1 In the beginning, before time started ticking, there was a great energy event. Matter and light were propelled across space. 2From that spark in the void, Creation began to evolve, set in motion and the heavens were defined. 3Hydrogen was born. 4Hydrogen begat Helium and the universe sorted its pieces and parts. 5Pieces begat Lithium, parts begat Beryllium; they begat Boron and Carbon. 6Matter and energy traded places, traded pieces, traded parts. Nitrogen and Oxygen were added to the family. 7Gravity had its way and massive chunks followed predictable paths. 8Charged particles overcame gravity and the void began to fill. 9Parts begat pieces, begat chunks and chunks begat greater chunks. They came together in a stellar dance, waltzing in arcs and orbits. 10They joined in concert, spinning, twirling through the light and the dark, choreographed in the mystery of an an even bigger mystery. 11Gasses separated themselves from liquids and liquids from solids. Matter shifted, form-to-form, phase-to-phase. 12Energy spoke in languages never before spoken. Light radiated through the vacuum while heat stirred the masses. 13Somewhere, inside a swollen supernova, heavy elements were born and the universe recorded its first alphabet. 14On a remote planet, elements combined in compounds. 15A simple molecule codified its design and replicated itself. 16Respiration and metabolism cycled their first loop. 17Life pulsed, then pulsed again, and again. 18Biotic interfaced the abiotic; species emerged, engaged other species; a pattern. Creation shuffled her feet and the earth changed. 19Moisture and temperature fluctuated; populations surged along the energy path; they Zigged left and Zagged right, then up and down. In every case the bubble pressed back, seeking equilibrium. 20With each pressing, every push produced another Zig, another Zag. 21Always seeking static balance, the nature of nature was determined: constant change.
2 From within, great pressure welled up inside the planet. Molten iron and minerals churned against a fragile crust. 2Gaps and chasms filled with water. Great islands of stone ascended up, afloat above a dense iron core. 3From above, star shine heated by day and cooled by night. Wind filled clouds emptied themselves on the land. 4Mountains gave way to valleys, and valleys to the plain. Plains dissolved across watersheds and returned to the sea. 5Awash in the deep, sediment joined sediment. Upwelling vents spewed matter from a fiery core. 6The earth-core churned and the crust shifted. Sea floors rose in search of balance. 7Coral reefs begat sandy islands; rocky shoals begat granite cliffs. Land drifted on submerged currents, bumping, overriding, uplifting, subducting. 8Mother Earth rocked back and forth with a rhythm of wearing down and building up.
3 From sea and foam, of H2O and carbon, calcium and nitrogen; the mystery continued to unfold. 2Single celled organisms joined in colonies. Organelles captured radiant daylight, converting it to chemical energy. 3Photosynthesis forged chains of food, Crissing and Crossing, combining in an energy web; fuel to feed a metabolic explosion. 4Plants gravitated to the light, and animals to the plants. 5In the same rhythm of building up and wearing down, sustaining systems pushed the balance bubble. 6With Zig and Zag, species flourished only to disappear and be replaced by other species. Change begat change and the mystery of life filled spaces in the deep, and in shallow seas. 7Life flourished in the swamp and the desert, from low places to mountaintops.
4 Within cells of flesh and bone, by nitrogen base and simple sugar, the recipe for life was written. 2Protein synthesis and respiration stirred in every kettle. 3Trilobites with hard shells, and worms of the mud, they had their day. 4Then the earth-core churned again, and again. Seas dried up and new seas formed. 5It was a new day; the day of arthropods and of bony creatures. 6Scaled lizards grew tails and teeth, larger and larger, until they towered. 7Prey creatures browsed on green plants. Predators devoured the prey, only to become prey to greater predators which lived and died, then returned to their mother by worms and bacteria. 8Life was finite, with a beginning and an end. Creation was shuffling her feet again. 9With flash and bang, day gave way and a new day dawned, with the arrival of hairy, warm blooded creatures. 10Diverse of size and form, mammals followed the chain, crossed the web to take up niches in trees, on and under the ground, even in the air. 11Out of that diversity, the most precocious of the lot, was man.
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