A Letter to Carl Sagan

Dear Mr. Sagan, I heard you say in a recording today that you could accept the idea that God is the totality of all natural laws. In the same breath, you said you could not believe in His personhood because of the lack of evidence for such. I wonder what it was like for you to see His face when you died, to come in contact with the one who made you and all of humanity and the cosmos. Did you doubt in that moment? Did you wonder whether you were hallucinating, as you said up to 25% of humans do? Or was all that washed away in his presence? So much of critical thinking, as you have said is so important for us, is a defense against the fallen nature of humankind. As you said, we need critical thinking so we won't be deceived by every charlatan that happens our way. So what happens to critical thought in the presence of Truth and nothing more? You were such a gift from God, yet you refused to offer up to Him the part of yourself that is beyond knowing—your faith. You were concerned that faith was a tool of religion, another institution built by men of power who continued to feed people superstition to maintain their control of them. I will agree with you regarding religion, but faith is another matter. To believe, you said, was to be convinced of the evidence. This is not the way of faith, however, but the way of science. It is therefore clear to me that you placed your faith in science since you concluded that it is the only way to truth. It pains me to see how close you were to Him. You saw His creation and the laws of His nature, and held the wonder close to your heart—the very wonder that was intended to draw you to Him. But somewhere along the way something happened to you that you warned us all about—you were deceived by men of power that the only way to truth was science. What you described as a breathe of fresh air in your college years was undoubtedly the opening of your mind, but also the tragic wind from the closing of your heart's door to a God whose love is beyond any of our comprehension. I pray that God granted you mercy as you stood before Him, that he saw the wonder of a child in your heart and recognized the origin of your deception, and with a word, dispelled all, and that your final and first words were, “I believe.” One day on the shores of the cosmos, I hope to see you, and you can use your genius to explain the mysteries of how the Creator and His creation are intertwined and hold together. And I will see His glory in your wonder. Until then.

Stand Strong

What happens when the Zeitgeist (the essence of the current times) of our culture becomes the primary mold of our worldview? 

Instead of having a strong foundation that will allow for upward growth, our cultural underpinnings are at the mercy of popularity, and we shift with every breeze.  You might be tempted to think of this as flexibility.  Indeed, skyscrapers are engineered to be so, but their foundations do not move down the block. 

We are on floor 237 of this skyscraper of a nation, and we are looking at the floors immediately beneath us as if they are bedrock.  And the Jenga tower leans ever precariously.

Where is our foundation?  Who will decide?  If you leave it up to public sentiment, this nation will topple.  If you choose as your foundation timeless truths less finite than your generation, you will grow tall and stand strong.  Let's not compromise strength for the sake of the contemporary.

Thunder of an aching earth

What about those storms last night? 

"After that comes the sound of his roar;
he thunders with his majestic voice.
When his voice resounds,
he holds nothing back.
God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways;
he does great things beyond our understanding" (Job 37:4-5, NIV).

What did you hear in the thunder?

"We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time."     Romans 8:22, NIV

Maybe the liberal mind is on to something.  Concerns about climate change and global warming are repeated, having a sense that there is some human responsibility at the source. 

What they don't consider is that all the world's unified recycling won't ease the groaning of a creation waiting "in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed" (Romans 8:19, NIV).

The world is crying out for humankind to be reconciled to God, for those who have been given dominion over it to be in right position with its creator so that it can also be.

When Jesus talked about the end times, saying, "There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven" (Luke 21:11, NIV), perhaps He was giving reference to the inevitable response of creation to an increasingly God-less human population. 

Perhaps it could be argued that a population placed under God's authority would naturally be a better steward of natural resources (and this is undoubtedly true) but I am more inclined to believe that the blessing of the living God would be upon the land when its people worship Him, not necessarily if its people ride bikes and recycle (both good ideas) but turn their hearts away from Him.

Fact versus Truth

Here we arrive at an essential distinction: fact and truth.  My generation has been so indoctrinated with empiricism, critical thinking, and the scientific method that we do not compartmentalize these skills.  They have become part of our moral ethic.  More of us are struggling with issues of faith because we recognize there is little verifiable data in our own anecdotal experience to confirm the 'truths' our religion continues to set before us. 

But perhaps that is the problem.  What is truth?  Truth is a particularly human phenomenon.  Lynn Johnson (2008) has argued that thoughts are neither true nor false, but helpful or unhelpful (p. 35).  This reminds me of Paul's comment in 1 Cor. 10:23: "Everything is permissible, but not everything is helpful . . . " (ISV). 

My argument is this:  There are truths that we will never be able to support via the scientific method.  They are not truths because they are scientific fact; they are truths because they are helpful and profitable to our thought life, which in turn brings profit to our lives in actuality.  Therefore, we arrive at a rather simple conclusion that perhaps many people reading this may know, but desperately need reminded of.  The Bible is full of truth that is transformational if we choose to fill our minds with its mental commentary.  It's an act of faith and trust.  Of course the truths won't stand up to objective observation every time because they were never meant to.  The truths are meant to be believed, to be held in the mind (for starters).  Very helpful, profitable thoughts that lead to transformation.  I'd like to conduct science as objectively as possible.  But please give me a life that is transformed by what I believe and choose to think about instead of a life that is limited to only accepting what I can verify to be fact.

May your life be rich with truth.

References

Johnson, L.D. (2008). Enjoy life: Healing with happiness. Salt Lake City, UT: Head Acre Press.

Speak to Me

Sometimes in life it gets so confusing

I can’t feel your heart beat

Can’t hear your heart—I listen for the sound, the sound, the sound

Is like a sensation, a slight moderation,

Always seems this ground is moving--conversation

Leave it off the table and keep it in your hands

Deaf or just unable to really understand?

Tell me what it feels like to know that I can hear the kind of life inside your mind

Tell me something real like how I can be inclined to know what’s kept so undefined

Cause I’ve been trying to find your will for me

Or can I just listen to you breathe?  

Speak to me.

Just turn around;  Lord can you hear me?

I said can you hear me?

Silence can’t be golden when I’m broke and in need

Of some consolation; what kind of salvation

Gives you right relation with no conversation?

Leave it off the table and keep it in your hands

Deaf or just unable to really understand?

Tell me what it feels like to know that I can hear the kind of life inside your mind

Tell me something real like how I can be inclined to know what’s kept so undefined

Cause I’ve been trying to find your will for me

Or can I just listen to you breathe?  

Speak to me.

I’m changing now.  I’ve listened my whole life

But maybe it’s not right

To think your voice is coming from somewhere but inside

The Spirit is thinking the thoughts of the high King

Speaking’s thinking twice:   I have the mind of Christ

Keep it on the table and leave it in your hands

I see that now I’m able to really understand

I know what it feels like to know that I can hear the kind of life inside your mind

I know something real like how I can be inclined to know what’s not so undefined

I’m still trying to find your will for me

So I’ll just listen to you breathe and speak to me.

Planetary Formation Continued

To continue our discussion regarding the composition of our solar system, there is apparently John Lewis' theory of "equilibrium condensation" (Sky & Telescope, "My Apologies to Mercury," Feb. 2012, p. 18) which partially explains how certain elements can condense from gas at certain temperatures and pressures relative to the sun, or what would have been the "solar nebula" according to http://burro.cwru.edu/Academics/Astr221/SolarSys/Formation/planets.html 

The same Sky & Telescope article cited above states that recent observations by Messenger has found evidence of elements on Mercury that do not fit with the condensation model.  Further, as the website cited above describes, Mercury should not have a magnetic field because the elements necessary for such should not have formed there; but it does. 

As usual, the more answers found, the more questions arise.  However, to ask about the process of formation of the solar system, galaxies, and universe is valid as a believer--to trust in who, but to ask how, that is the aim.  One step closer with the theory of equilibrium condensation, thanks to John Lewis.

Psychology and Christianity

Why is it that so many conservative Christians are at war with Psychology?  Overall, I think that most Christians have a shallow understanding of psychology from one general psych undergraduate course or less, wherein they have decided that Sigmund Freud was the devil, and so must be psychology.  I've heard countless evangelicals say things like, "You don't need a counselor; you need Jesus."  Alright, let's extend the analogy:  "You don't need a doctor; you need Jesus."  Sound ridiculous?  It should. 

Furthermore, I have heard preachers bash psychological theories from the pulpit, opining that they are self-centered rather than God-centered.  Do they also condemn medical theories because they are also focused on the self/body rather than Christ?  The problem is, you're assuming that psychology suggests itself as the spiritual answer for humankind.  It does not do this just as medicine does not do this, nor any other serious discipline other than theology.  Psychology simply is.  It is a science whereby observations are attempted to be made to form models and theories that are helpful to us. Take what you find helpful and use it to help others; discard the rest.  But please do not throw the drinking water out with the bath water. 

It's obvious that many Christians think the spiritual healing Jesus brings instantly transfers to the soul, and that counselors and psychologists could not possibly play a role in God's redeeming, sanctifying work in a believer's life.   How could you tell someone that was abused as a child that he/she could not use a counselor or suggest that he/she should not use a counselor and that "all you need is Jesus?"  Could it possibly be that Jesus is using the counselor to heal and redeem that person?  But ah, here we have it.  Is it that you want God to only work within the walls of your church?  Do you want to own Him?  Let Him work through His people no matter what discipline they are working in, even if it's psychology.