salt-shaker.blog

My God is too small. and, I suspect, so is yours. Reading the Old Testament, it becomes abundantly clear that much has changed over time. From learning that the land was watered by mists rather than rain, to people living for centuries, to spiritism and traffic between earth and skies, to the exploits of lesser gods and magicians, not to mention actual sacrificial worship requirements, we assume that we have progressed past this primitive perspective. After all, we have scientific knowledge beyond their grasp, and technology that offers instant information and inventions that free us from much menial labor. We are educated. Elevated. Superior. At least, that undercurrent of thought colors how we approach the stories that seem like mythology or metaphor. We may be surprised to learn that with our recent technological and scientific advances, there is actually more to discourage this attitude than to recommend it. Yes, the whole account of God’s interaction with our evolving race is littered with metaphor, word pictures and allegory, but there is also narrative, history and verifiable interaction between earthly and heavenly entities. Still, even at this juncture in history, we recognize that we are not alone in the universe. What we label ‘aliens’ to satisfy our rational approach to reality were recognized as somewhat authoritative spiritual beings, called elohim, or gods ( small ‘g’) in Scripture, with other names in different ancient cultures. 

The brilliant pastor/engineer/technology consultant Chuck Missler relates recent mathematical discoveries and theories of astronomy concerning the structure of the universe that are absolutely fascinating. It becomes abundantly clear that scientists have discovered that they have been wrong about things previously considered fundamental. The science behind this is crazy complex, but they are now thinking that there are perhaps ten dimensions, not just the four we are able to navigate. Jesus often defied the laws of physics with no problem, and He says we we will become like Him when He returns. We religionize this to some fuzzy theological concept when it will more likely be a physical reality. Jesus should be trusted on this. He made everything and even now is holding it all together. 

I discovered recently that what I was taught years ago about the structure and function of the atom, the amoeba, the building blocks of life and matter, and foundational fundamentals is woefully incorrect in light of more current research. The simplicity that was required to undergird an evolutionary explanation of our world is just plain wrong, a fact that is now widely recognized by the scientific community. The cells – each one – is a self contained dynamic power structure with complexity that is mind boggling, including something that acts like a brain. They have recently ascertained  the interconnectedness of those cells – every single one communicates with every single other one. Nobody anticipated this, constrained as they were by philosophy that researchers are supposed to avoid to accommodate objectivity. Unfortunately, even scientists are not immune to the lure of grants and subsidies to produce certain findings. Anyway, there is also a crazy new discovery in quantum physics. Quarks – fun word- those minuscule particles of matter that we are now able to study, act differently when they are observed than when they are not. What????? 

Our advanced capacity to observe and draw conclusions about the reality of our existence should bring us humility, not pride in our knowledge. We are making assumptions about physical laws from the five percent of matter that is observable. We have astronomical discoveries that we cannot name because they do not conform to the laws of physics that we know. Copernicus challenged the cherished notion that the sun revolved around the earth and was reviled, yet that changed the trajectory of scientific inquiry. We have many such discoveries happening now. Scientists are finding that laws that we thought stable are elastic, undercutting standard assumptions about cosmic functioning. In fact, it seems that science is well on the road to discovering God – unless they have a cherished notion themselves that they are unwilling to confront with logic and facts. 

All this to say that when we chuckle at our ancestors’ ‘primitive’ accounts of incidents in their world, the same will someday happen to us. To discount the records of celestial interaction, floods, giants, talking donkeys (ok – weird), an immobile sun, plagues, Red Sea passage, and the list goes on – is to laugh at the discovery of communicating cells, the interconnectedness of the universe, and the possibility of some sort of consciousness for objects before considered inanimate. And the God of the Bible, Yahweh, Jesus orchestrated in detail this wonder we live in. So when He says that if the children had not praised Him the very stones would have cried out, who is to say that is a metaphor? Maybe yesterday we could have, but not today. We must not keep insisting on filtering the revelation of God through our narrow blurry lens. 

I don’t know about you, but I am embarrassed about the size of the box I have made for God. Religiousness, the little pharisee on my shoulder, has made rules for Him that are ridiculous. But God, ever merciful in His dealings with us, remembering that we are but dust, is not offended. He takes us where we are and invites us to a bigger existence than we could ever have imagined. I’m in!

Shalom