Normally I do not comment on religious posts, but you do have a point when you think about Nothing. When I try to imagine being in a state of nothing - if nothing existed, my limited mind cannot comprehend it. But I am a strong believer that our current world as it is now with all the series, movies, parties, drugs etc. exists to take people away from God. As David Icke said, the bad side is normally an inverse of the good side. Where the Islam religion is heavy on being God conscious (hence 5 prayers per day), the current world we live in is the complete opposite.
I could go on with a couple of examples but do not want to risk sounding like a lunatic. All I can say is, listen to all the conspiracy theories with an open mind and slowly things start to click and make sense. We live in a world where we are all connected via the internet and we can discuss these topics and see the research and foundings of others. Humankind is slowly waking up and it's exciting. I hope it will not be too late, though.
I believe that we are all connected via energy. Everything has a reverberating nature, which means everything is energy. Sound waves are energy. Light waves are sound waves at a higher pitch. When we meditate/yoga/calmness, our bodies normally reverberate at a lower vibration state. When we are stressed and out of tune (so to speak), our bodies vibrate at a higher speed.
An example would be do drive your car at a slower and steadier pace against slamming your pedal to the metal and revving the engine high. Which one of the two puts the most strain on the engine? Which engine will last the longest? The same for our bodies, becoming sick or remaining healthy. Energy and vibration are the key elements to life. Emotions are a form of energy and thus vibration. Angry at this or sick of that? It puts your body in a certain vibrational level and then you attract more of that.
So this comes back to your suggestion that the universe behaves almost like a mind, the mind of God. At the root of that mind, I think everything has to be about Energy.