Things that boggle my mind

I was a precocious, introverted child and started contemplating big questions early. A number of them I have never answered for myself and am still working on an answer.

Our Place in the Universe
Everything is somewhere. I am in Dallas, in Texas, in the United States, in North America, on earth, in the solar system, in the Milky Way galaxy, in the universe. So, where is the universe? After all, everything is somewhere: where is the universe?
Astrophysicists talk about the limits of the universe, and its dimensions, and its possible shape, and perhaps even other universes. But, they never say where the universe is. If the universe has a limit, what is beyond it? If the universe a sphere, curving in on itself, what is outside that sphere? If the universe is one of several universes, where are they all?
Space is an empty void except for the occassional atom of H or subatomic particle to star. In our experience, a void or vacuum can only be created in a closed container. So, is the vacuum of space somewhere or is it infinite?

Eternity and Infinity
Eternity is the unending time following a starting point. Astrophysicists say that the universe began with the Big Bang about 15 billion years ago. But, was there not time before the big bang? This leads to infinity. Infinity is the unending time going on for eternity in both directions from an arbitrary starting point. Some astrophysicists acknowledge infinity saying vaguely that before the big bang the universe had not existed before was preceeded by an equal eternity of time. We can comprehend a second, a minute, an hour, a day, a week, a year, a century, a millenium because we have historically and personally experienced them. But, who besides God has experienced eternity or infinity?
Astrophysicists are divided on the fate of the universe: it will continue to expand and slow indefinately; it will continue to expand until gravity overcomes velocity and collapse. If the universe continues to expand eventually the closest stars will be too far away to be seen. The volume of the universe is not know infinite, but could it become infinite? If the universe collapses in on itself, astrophysicists are divided if it will become a finite point as it was before the big bang or if it will repeat the big bang for another universe.
Now we come to the imagination of man proceeding science by millenia. The Hindus long ago wrote that the universe will be destroyed and a new universe will be created in the future, and this cycle has been repeating infinitely in the past. While Vishnu sleeps, the universe exists in his mind. When Vishnu wakes, the universe will cease to exist. How would the Hindus of ancient times anticipate 20th century concepts while Christianity was bogged down in ignorance?

When Science and Religion collide
Many scientists keep their work secular, extending to being agnostic or atheistic in their personal philosophy. They believe that man created God to explain what they did not understand. So, there is no need for God as science looks to explain the unknown.
Some scientinst try to keep their work secular, while personally having a faith that they leave out of the scientific process. It still begs the question: did God create ignorant man or did ignorant man create God.
Some scientists of repute have faith and do not separate the pursuit of science. Most of us are used to fundamentalist Christians who deny scientific fact when it does not fit with their faith. Dinosaurs died out when they failed to get on Noah's ark and the world is 5771 years old.
Some scientists of repute have faith and do not separate the pursuit of science, but their faith is open to illumination from what science teaches them: their faith grows with increased knowledge. Albert Einstein is widely accepted to have been the greatest mind of the 20th century. And, he was a Jew. In his pursuit of a unifying theory of all physical laws of the universe, and his peers wondered why he did not accept that there was not a unifying physical law, he answered: "Because God does not play dice with the universe." In the beginning and the end, Einstein was a faithful Jew. In his work, as he discovered more and more about the science of the universe, was he also finding more evidence of a creator God?

Why Bad Things Happen to Good People
People of faith have been dealing with this long before the book of Job was written and tackled by theologans to this day. Job was a simplistic avoidance of the ultimate answer: God is testing our faith. Rabbi Harold Kushner in his book "When Bad Things Happen to Good People" puts forth a hypothesis: man has given God a set of powers and must give up one of them to answer the question. If God was omnipotent, he would be able to stop bad things from happening. If God was caring, he would not want bad things to happen to the faithful. You can add more powers and rolls to the list, but those two are pivotal. Kushner can not accept that an omnipotent God would let bad things happen if he cared. So, he says rather that we must give up on either God's omnipotence or caring. Kushner could not bring himself to believe in an uncaring God. So, he decides that God is not omnipotent. God cares but there is nothing he can do to prevent bad things from happening. Is Kushner reinventing the God of Judaism in order to solve the question or is he coming up with a new answer than what we are given in Job?
If God is not omnipotent, how do we account for creation and miracles? If God does not care, then why do the faithful pray to, or worship, the creator?
Some skeptics have said that a miracle is a desired outcome occurring when we want it. Some skeptics have said that man created God rather than God created man.
Whatever your faith, if you have one, you must answer this question at this some point. Agnostics postpone answering the problem: with lack of evidence, they are not willing to commit. Atheists lacking evidence have resorted to "Achim's Razor": all things being equal, the simplist answer is the correct answer. But, if you believe in a deity, you must tackle this problem when defining your faith.