A view from the BYU campus \u00a0(Wikimedia Commons)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a column that I published in the Deseret News<\/em> on Thanksgiving Day 2010:<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Most modern Americans are so far removed from farming\u2014we get our milk from cartons, our meat neatly packaged at the grocery store, our grains in cereal boxes, our cranberries in cans\u2014that we easily forget the agricultural roots of Thanksgiving Day.\u00a0 But Thanksgiving is a harvest festival, and similar celebrations of bounteous crops (always an uncertainty) have occurred for millennia in such places as Korea, India, Turkmenistan, Nigeria, China, Vietnam, Argentina, and Persia.\u00a0 The ancient Jewish feast of tabernacles, or \u201cSukkot,\u201d was such an occasion. The settlers of Plymouth Plantation in the Massachusetts Bay Colony celebrated Thanksgiving in 1621, but harvest festivals had already occurred in Canada in 1578 and among Spanish explorers in Florida in 1565.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Our technology is so successful today, our supply lines so reliable, our supermarkets so well stocked, that we seldom consider our dependence upon vital things such as rain and temperate weather that are far beyond our control.\u00a0 Furthermore, we are all beneficiaries of laws we didn\u2019t enact, moral principles we didn\u2019t invent, minerals we didn\u2019t mine, gasoline for which we didn\u2019t drill, sacrifices of ancestors we\u2019ve forgotten, languages we inherited painlessly as children, literature we didn\u2019t write, roads we didn\u2019t pave, art we didn\u2019t create, cities we didn\u2019t build, clothing we didn\u2019t sew, sciences we don\u2019t even understand.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
But our dependence goes far deeper than that.\u00a0 We live on a privileged planet, tilted the right way, the right distance from the right kind of sun, at the right point in the right kind of galaxy.\u00a0 And we live in what some have called a \u201cGoldilocks universe.\u201d\u00a0 It, too, is just right.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
If gravity were stronger or weaker by one part in ten to the fortieth power\u2014that\u2019s a one followed by forty zeros\u2014life-sustaining stars like our sun could not exist.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
If the \u201cbig bang\u201d that created our universe had differed in strength by as little as one part in ten to the sixtieth power, it would have quickly collapsed back on itself or else expanded too rapidly for stars to form. In either case, life would be impossible. (This degree of accuracy can be compared to firing a bullet across the observable universe, twenty billion light years, and hitting a one-inch target.)<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
At the beginning, the ratio of matter to antimatter had to be accurate to one part in ten billion for the universe to arise.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
If the strong nuclear force that binds protons and neutrons together in the atom were stronger or weaker by as little as five percent, life would be impossible.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
If neutrons were not roughly 1.001 times the mass of protons, all protons would have decayed into neutrons or all neutrons would have decayed into protons.\u00a0 Life would not be possible.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
When hydrogen is converted to helium, precisely 0.007 percent of its mass must be transformed into energy. If that value were lowered to 0.006, no transformation could take place; the universe would consist only of hydrogen. If the figure were 0.008, hydrogen would long since have been depleted and, among many other things, there would be no water.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nIt is, the great British physicist Sir Fred Hoyle once said, as if \u201ca super-intellect has been monkeying with the laws of physics.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fulness of the earth is yours,\u201d says the Lord, \u201cthe beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and that which climbeth upon the trees and walketh upon the earth; yea, and the herb, and the good things which come of the earth, whether for food or for raiment, or for houses, or for barns, or for orchards, or for gardens, or for vineyards; yea, all things which come of the earth, in the season thereof, are made for the benefit and the use of man, both to please the eye and to gladden the heart; yea, for food and for raiment, for taste and for smell, to strengthen the body and to enliven the soul. \u00a0And it pleaseth God that he hath given all these things unto man; for unto this end were they made to be used . . .\u00a0 And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments\u201d (Doctrine and Covenants 59:16-21).<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
This Thanksgiving, let us remember the Person to whom we owe true thanks.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 Here\u2019s a column that I published in the Deseret News on Thanksgiving Day 2010: \u00a0 Most modern Americans are so far removed from farming\u2014we get our milk from cartons, our meat neatly packaged at the grocery store, our grains in cereal boxes, our cranberries in cans\u2014that we easily forget the agricultural roots of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
Thoughts for Thanksgiving (6)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\" Here's a column that I published in the Deseret News on Thanksgiving Day 2010: Most modern Americans are so far removed from\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/11\/thoughts-thanksgiving-6.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Thoughts for Thanksgiving (6)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\" Here's a column that I published in the Deseret News on Thanksgiving Day 2010: Most modern Americans are so far removed from\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/11\/thoughts-thanksgiving-6.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sic et Non\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-11-22T20:10:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/files\/2016\/10\/Rock_Canyon_from_BYU_campus.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/11\/thoughts-thanksgiving-6.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/11\/thoughts-thanksgiving-6.html\",\"name\":\"Thoughts for Thanksgiving (6)\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-11-22T20:10:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-11-22T20:10:07+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\"},\"description\":\" Here's a column that I published in the Deseret News on Thanksgiving Day 2010: Most modern Americans are so far removed from\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/11\/thoughts-thanksgiving-6.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/11\/thoughts-thanksgiving-6.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/11\/thoughts-thanksgiving-6.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Thoughts for Thanksgiving (6)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/\",\"name\":\"Sic et Non\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\",\"name\":\"Dan Peterson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dan Peterson\"},\"description\":\"\\\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\\\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Thoughts for Thanksgiving (6)","description":" Here's a column that I published in the Deseret News on Thanksgiving Day 2010: Most modern Americans are so far removed from","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/11\/thoughts-thanksgiving-6.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Thoughts for Thanksgiving (6)","og_description":" Here's a column that I published in the Deseret News on Thanksgiving Day 2010: Most modern Americans are so far removed from","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/11\/thoughts-thanksgiving-6.html","og_site_name":"Sic et Non","article_published_time":"2017-11-22T20:10:07+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/files\/2016\/10\/Rock_Canyon_from_BYU_campus.jpg"}],"author":"Dan Peterson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dan Peterson","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/11\/thoughts-thanksgiving-6.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/11\/thoughts-thanksgiving-6.html","name":"Thoughts for Thanksgiving (6)","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-11-22T20:10:07+00:00","dateModified":"2017-11-22T20:10:07+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045"},"description":" Here's a column that I published in the Deseret News on Thanksgiving Day 2010: Most modern Americans are so far removed from","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/11\/thoughts-thanksgiving-6.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/11\/thoughts-thanksgiving-6.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/11\/thoughts-thanksgiving-6.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Thoughts for Thanksgiving (6)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/","name":"Sic et Non","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045","name":"Dan Peterson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dan Peterson"},"description":"\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1019"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44988\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Squaw](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2016\/10\/Rock_Canyon_from_BYU_campus.jpg\")
<\/a>