence of its own accord, but was the creation of a superior being. (I also believed in the possibility that said superior being kept the universe in a fishtank in his kitchen, but that's not important right now.)
When I became a Christian some of my beliefs were altered, but not entirely thrown out (except the fishtank one).
I believe there is a spiritual realm to the universe, demons and angels, if you like, and that this may account for many of the ghosts people claim to have encountered.
I still believe in the possibility of life on other planets. Why not? Speculation as to how the story of God may have played out a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, was what led me to create the Old Testament Space Opera.
It also leads to one of christian sf's interesting dilemmas: If man is created in God's image, what happens when intelligent alien life turns out to have ten arms and no head? or be a shapeshifter? or a super-intelligent shade of the colour blue?
2 comments:
The scope of the physical differences may be relative (our kids look like us, people say, but they still look entirely uniquely like themselves) ... or you could also contemplate the possibility that the way creatures are created in God's image is more a reference to spiritual characteristics than literal physical traits.
Ah, but I bet their "spirits" would be familiar ... since God doesn't have a body. :-)
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