Out of context, this looks like a near-parody of a Sunday morning church service… for the religion of Darwinism.

In context, it’s former pastor Jerry Dewitt having a little fun a few days ago in advance of Charles Darwin‘s birthday, honoring the beauty of science the same way he once used to speak of the glory of God. (The event was sponsored by the Stockton Area Atheists and Freethinkers and the Stanislaus Humanists.)

When you look into the night sky, and you seem to be mesmerized, as if there’s some unforeseen force that has brought your attention to the realm of the cosmic, that all of a sudden, unbeknownst to you as you was walking down the course of your life, making sure that you were dotting all the i’s and crossing all the t’s, unbeknownst to you, there was an event, there was a force, there was a motion that was pushing you, preparing you, and bringing you to a… stop at this one particular point, that would then force your attention skywards.

And in that moment, whether you’re an atheist or whether you’re a believer, regardless of your theology, there is an awakening that happens when you look into the deep because, whether you realize it or not, there’s a principle that exists within this world. That principle is, is that the deep calls unto the deep.

Can I get a Darwin?

There’s something extremely profound. There’s something that is extremely propelling. There’s something that is extremely powerful whenever I allow my heart to open up and to feel the depth of reality, to feel the depth of reality, to feel the depth of our relationships, to feel the depth of our obligation, to feel the depth of our opportunity, to know that, against such a great odd, I am actually here, that I exist, and just so easily it could’ve been that I would’ve missed the glory of the Milky Way.

But instead, I am here. What does it say that I should do? How does it speak to me in the depth of my soul? Is there a way that I should reach out and grab a hold of reality? Is there a way that I can grab ahold of my brother and draw them closer and closer and closer and say to them, “You are not just good with God. And you are not just good without God. But you have evolved to just simply be good. Stand here, my brother. Stand here, my sister. And gaze at the glory of reality with me.”

Can I get a Darwin?