From the above, it is understood that there must be a soul which animates and enlivens the physical body. Now, just as this is so in man, who is a microcosm, likewise, in the macrocosm, it appears that there is a force which enlivens and animates the entire universe. For the physical universe is no more alive than the body of man, and yet we see from observable phenomena, such as the revolutions of the stars and planets, the multitudes of living organisms on our planet, and even the atomic and subatomic particles, that everything is moving. There is nothing in the universe which is stationary, but rather, everything is teeming with activity. But where does all this activity come from, for just as man’s body cannot move itself, so too, no body in the universe can move itself?
From this it appears that there must be a force which propels and enlivens the universe. Were this life force to be removed, the universe would be like a body without a soul. Just as we can clearly see that everything that takes place in the physical body of man comes from the soul, so too, in the macrocosm, it must be this life force; the soul of the world, if you will, which animates everything in the universe. Everything that takes place must be a direct result of this enlivening force which causes it.
An example is the influence of the sun on our planet. Everything on our planet gets its sustenance and life force from the sun. If the rays of the sun were too intense or not intense enough, everything would die. Were the sun too close, we would all burn up and were it too far, we would all freeze. The weather on the planet is a direct result of the influences of the sun. The clouds are caused by the evaporation of ocean water and the winds are whipped up through the collision of warm and cold atmospheric fronts. The weather, in turn, determines how our crops will grow, whether the year will be bountiful, or whether it will be a year of food shortages, G-d forbid. Even the supply of meat and poultry will be determined by the weather, for the cattle and the poultry must eat the grasses and grains. Furthermore, the milk production is determined by the heat. During hot seasons the milk cows will produce less milk which will be of lower quality, etc.
Likewise, the influence of the sun powers our entire economies. The weather caused by the sun, determines the amount of money spent on heating or air conditioning. One will need to purchase clothes suited for the weather; warm clothes for the winter and cool ones for the heat of the summer. Moreover, food prices will be determined by its availability, all of which is dependant on the weather. The weather, in turn is dependant on the rays of the sun, the tides of the moon and other planetary influences. The entire planet is dependant on these forces. Were theses influences greater or smaller than necessary, world chaos would erupt. But, in actuality, the sun, moon and planets, in and of themselves, are no more alive than anything else in the universe, and certainly no more than the human body. Therefore, it appears that there must be a controlling force which is their life force and the life force of everything else in the universe. This force makes the world tick. It makes its heart beat, so to speak.
