An Alternative to Black Holes

An Alternative to Black Holes--February 3, 2017

"For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the live I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." [Galatians 2:19-21]

Let's have a science-and-faith moment, shall we?

Do you know why black holes are called black holes?  They are bent in on themselves--they literally bend space-time around them by their immense gravity to such a degree that even light itself cannot escape them. They are the cores of exploded stars that remain when a supergiant star goes supernova, and all of that mass collapses in on itself, which then sucks in whatever other matter is near enough to be affected by its immense gravity (the point they call the "event horizon").  When the black hole is "feeding"--that is, sucking material in toward itself in a huge swirling cloud called an accretion disk--it often will shoot out twin jets from either side (call it the top and bottom if you like) comprised of high energy x-rays and other cosmic rays, which would be lethal and destructive toward anything in their immediate path.  Cheery picture, huh?

So basically, just to review, when a supergiant star collapses in on itself, it starts destroying things around it in just about every direction--sucking in matter around it, and then blasting out lethal beams at the same time... and because it is so strongly bent in on itself, it will not even let light out.  Hence the name, "black hole."

Stars, of course, are just about the opposite.  Living stars, that is.  Living stars radiate--they give away light as they spend themselves.  It may take millions of years for some and billions of years for others, but a star's life is spent giving itself away, making the darkness of the universe brighter, radiating light and creating warmth, and at least in the case of one small blue planet, creating the conditions where life can thrive.

There are two ways to live this life, in the end: the black hole approach that is bent in on oneself, or the living star approach, which is spent on giving oneself away and generating as much light as possible for as long as possible while doing it.  Now, when you look at it in these terms, it seems obvious that living the black-hole way of life is a literal dead end, and it would seem like there is immense beauty, purpose, and joy in living after the model of active stars.

But in the course of daily life here on this little blue planet, it's funny (and sad) that so often conventional wisdom teaches us to live bent in on ourselves.  Zoom in to your and my every day routines, and the voices around us all tend to say, "You've got to look out for Number 1!"  "Take care of yourself and your own before anybody else!"  "It's me-first, my way, my priorities, my security, my comfort, my preferences that matter, and everybody else just has to live with it!"  And perhaps we have been told that message for so long that we no longer think of it as anything strange.  Perhaps we have been bombarded with that mindset that we do indeed regard it as conventional wisdom or common sense.

Look at the way it shows up in our attitudes, this bent-in-on-self black-hole attitude: we tend to be willing to sacrifice the lives and livelihoods of others in order to keep our own (false) sense of security.  We get upset when something is going to be an inconvenience to us, but is there to ensure the safety of somebody else.  We act like our own little comfortable world is all that matters, and we get defensive about anybody or anything that we think might disturb that comfort.  And so we also have a way of ignoring any information or news that doesn't fit our already-set view of the world, and we have a way of covering over our own hypocrisies and inconsistencies.  We don't want someone to point those out to us, because that, too, would poke our little bubbles, and we don't want to be disturbed. 

The black-hole mindset says things like, "Those people are just going to have to fend for themselves--I don't want to risk my comfortable picture of the world."  It says, "We've got to take care of our own troubles first before helping anybody else--once I've got this second car paid off... and the reservations made for our Caribbean cruise... and then pay the cable bill... and then, I'll see about having any money to help someone who is out of a home and out of food."  It says, "God's job is to make my life more comfortable, and the life of my immediate family," rather than, "My job is to live out the vision that God has for a world in which all are cared for."  It says, "Shoot first and ask questions later--the other person's life can't be that important if it comes to me versus them."

When you look up at the stars and see the difference between a black hole and a living star, the choice seems obvious, but when we put it in day-to-day terms here, wow, we are each guilty of wallowing in black-hole thinking and living.  We can all imagine ourselves to be the poor, put-upon victims, from time to time, and we can all imagine ourselves to be the center of all that matters.  But let this be a warning: every time you and I begin a thought with the sentence, "I just have to look out for Number 1 here..." we are already headed down the road to a black-hole life, bent in on myself, and the way that will destroy everything around me.

On the other hand, there is an alternative lifestyle to which we are invited.  You could call it the living-star mindset, or you could call it "being crucified with Christ" like Paul does here in Galatians, or you could call it "living to God" or "seeking first the Kingdom" or, like we did last month, you could think of it as life with the Spirit filling your sails to push you along.  But it is decidedly different from the black-hole way of living, because it dares no longer to be bent in on oneself, but radiating outward to give ourselves away for all... because we are confident that the living God will sustain our light.  For Saint Paul, the idea of being crucified with Christ meant that he no longer had to play the world's stupid and selfish petty games of looking out for number one anymore.  He didn't have to worry about his reputation, or his wealth, or even his safety and security. 

Think about how radical that is, over against our culture's ridiculous obsession with puffing ourselves up and making sure we are ready to defend ourselves.  You won't find a single story in the New Testament where Paul (or any of the followers of Jesus) said, "Oh, hey, let's not talk to those people... it might be dangerous!" or "There might be trouble in this next town where we are going--everybody get your weapons ready so we can fight our way out if it gets hairy!"  You don't get the sense that the first followers of Jesus gave much thought to their own safety, and that was part of what made their message and presence so compelling.  It wasn't a fearful half-hearted message that "Jesus loves you, but you better look out for yourself in this life," but rather the complete freedom of not having to worry about looking out for their own interests because they were simply caught up in living for others because they were living for Jesus.  That is daring.  That is attention-getting.  That is a life crucified to self and instead lived radiating your life and your energy outward, spending yourself to make the coldness of the universe even just a little bit brighter.

Well, here's the thing: each day you and I get to choose how we will face the day and the world around us.  Will we fall for the voices called "conventional wisdom" and aim our lives inward at ourselves, thinking it's the only way to preserve our self-interest... or will we dare to live the alternative lifestyle called being "crucified with Christ" that is aimed outward at the good of everyone else around us?  Will we choose the black-hole way of living, or will we dare to let our lights so shine in the world that others will see it and give glory to God?

Look up at the night sky before you decide--I think the answer will be obvious.

Lord Jesus, pull us out of being bent-in on ourselves, and instead let us radiate outward with the love and light you have given to us to share.  And let it be a dazzling light.