The Sun is our father in heaven.

 

Our father, who art in heaven;
our mother, the earth:
we are your children...

 

All life in our biosphere begins as energy from the Sun, a monstrous seething mass of fusion blasting the earth, yet coddling the planet within her embrace as she barrels through space. In comparison the earth is like a marble that is trapped close within the Sun's influence following the sun in her endless journey through time and space. The planet resists the angry buffeting of the Sun's blast furnace with our magnetic field and atmosphere. Approximately 100 watts per square foot of energy bathes the planet's surface. At the equator in midday that can rise to 1100 watts. Enough energy reaches us in one day to supply all human needs for a year. (And if humanity is so clever how come we cannot drink life directly from the sun?)

 

Essentially there is two kinds of life on earth. First, the green things which use chlorophyll and carbon dioxide to capture and convert sunlight into (food) carbon chains of sugars. Secondly, all other life is akin to parasites that consume the green things, or the animals that eat those that consume the green things, or those that eat the leftovers. So the quickening that stirs life comes directly from the sun, either by soaking it up directly, or by eating life. There is nothing else. And this is the first thing you need to comprehend if you are to comprehend god.

 

(Of course that is over-simplified. There is rare life that derives chemical energy from deep sea vents, but we could also argue that, since the planet is a leftover from the creation of the sun, and that the earth's core is molten because of its proximity to and interaction with the sun, thus deep sea life indirectly derives from the sun.)

 

So to review, plants convert the Sun's energy into food from which all other life forms draw their life energy:
--a bug eats plant material; absorbs a little energy and poops the rest out.
--beetle eats that poop; absorbs a little energy and poops the rest out.
--worm eats that poop; absorbs a little energy and poops the rest out.
--bird eats worm; absorbs a little energy and poops the rest out.
--cat eats that bird; absorbs a little energy and poops the rest out.
--bacteria eats that poop; absorbs a little energy and poops the rest out.
--worm eats that poop; absorbs a little energy and poops the rest out.
And on and on it goes, the same energy is constantly recycled throughout the system. A little of the Sun's energy is released at each step as heat and life. The greater is defecated and feeds life down the chain. The leftovers are buried in time and become crude oil, or stored sunlight and carbon