ALIEN WISDOM
words and music © Nancy Ellen Abrams 1989, 1993

Joseph is an astrophysicist.
He knows how stars evolve
How space expands with the Big Bang
What problems remain unsolved
But at any moment he is liable
To put down his pencil and open the Bible
And I said, "Joseph, Joseph,
Tell me what is real
With all the science that you know
Tell me what you feel"

Joseph is a Catholic Archbishop
He's a complicated man
He looked at me with a peaceful smile
Said "I'll tell you if I can
The Bible is the word of God
It's universal truth, though it may seem odd"
And I said, "Joseph, Joseph,
Somewhere out in space
Don't you think there may be some other
Intelligent race?"

"Yes," he said, "I think it's likely,
For it would be a cosmic waste
Of billions of billions of planets
If there were no other place
That conscious beings could call home
Where God in His glory could be known"
And I said "Joseph, Joseph,
How can that book you hold
Speak the truth for beings
Of whom nothing can be told?"

Joseph leaned back in his chair.
For a moment he was not there
He raised the Bible to his lips
And planted there a kiss
Then he spoke these words as if in prayer

"The Bible is the word of God,
But God speaks as we can hear
Universal does not mean ultimate.
It may not even come near
We are merely children
Who've never dreamed
Of the wonders of this universe
God may mean
For hundreds of years Newton's laws
Certainly were true
In the narrow range of experience
That was all humans knew

Till Einstein helped us see
With the theory of relativity
That things are not as they seem.
So yes, alien beings
May have found deeper morality

But as Einstein's laws reduce
At slow speeds to Newton's simpler truths
Alien wisdom must enfold
This Bible that I hold
For age cannot deny its youth
… For age can only grow from youth