In no other creature is a sense of justice more finely engraved than in the heart of man. For man will perceive and take note of every slight, injury, and twitch of offense impugned at his dignity and demand punishment in the form of a Universal Law. And if man does not acquire his share of due justice, then man will do everything in his/her power to balance the weight of the offense in the scales. With this sense of justice we also see the benevolent side of man's appreciation for right justice. Man takes note of every good, gracious and noble deed that is exacted in his/her favor. Sometimes, to such a point that man exaggerates the graciousness in the same way that God grants 10 times the reward for a good deed and may forgive or neglect to punish an evil deed. The closer that man is to God's justice, the less he takes account of the slights and the injuries inflicted upon him and the more he/she gives weight to the good done towards him/her.
It is with the above example in mind that we are brought to recognize that man is in a special position that is not granted to any other species. This reflection of God's attributes, through man, grants us a clear window into the reality of man's place in nature.
Every manifested attribute of God is manifested through man. And the necessity to remind people of this arises due to a wave of philosophy that has recently become very popular. The idea that man is somehow separate from nature and is viewed more-so as an aberration of nature and is not granted his/her proper place as the apex of God's creation.
"Nature is all red, in tooth and claw"
The above astute observation was made by Tennyson in "Memoriam". However, as much of an astute observation on the play of the animal kingdom within nature, that it is.....it fails to introduce the observer into the observation. This has been a problem within the very complicated nature of our existence and has had repercussions throughout all of the physical sciences and led to an answer in the solution of the Schrodinger Wave Equation, and more specifically the Copenhagen Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics (which is not within the scope of the observations in this article but is introduced here in order to show how deep the problem of the oblivious observer is engrained into the very heart of man's existence).
With the Schrodinger Wave Equation we have come to understand how impossible it is to separate the observer from the observation. Therefore we cannot fault Tennyson for making such a depressing and bleak poetic statement since Schrodinger is post Tennyson. The fact that man through Tennyson observes this seemingly ancient primal law is the very crux of the problem, but also very interestingly, also the solution to the problem.
In the same way that the observer collapses the wave function in the Schrodinger Wave Equation (according to the Copenhagen Interpretation), man as the observer of "something missing in nature" reveals and collapses him/herself into his/her place within that which is "missing in nature".
It is precisely because man is in the position to observe and critique Nature and thereby intuitively posits that something is missing from Nature's primal ancient laws, that man also fittingly finds his place.
For if man sees that something is missing, and man knows what that is, then it is up to man to fulfill what is missing.
From man's perspective, what is missing, is a higher sense of justice in nature.
The idolization and romanticizing of the idea that nature is perfect without man, is erroneous. Man perfects nature by establishing and refining higher virtues than what Nature alone would be capable of fulfilling. This is man's purpose, and without this knowledge, man perceives him/herself to be useless and purposeless in the grand play of Nature.
It is man that manifests the attribute of justice to such a full extent that it is forced to criticize this ancient primal law of the animal kingdom. In a sense, God's attribute of Justice is fully unveiled through man's participation and refinements of nature's primal laws.
How is it, that man, who arises out of nature, can criticize that very nature?
It is because man is the latest manifestation of God arising out of nature that the highest attributes of God are manifested to such a refined extent. We see this again and again in seemingly contradictory statements that arise out of the achievements of man.
When man created the nuclear bomb for instance......man created the means by which Nature and mankind could extinguish itself off the face of the earth. Due to this, the question arises "If nature created man, and man created the nuclear bomb, is nature suicidal?"
And the answer seemingly would appear to be a very profound....YES....however on closer inspection the answer is actually a very profound.....NO.
The manifestation of the attribute of the Knowledge of God is manifested through man arising out of nature to such an extent, that even the power of the stars become a tool within the hands of man. Once again we see an attribute of God being brough to such a perfect culminating apex in man, that the very power of the stars bear testament to this power. Namely, that man is the apex of God's creation and therefore the creature that manifests God's attributes in the most relatively perfect sense.
This holistic manifestation of God's attributes through man, arising out of nature, has been missing from the popular zeitgeist, but was in vogue in the days of the Renaissance, and other time periods. The schizophrenic view that man is an aberration or detachment from nature and that man only serves to pollute, contaminate, conflagrate, or confuse the balance of nature, does not introduce man properly as arising out of nature, equipped with the attributes of God, to play an important part in the whole of nature.
This is the problem that is being addressed in this essay. To place man in his/her proper place in the Universe is the purpose of this essay. That proper place of man is known as the Vicegerency of God on Earth.
