In the search for other planets that might harbor life, there is a term used – the Goldilocks Zone. It refers to the orbital distance around a star that would allow for liquid water and other conditions to exist compatible with life as we know it. This, of course, is based on our human experience with the needs of life forms, including our own, on planet earth.

What seems to get lost in this debate is the miraculous mix of conditions that allows us to exist, and the source of that mix. Are our circumstances the result of the eons-long evolution of our planet, or the result of planning and execution by a Creator?

While there is ample scientific evidence of the evolution of our planet, the mind-boggling number of perfect circumstances that allow for our existence clearly leans toward the idea of intelligent design by that force we call God.

Every breath we take is made possible by the unique combination of gases in our atmosphere. Those gases, which include the carbon dioxide fuel for plant life and oxygen for animal life, are mixed with nitrogen, which contributes to plant growth, and is part of the complex chemical makeup of animal biology. Yet, when we breathe that gas, it is essentially inert in our respiratory function

Every breath that we take could also have previously been part of the atmospheric shield that protects us from lethal solar radiation as well as incoming meteorites that burn up in our atmosphere.

That same atmosphere contains the clouds that transport liquid water from our oceans and lakes to our farmlands that produce our food. The balancing act continues as those same clouds deposit winter snow in the mountains to provide a continuous flow of fresh water in warmer months. The tilt of the earth’s axis as it travels around the sun, as well as the time it takes to make a complete seasonal cycle are additional elements in the balancing act of the ideal conditions for our existence.

While we may not appreciate it at the time, the storms, floods, droughts, cold spells, and heat waves are all part of the mix of restore, renewal and replace cycles of our home planet.

All in all, it is difficult to imagine that all these elements of our environment are simply accidents of nature when they so clearly contribute to the conditions for our existence. Any one of these factors, missing or out of balance, could make our existence impossible.

Accidents of nature? I think not.