The Greatest Spiritual Secret of the Century by Thom Hartmann Page A

him to follow.”
    â€œAnother channel?”
    â€œMore or less. Pardon the digression. I rather like dogs.”
    â€œI can understand why.”
    Noah nodded as if it was a perfectly normal conversation, to talk about being a dog and the nature of reality, and said, “Ok, so we have these two facts in summary. One is that everything in creation is made out of energy. Everything originated from a single energy, the subtlest energy, and as that energy became more and more coarse, it diversified and came into being as X-rays and light and gravity and sound and the whole thing. Then it congealed into matter and the physical universe banged into existence. This is the creation story as told by both physics and Genesis and John. First there was God, then God made light. Or, ‘In the beginning was the Word.’ You understand?”
    â€œI think so,” Paul said. “First there was the most subtle energy, the finest energy, and it slowed down and became coarser and coarser, making all the energies we can detect, and then some of it slowed down even more-the way slowed-down or cooled-down liquid water becomes solid ice. Thus it became matter, and the energy and matter together are what we call the physical universe.”
    â€œRight,” said Noah. “Exactly right. And so this then raises two questions: one, what was that First Energy that everything else was made from; and, two, is it possible that we can detect that First Energy with our nervous systems? Is it one of the ‘channels’ we can receive?” He hit the power button on the remote control, and the screen of the TV turned black. He pointed the remote control at Paul, as if it could bring the answer from him.
    Paul looked at the remote control pointed at him, and felt his mind go fuzzy. What was the first energy? X-rays? Gamma rays? They’re all things that are easily detected by machines: they couldn’t be the most subtle, most original energy in the universe…
    â€œHere’s a clue,” Noah said. “If you could detect that First Energy, you’d discover that at that level, the entire physical universe is solid. It’s all made of that stuff, even the apparently empty spaces between things, because the empty space is part of the Creation, too.”
    Paul nearly jumped off his chair. “It’s God!”
    â€œRight!” Noah said. “Or, more correctly, it’s The Creator of the Universe. You folks have so badly mungedup the word ‘God’ with your televangelists and all. It’s important to differentiate between Everything That Is and some old man with a beard and a big stick who goes after people who join the wrong church or don’t send in enough money.”
    â€œBut what about those people who see God as an old man on a throne? Is He real?”
    â€œOf course He is, if they believe,” Noah said. “And there can be great power in such total belief, although if it’s lived without a larger understanding it can lead to problems like religious wars. You’ll learn more about that from your next teacher.”
    â€œWow,” Paul said, feeling a sudden breathlessness, the same he’d felt years ago as a child when he’d gone to Midnight Mass with a friend and heard Handel’s Messiah. He looked around the room for a moment, thinking everything I’m looking at is made of and by God!
    â€œDo you think you can detect this most subtle energy with your human—or even a mammalian—nervous system?”
    â€œI don’t know,” said Paul, but as he spoke the words he had an intuition that he could detect the presence of God. He’d done it, and he knew it. That Midnight Mass. Looking out an airplane window on his first trip in a jet. When he’d fallen in love with Wendy when he was sixteen…“Love!” he said, interrupting his own train of thought.
    â€œWonderful!” Noah said, tossing the remote