Or is it the theory that lightning is the people in heaven taking your picture?

Who knows...next time I see lightning I will try to present myself somehow better than usual.
Jokes aside, some time ago I heard a person saying that the main difference between West and East is that former is focused on material world (and thanks to that achieved many great things in science, build impressive civilization - but pays for that with culture of shallow materialism and spiritual emptiness), while the latter is focused on spirituality (have those long lasting traditions still alive, respect teachings of priests and philosophers- but pays for that with staying behind in field of technology, like India or Tibet). I think we can imagine man of the west looking at some man from India and thinking: ,,wow, he is so lucky! Can just sit, look at that tree all day and meditate about his place in the universe while I have to work 24/7 without chance to think if that have any meaning'', while guy from India thinks: ,, wow, he have so many great things and my belongings are only my clothes, bowl of rice and wodden house without furniture...trees are nice, but I could see so many great things if I had electricity and flat scren tv!''.
While I generally agree with criticism in your post, reading it reminded me of that old saying: ,,the grass is always greener on the other side''.
And about possible answer to all that...I think best course of action would be to try to find some balance, equilibrium between realm of physics and realm of spirit. Try to remember about both of them. As saint Augustine said: ,, Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you''.