A Dramatic Reading15 minutes unregistered copyright © John Engelbrecht July 17, 2015God calls a board meeting. The Son sits in the leather chair at the right hand and the Spirit sails in on His wings.
Gabriel takes minutes. Michael is sergeant-at-arms.God calls the meeting to order and declares, God "Let's build something." The Spirit replies, "What do you have in mind, a new subdivision of mansions? Do the gates need remote controls?" God "No, I was thinking of building something in Our image. Son, what can You
put together that can listen to Us?"The Son says, "I am coming up with a listening device."Gabriel thinks he knows what the Son is talking about. Gabriel "Would that be a Beta 87A supercardioid condenser microphone? Or a Sound Blaster SB0880
PCI Express Titanium Sound Card?The Son replies, “Thanks, Gabriel, but the first listening device is a brain. And we connect an ear to the brain.
And how about this? I give the brain speech so it can talk to Us."Michael warns, "Do you mean, talk to Us, or talk back at Us? You know the problems We had with that smart-mouthed
Satan and his rebels!" God replies, "The brain should listen and talk, and also relate to Us. It should be able to choose to obey."The Spirit says, "Relating, hmm? Well, We can call this creation...woman." Gabriel "Do you realize that this woman will be happy only if You also create shopping? . . . . . But what
if she disobeys?" God "If she disobeys, We can forgive. But she will welcome Our love for her, and then she has to
choose her own response. Son, can you handle all this?"The Son is sketching on a yellow legal pad. Son "I propose to make woman using My new invention, atoms. I will put woman in a place 530 degrees
above absolute zero, where woman's electrons can do chemistry. Gabriel thinks 530 degrees is odd. Gabriel "Lord, why 530 degrees? Why not 50 degrees or 5000 degrees?"The Son replies, "My atoms are pretty much asleep at 50 degrees above absolute zero. And at 5000 degrees,
that is all plasma physics. 530 degrees is just right for woman." The Son continues, "But Let's make many women, and they can all relate to Us."Michael speaks up. "Lots of women, hmm? We're going to need a database to keep track of all of them.
You can contract that out to Oracle." God replies, "The database We call books. And the book recording forgiveness We call the Book of Life."The Son has more to say. Son "My chemistry can build woman on a digital template. I call it DNA. All women will
share this template, but women will not be clones, otherwise Mendel will have no pea variations to study.
Women will have variations through DNA, because I also make men to help with the DNA chemistry."Michael and Gabriel applaud vigorously, with amens and so be it.God nods his head. "Lots of women and men We can relate to. It is a good, efficient design."The Spirit likes this, too. Gabriel says, Gabriel "Hey, more saving. More doing." service mark 2013 of The Home Depot (Homer TLC)
God thinks. "Son, we see that the brain has hearing and speech. What else?"The Son says, "Well, you know my nickname is Logos. Since the brain is made in My image, it thinks and reasons.
But I do have additions: sight with eyes and motion with legs. You see, the electrons in My atoms will do
quantum mechanics, interchanging energy through light and heat." God approves. "These are good improvements." Michael chimes in, "Never stop improving." registered trademark 2011 of LF, LLC
The Spirit is eager. "Now, let's do this!" Meeting adjourns, room lights down.God sends Michael for the construction permits and commences the groundbreaking. Chelsey in UPS uniform delivers big box. Initial here, please. Looks at box label. HE, it says . . . would that be high explosives? . . .
Oh, Heavens and Earth. Well, watch your back, that's heavy. Receives back clipboard, looks
at initials. GA, huh? God Almighty! Have a nice day.The Son tears opens the big prefab kit, labeled Heavens and Earth, and arranges the parts on the face of the deep. The Son says, "Spirit, would you hover over all this . . . matter, this . . . dark matter?" The Spirit is hesitant. "Is it too heavy for Me?" The Son is not worried. Son "Spirit, don't worry, there is no gravity yet. Just keep order while I carry forth." God asks the Son, "Are you starting with your atoms?" Gabriel exclaims, "Say, carbon would be nice to start with. That makes diamonds. Or potassium . . . or even silicon!
I could use a smart phone!" The Son replies, "No, I start with light. Now, let there be light!" Room lights up.And there was light.God sees the light. "It is good. Son, the light will be just right for the people, when You get around to making them.
Let Me put light over here, and keep darkness over there." The Son next unpackages the atoms, lots of them. God makes a firmament, placing some atoms below, and other
atoms in motion, above. Son "What is below We can call Earth, and above is the heavens, where there will be
planets orbiting, and stars." The morning stars sing together and Your angels shout for joy. Job 38God has a suggestion. "Son, your atoms are going to need more physics than just orbits. They need gravity,
momentum, time, thermodynamics, distance, dimensions, the strong and electro-weak forces, and temperature." The Son agrees and puts all that in place. Son "Father, Your momentum in the heavens will keep the planets orbiting, above the earth."
I know the laws of Your heavens. Job 38:33God "Yes, Son, but Let's keep that secret until the man Isaac Newton discovers it. In fact, Let's place
the stars so far from Earth that men will see stars but never be able to reach them." The Spirit agrees. "If men could reach the stars, it would be too much of a distraction. It would be Comic Con
non-stop. They would forget Us. . . They will be entertained by Star Trek, but they will not reach the stars. Their Tower of
Babel is going to be enough of a problem!"God piles together some earth. God "This is dry land I place on tectonic plates, and I make continental shelves around the dry land to
keep the land from oozing out into the waters. The dry land is good, just right for the people." Michael is worried. "Lord, there is something here that is not good. There is poison from your lithium, arsenic, and
lead atoms. It will be poisonous to people." The Lord replies, "True, so I make mineral crystals with them and place them underground in ores
where they will be stable."The Son creates plants. "My digital DNA design is so good that I use it for various plants that multiply within
their kinds."The Son makes brightness in the heavens. Son "This bright light, the Sun, gives light for the plants so they can do chemistry--photosynthesis,
one of My best designs, if I do say so myself. [Slide showing photosynthesis] And this soft light for nighttime I call
Moon. The Moon is also going to stabilize the Earth's axis of rotation. And I place the earth's axis at 23 degrees so
there are seasons." Gabriel has a better idea. Gabriel "Lord, would you please make that 25 degrees, a round number for a change?" God replies, "No, it needs to be 23 degrees, otherwise too much ocean water would snow out on the poles."The Son next makes animals. Son "Time for more DNA! These animals are not in Our image, but they will serve man." Michael is pumped up. Michael "Lord, Your creation is so wonderful!" The Son reminds him, "Remember, I make all this as a platform for peoples' brains. The purpose of all
creation is so people will honor and worship Us." "I create them for My glory." *Isaiah 43:7Now Michael is worried. Michael "Lord, is all this complexity really needed?" The Son replies, "It is complex, yes. But, Michael, I am that I am. I do not sweat this. This is not hard for Me." Jeremiah 32:27 587 B.C. When I bring my people back, they will have singleness of heart. I will inspire them to fear me for their own good, so that they will never turn away from me. [JE: note that one sign of the people being back will be that they will have singleness of heart, and they will worship Jehovah. Is modern Israel where this is happening? No, Israel is the most atheistic country in that area. They are not fearing Jehovah, so now is not the time that Jeremiah is receiving the prophecy.]
Finally, the Son completes the design for man in His image, able to think and obey but also able to choose disobedience. Gabriel has been crunching some numbers.
Gabriel "Lord, I see that the man's DNA is 98% identical to the monkey DNA. Do You do this on
purpose?" The Son replies, "Yes, 98% identical, because both creatures need so many proteins, and I have copy-pasted
most of the proteins. There is no need for every kind to have unique proteins." Gabriel understands the efficiency of digital DNA. Gabriel"More saving, more doing." service mark 2013 of The Home Depot (Homer TLC)
God has a comment. "Son, your creation is just right. There will come a time of unbelief, what man will call his
Enlightenment, but We know they will use it to declare their autonomy from Us. And their excuse will be their idea
they call evolution, when they will deny their Creator." [Slide, Freedom From Religion billboard]The Son replies, "Father, this is true. We make man so he can obey or disobey. They will indeed claim that so many proteins in common between species proves evolution. (Wikipedia, "Evidence of common descent." But look at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3428767/ 2012 Rejection of the archezoa hypothesis on phylogenetic grounds coupled with the apparent absence of any known amitochondriate eukaryotic lineages considerably weakens the case for an acquisition of mitochondria via the classical endosymbiont route." [This seems to work against the "passionate advocate" Margulis' spectacular] 1970 "Origin of Eukaryotic Cells, an influential book that effectively revived the long-standing but mostly moribund idea that mitochondria and plastids (chloroplasts) evolved from free-living bacteria via symbiosis within a eukaryotic host cell." "Unabated deluge of genomic and proteomic data will confront us with currently unappreciated aspects of mitochondrial structure and function across the broad range of eukaryotes, with new data and insights continually reshaping and refining our ideas regarding mitochondrial evolution." Look at JE's Physics Time Line sites.google.com/site/solderandcircuits/home/more-circuit-design/physics-timeline/physics-time-line-1900-1990/physics-time-line-1990-present 2015 Oct 30, or find in page "LMCA")
But there will be faithful believers who honor Us, who realize Our reason for it. Men may know there is none besides Me. There is no other. Isaiah 45:6
I declare what is right. Isaiah 45:19 When men disobey but turn back to Us, I blot out their transgressions." Isaiah 43:25Michael has a proposal. Michael "Lord, your great creation calls for a permanent memorial to You on the earth. How about a
golden plaque set on a mountain of platinum, to honor You for all time?" God replies, "I do not seek to so prove Myself to man. Man must come to Me by faith, not proof. Now, as a matter of fact,
My Son's creation is temporary. There will come a time for My judgment of man. The present earth is reserved for
fire, being kept for the day of judgment. It will disappear with a roar, all the elements will be melted in the heat when
my Son stops sustaining them." Hebrews 1:1-3
A pronouncement comes from the throne.
God "The heavens and earth are complete in their vast array. I declare this creation very good." The Lord ends His work and rests from all the work He has done.
Epilogue
In time, God's servant Nehemiah declares, "Lord, you made the heavens, even the highest
heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to
everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you. You came down on Jabal Musa, the Mountain of Moses,
and gave your people regulations and laws that are just and right and good. You keep your covenant of love."
Non-registered copyright © 2015 John Engelbrecht
Reference: p. 53 in When God and Science Meet, Surprising Discoveries of Agreement, 2015, National Association of Evangelicals (online)
More Saving. More Doing. is a service mark 2013 of The Home Depot (Homer TLC)Never Stop Improving is a registered trademark 2011 of LF, LLC
web page https://sites.google.com/site/solderandcircuits/home/more-circuit-design/an-essay-about-creation/a-dramatic-reading
reference http://www.gotquestions.org/purpose-of-man.html
Liam said, "The water cycle. We studied that way back in fourth grade. It helps you understand living things. And geology. I want to be a geologist."
Evelyn said, "Families. When my grandfather died, it made me afraid. My dad told me that every person dies, it is part of a plan. My dad says families are God's plan."
Oliver said, "Sea World." Several people nodded their heads.
Emma said, "There is a guy, a college student, in my apartment, who says drugs are the greatest thing." Mr. Held frowned. "Drugs give a high, or get you through anxiety. But look at a drug user after five years. Where have the drugs taken him?"
Mason, a senior, was holding his hand over this mouth. He looked right at Sophia, giggled, and blurted out, "Girls!" Mrs. Held saw Sophia was instantly blushing. Mrs. Held said, "Guys like girls, sure. And girls like guys. Do you know it is God's plan?" Mason's mouth dropped open in surprise, he didn't think this would come up in church. Mrs. Held went on. "What is the best place for a baby, really? It is in a family with a mother and a father. When a girl grows up, marries, and has a baby, and the dad is faithful to his family, can there be anything better for a growing child? Evelyn said that it is God's plan. Sure it is. But you know in our church there are single moms. If a single mom became that way because her husband left her, a church is a good place for that single mom to be."
Sophia said, "Well, you all are so serious. I think the greatest thing in the world is sci-fi movies. Don't you think ETs are cool? I can't wait for that new movie to come out."
Mr. Held was glad the youth were talking. He had an idea the month before, and this was the time to try it out. "May I tell you my favorite great thing? Our brains are really great." Mia glanced at Abigail. Mia was not comfortable thinking about brains. Mia was afraid to take biology. "Mr. Held, can we talk about something else?" Mr. Held replied, "Oh, I know what you think, Mia. You told us sometime you don't like the way brains look like intestines. But I am thinking about the way our brains think. Do you know that the biggest supercomputer can't understand a knock-knock joke? Even though that computer consumes a million times the power of your brain? Here is a story about how the brain came to be."
a fanciful drama for late elementary age through high school
for Team KID red book meeting 11 ©John Engelbrecht Feb 23, 2022
Power Through Prayer James 5:13-18, 1 John 4:14-21
One day, Jesus the Son is hanging out with the Holy Spirit and God the Father.
God suggests to Jesus, “Do you think you can create something We can talk to? Something that responds to Us.”
Jesus replies, “Sure enough. I suggest a community of those somethings, so they can talk to each other, too.”
The Spirit thinks communities of 100 or 1000 would be good. “We shouldn’t call them ‘somethings.’ Can we call them people?” The Father and Son agree.
Jesus sketches out a plan. “I will make people using atoms from this Periodic Table. I will use mainly hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen.
When they pray to us, they will do it with electricity.”
The Spirit thinks electricity is a great idea. “Electricity is going to give them energy and power. It will liven things up. And it will make their speakers and iPhones work.”
Jesus responds, “Yes, electricity will be great. To let people use electricity, I will add in sodium and potassium. That will make their nerves work.
And let’s put in some phosphorous for energy. They will need adenosine triphosphate and adenosine diphosphate.”
https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Adenosine-5_-triphosphate#section=3D-Conformer
The three orange atoms are the phosphorous atoms. This is the high-energy molecule that all animals use. Taking off the terminal phosphorous and the red oxygens produces a lot of energy. The grays are carbons and blues are nitrogen. Little whites are hydrogen.
"To make those chemicals work, they need oxygen, and hemoglobin will carry oxygen. So we include iron from the periodic table.”
Human hemoglobin is one protein molecule with just four iron atoms, amongst 64000 amino acids, total about 640000 atoms. The proteins are intricately folded and helixed to provide the oxygen and carbon-dioxide functions of respiration. From the argument from irreducible complexity, this molecule was designed, not evolved.
Jesus goes on. “Their thinking will be in the cortex of their brains. I will use 50 trillion trillion atoms for each cortex.”
The Spirit wonders, “Why so many? Won’t that be expensive to buy 50 trillion trillion atoms? And for thousands of brains?”
Jesus says, “Well, I want these brains to be interesting to talk to, and that takes lots of atoms.”
“I want them to care about each other, and be smart enough to laugh at knock-knock jokes. □ Search Internet, "computer understand knock-knock joke." All the atoms are what I create, and I am generous with my creation.”
The Spirit wants the brains to talk to each other, not just to God.
Jesus reveals more of His plan. “I will place each brain inside a hard shell, for protection. □ So I will add in calcium for strength.”
“And to let them talk to each other, we will add in:
air
vibrating bands in their throats
muscular bags of air to push air through those bands
a muscular tube in their mouths so they can pronounce e, z, and t, and lick ice-cream cones,
thin flaps so they can pronounce b and p, and
funnels and vibration sensors so they can hear.”
The Spirit likes this design. “Are those baggy lungs fragile?”
Jesus replies, “Yes, so I will place ribs of calcium to protect the lungs. And let’s add legs so the brains can walk around.”
God doesn’t understand. “What is walking?”
Jesus has the answer. “Think about this. Young brains are going to jump into the ocean or swimming pools during the summer,
Without gravity, the water would just float up into the atmosphere. And so would the children!
and I have to design gravity to keep the water down in the ocean or swimming pool. □ But the gravity requires that the brains have legs, so the brains and lungs don’t get dirty, sloshing around on the ground.”
“Not only do the brains have legs, they also have arms, so they can:
hug each other
hug their pets
spoon energy into their mouths □
slice up watermelons, and
hold together their double-double burgers from In-N-Out !”
Have the audience act out these things.
Jesus says, “Let me get back to my plan. We know what the brains are thinking. We even know the attitudes of the brains, like when they are angry or happy. And we know the hidden motives of the brains, whether they are motivated by good or evil. I designed these brains, and We know all this about each brain.”
“But the brains don’t know Us, except for what they are taught by the Spirit, and by Moses, Paul, John, and James. The brains take all that on faith, not by proof. When the brains have faith in Us, they can talk to Us.”
That makes sense to God. “How will these brains talk to us?”
The Spirit has an idea. “ACTS. That stands for Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication.”
Jesus agrees. “Since these brains are not God, they will have a tendency to disobey Us. They will confess with their mouths about how they disobey. I can offer them forgiveness. The brains who accept my forgiveness can then adore me.”
The Spirit objects. “Their boys are not going to adore Us. The boys will be preoccupied with video games.”
Jesus answers, “The boys will learn to adore Us, because I will raise up fathers with power, fathers who show all men how to adore Us: Abraham, David, Elijah, and Paul.”
“When they receive my forgiveness, they will thank me for my gift to them. They will also ask me to supply what they need.”
God affirms the goodness of this plan. Then God asks, “the energy of ATP, adensosine triphosphate—how does that get used?”
Jesus has to admit that this gets complicated. “Each nerve cell or muscle cell has actin fibers, like roads, connecting the nucleus, the manufacturing plant, to the suburbs.”
Actin fibers by the hundreds are seen in this cell.
“I have designed a wonder molecule to walk along the actin fibers,
Three kinesin machines tug generic organelles to destinations in the cell. The machines walk along an actin fiber. They step at around 20 steps per second.
to carry manufactured goods out to the suburbs of the cell. This molecule is kinesin. It is made of proteins, and it has 50,000 atoms. It uses ATP for energy. Each cell has hundreds of these kinesin molecules.”
YouTube Kinesin Walking Narrated Version for Garland
Look at this YouTube to see kinesin in action https://duckduckgo.com/?q=youtube+kinesin&va=b&t=hc&iar=videos&iax=videos&ia=videos&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DYAva4g3Pk6k
The Spirit likes chemistry. “Tell me more!”
Jesus says, “I take about 22 atoms to make an amino acid, and I make 20 different amino acids, and I build up proteins from 100 amino acids. The proteins fold up to make the various structures in each cell. ATP powers the proteins to make them fold and unfold.”
An unfolded protein is overactive. When it folds up, it attains a shape and reactivity that lets it do a special job in the cell. It mechanically fits against other proteins, and active sites on the surfaces of the proteins get organic chemistry done. Supercomputers and amazing code simulate the folding--or should I say that the code determines how the folding happens. Each little ball on the polymeric string is one amino acid, and the average amino acid is about 22 atoms. The largest proteins are big enough to be seen by electron microscopes. At room temperature, thermal energy makes every atom vibrate, so if you could see this protein in real time, it would be pulsing. If you get an organic chemical too hot, the vibrations are so extreme that the molecule vibrates apart. Or oxidizes with oxygen.
The Spirit likes the plan. “Let me say it back, see if I understand. You use atoms to make molecules, which make up cells. Some cells are brain cells to let the brains talk to each other, and pray to Us.”