"Natural and Supernatural"

​by C. Ikpoh

Is the answer to the world's inquiries in the natural or the supernatural? To pick one is to say both are not intertwined. To pick neither is to say they play non-important roles in our existence. The latter simply cannot be, as the natural and supernatural are all we have in this life. So again I ask, where do our answers lie?

The natural is everything we know and understand. It is everything tangible. It is what we can study and gain knowledge from. The natural is the universe we live in, the air we breathe and the water we drink, broken down to the simplest parts. As a race, humans strive to know all and understand all. Yet, the natural has been forced into the opposite corner of the supernatural. Why?

Does the supernatural not coincide with the natural? Does it not give the natural its basis, its validation and its purpose? The natural has been transformed into an informative assassin, using knowledge to combat and kill anything not within the known realm.  But this is not its true purpose. So one should not try to dispel or disprove the supernatural. Better yet, one should be concerned with what it is that created the point of origin. What set the stage for evolution and creation?

All one needs to do is take the natural back to the point of origin to quiet its aggressive campaign, for the naturalists can provide no answer to the main inquisition about creation. The natural does not allow something to be created from nothing. This leaves the naturalists with a perennial question. A question, that, to this day has yielded no naturalistic answer.

The supernaturalists, however, can answer the question of the naturalists. They can find use for all the things the naturalists discard due to non-understanding. The supernaturalists embrace the natural as well, as a way to explain existence but not to define it, for we are defined by much more than the natural. We should not be bound to natural understanding because if one is, then they are severed from their true self.

The supernatural is the link to all the natural knowledge. If one doubts this, if one is drunk from the overflowing cup of naturalism, all they need is to go back to the point of origin and consider the alternative answer in the other corner; the same corner the natural originates from. The supernatural created the first anything and everything. Indeed, it would take a natural ability of super proportions to go beyond all understanding, and create something from nothing.

Therefore, is the answer for the world's questions in the natural or the supernatural? To answer the natural is to say there are no things in this world we do not understand and cannot prove. Aside from the latter discussion over the point of origin, there are many things we do not understand or have no knowledge of. To answer the supernatural is to cast aside all the natural knowledge which exists undoubtedly in this universe. To answer both, to say the answer lies in the supernatural which can be explained by the natural... oh what amazing knowledge awaits us.