tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86845124443541882902024-02-07T14:44:30.703-08:00Science of God's CreationModern science has extensively broadened my vision of God. I am a Christian who loves science and believes the compatiablility of science enhances my understanding of God.Gordon Hisayasuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12217944472609485438noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8684512444354188290.post-62902384510603759202022-09-02T21:18:00.000-07:002022-09-02T21:18:59.906-07:00<p> Intelligent Design 8-1-22</p><p><br /></p><p>INTRODUCTION</p><p><br /></p><p>In trying to write this essay on Intelligent Design I find to my wonderment that this topic is so hard to adequately explain. It is because I feel I am understating the strength of my conviction of God’s hand in creation. The more I think, I keep adding factors for my belief, but still feel I fall short. </p><p><br /></p><p>I have been exposed for years to the struggles scholars of religion and science have between each other. They mock each other. One problem is that neither side is an expert on such a broad topic. Many religious scholars have very little exposure to science and scientists often have no exposure to religion. Even when they do have learning in the opposing areas, in this day of specialist they are hardly broadly knowledgeable. Hence, I find they spend a lot of time quoting others. I also am far from expert, and so fall in line with those I am criticizing. However, sitting on the fence is cowardly. I studied, trying to be independent and to create an unbiased approach, without getting caught up in controversies or opinionated advocacy. I don’t think this is contrary to my love and passion for science, but openly recognizes what science reveals and doesn’t reveal. Likewise, I tried to be open about what the Bible says and means, intimately to me. Studying has been a very solitary activity for me and I keep everything to myself. This makes it hard to be bold and not be intimidated by the opinions of others. It is scary to think for yourself in contrast to the experts of science and the Bible. I fear being called stupid or even worse, a heretic. In spite of this I will try. I believe in God as creator, over the views of science and even differ with some of the Bible scholars.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>INTELLIGENT DESIGN</p><p><br /></p><p>Intelligent Design emphasizes the concept that creation displays design that requires intelligence. Humans understand this easily because we created a more comfortable world that is designed by our superior human intelligence. Intelligent Design is a term that relates to my belief in God as the “starter”, the designer, and the creator. It is related to the idea that Man discovers and the nature of what we discover is seemingly designed and intelligent. Creation is beyond our intellect in many ways and it is reasonable to conclude everything is made by something much smarter than us. That is God to me. That is what I consider a valid, reasonable belief. I have many strong, reasonable, and compelling reasons that help me feel enthusiastic and convinced of God’s hand in my existence. </p><p><br /></p><p>ABIOGENESES (making life from inanimate matter) -</p><p>It is reasonable to examine the creation of Life as a first revelation of God’s power of creation. I’ve read for years of the attempts by science to come up with ideas of how life could happen. Making amino acids using lightning is not even close to making DNA (the functional programmed template for life). Discovering the diversity, adaptability, and durability of life shows how incredible life is, but not how it originated. For me, theories of life from prebiotic soup, hot ocean vents, or outer space show nothing. I find that any ideas of life by science fall far short of showing how to create and maintain even the simplest, primitive life. The complicated molecule DNA is necessary for life, but life is not because of DNA. Hence, DNA is lying about all over the world (even as road kill) and is not alive. Science cannot even understand how DNA was created or it’s programming mechanisms work. Life is beyond the scope of a master chemist or genius programmer. Our great human mind has a hard time even defining life or coming up with any real scientific ideas of it’s start and maintenance. So even with life how does a single cell get so organized to stay alive and reproduce? How do single cells specialize, co-exist, and learn to cooperate to become a Man made of 32+ trillion cells? Why is all life controlled by DNA? Why is it the only molecular formula that worked? Is DNA only on Earth and is this the true wonder of our habitable world? The current theories of abiogenesis shows how mysterious the animation of matter really is and how creative life is. The questions are so numerous that I seriously think when we figure out what life is, we will find God. </p><p><br /></p><p>COSMOS- </p><p>In my lifetime (78 years) the discoveries about the Cosmos have been fast paced, enlightening, and unimaginable. Hubble alone has revealed a complexity of the Cosmos that shows how backward our beliefs were. It is hard to incorporate new things like a Big Bang Theory, black holes, supernova, the CMB, nebula, dark matter and energy, an accelerating universe, and the new size and age of the Cosmos into my mind. What will the James Webb telescope discover? I am overwhelmed by the majesty and wonders of the created Cosmos. The Cosmos reveals mysteries we can hardly begin to grasp. The vagueness of scientific speculations, like the “singularity”, the multiverse, and “theories of everything” demonstrates the shortcomings of our human technology and imagination. I sometimes feel science avoids their huge gaps of understanding. Only the infinite God matches the seemingly infinite Cosmos.</p><p><br /></p><p>LIFE AS WE KNOW IT- </p><p>This term seems to be kicked around by scientist to describe the sense that the parameters of our Earthly life requires basic, defined necessities for life to exist. Discovery coveys a sense that many of these are lucky coincidences. “Goldilocks”, “just right”, “privileged planet”, and “fine tuning” are not terms that fit into science’s vocabulary. Science demands that random, spontaneous, natural events explain creation. I believe that God controls, so the mass extinctions handily occurred in a manner suitable for humans to survive, our unique “rare Earth” is designed to provide a suitable home for us, and the elements and their relative ratios made by the sun and supernova are perfect for us to be made. Other factors display the same perfection. The complex process of the formation of oxygen makes it somehow magically available for us to breathe. Ozone preserves our temperature, otherwise we would be a another Venus or Mars. Water is not only abundant on Earth, but is maintained by the seasons, the weather cycles, the sun, plate tectonics, and other subtle factors. The balances of nature represents the extreme complexity and purpose of design by God. It feels like every new discovery is somehow tied to the concept of being necessary for life. The list really is endless and stands in stark contrast to the minimal list of necessities scientists require for habitable exoplanets. The hundreds, or thousands, of conditions necessary for our life (and well-being) are truly an act of God, not luck.</p><p><br /></p><p>GOD CREATED MAN- </p><p>The special creation of Man is a way to explore God’s role in creation. Man is the most intelligent species we know of on this Earth, and possibly in the whole Universe. I believe God gave Man superior intellect so we can be more of a companion than a pet. He did not create Man to be a robot, without will or awareness. </p><p><br /></p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>With our brain we can conceptualize a God and discern and chose.</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>With our brain we can create and design amazing things. </p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>With our brain we can dominate and manipulated the world.</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>With our brain we are curious and seek knowledge.</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>With our brain we can commit and believe. </p><p><br /></p><p>It should be noted that human intelligence is something very complex. We have language and can communicate so we build a cumulative data base to advance our species. Together, not individually, we discover different ways to harness fire and to build an Atomic Bomb. Who is Einstein without Newton, or Henry Ford without the people who developed steel, gas and tires? Luckily we can learn from each other.</p><p><br /></p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Man made a computer, God made a brain.</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Man programmed a worldwide internet, God programmed DNA.</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Man made buildings, God made suns, planets, and moons.</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Man made robots, God made living animals, plants, and Man.</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Man made a watch, God created time and the materials to make a watch. </p><p><br /></p><p>It is the achievements of God that are truly awesome, not Man. It is the big brain of Man that probably makes us arrogant. Even with superior consciousness we aren’t even smart enough to figure out many fundamental things. Being cynical of Man, science, and religious dogma is part of the driving force of my believing in God. He is mine, and I am His.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>NARRATIVE</p><p><br /></p><p>There are a lot of reasons, as I stated above, that point to God as creator, but those reasons are just part of the story. I think, I speculate, I imagine, I try to figure things out to satisfy me, and I come up with beliefs that are not easily clearly stated. These are beliefs that redefine some people’s ideas of science and Christianity. Ideas going against consensus are intimidating to make, but they do reflect some of my thoughts. Hence, I will attempt to produce a bolder and more inventive narrative of reasons that will try to better clarify my belief in God.</p><p><br /></p><p>Statements </p><p><br /></p><p>I believe that God as Creator is much more than Science or the Bible reveals. The reality of God is outside of our ability to imagine, or even guess. His magnificence is totally beyond our tiny mind. The Bible does not fully explain the methods of creation used by God. It is a book of revelation of God’s plan for Man, not explanation. Science falls far short of finding answers to many things. It leaves gaps and infers it will have answers, over time. It is the absolute wonder of creation that makes God indescribable. An awesome creation takes an awesome Creator. My belief is that God is my Truth and Hope. I think science and the Bible both reveal a God beyond Man’s ability to comprehend.</p><p><br /></p><p>Sometimes, I don’t think of God as a magician, but as a divine genius. It is a way to envision a God that is more real and reasonable in the face of the physical presence, complexity, and design of everything we see around us. This perspective makes more sense to explain some things. It proposes that God may have created or used time, the natural forces of nature, evolution, and many other things, utilizing everything perfectly for creation. It is along the lines of attributing DNA and genetics as something God created to implement as tools for the maintenance of life. This concept is definitely speculative and admit-tingly may be stretching things too far. It is not a wish to modify the Bible to conform to science or vice versus. We really don’t know how God made things. God said “Let there be light” and we have photons, eyes, and a brain so we can see and discover. Did God create or use photons? Maybe God’s intellect is the real source of miracles? Someday I trust I will know and understand how God works. </p><p><br /></p><p>From a spiritual realm God created a physical universe. Our reality is physical . We live, experience, multiply, and die within a physical timeline. Elaborate physical creations from matter demonstrate and validate the creativity and purposeful intent of God to make things. Things don’t just happen. A Heavenly Father made us an unique physical home. All of Earth is essentially a Garden of Eden that is created just for us. Maybe it takes trillions upon trillions of planets to get one just right to sustain us. Ours may be the only one of a kind. The physical specialness of the creation of Man is apparent in the Bible. For me, the possibility of the extension of our physical existence to a spiritual eternity is a reflection of our specialness to God. Belief in this spiritual realm is a “leap of faith”, taken by me that is in addition to my recognition of God as creator. Maybe the gift of consciousness and revelation by God is why I can be made aware of this?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Questions</p><p><br /></p><p>I will start questions with human intellect. Humans use our mind to try to figure out our reality. The thing so exciting about science is how it tries to discover our reality with reason. Reality is important to me because my perceived truth about reality is useful to define purpose and meaning in my life. Science could not convey truth to me, but strangely God did. Why are humans so much smarter than other animals, and how did it happen so fast? Dinosaurs had 165 million years and fish even longer but they never “evolved” much in the intelligence game. So why humans? Neither the Bible or science explains our superior brains. A human biological brain stands in stark contrast to our man-made computers as far as design or complexity. How do neurons, synapse, and neurotransmitters relate to microchips and electronics? No artificial intelligent robot by man even comes close to comparing to any of God’s created animals. A recent video I saw describes how we have underestimated the “ridiculous” complexity of neurons in mice, but that complexity exceeds ridiculous in humans. The questions about our special brain are strong reasons to believe in God. </p><p><br /></p><p>The questions on “origins” are very problematic. I hardly think science ever explains origins on anything. The description “In the beginning” in the Bible is also vague in nature. The concepts of Inflation Theory, the Big Bang, String Theory, Time, and Gravity may easily be overzealous scientific presumptions. On the other hand, Sampson’s hair, the Tower of Babel, and Jacob’s Ladder are also hard to reconcile with reason. The six days of creation depicted in the Bible scientifically also seems a translational defecit. Not knowing is hard and makes committing to a belief difficult. So unanswerable questions accumulate. Even so, I discern and commit, as my most reasonable solution, to belief in origins as being the product of a superior intellect, God. This is far more credible and superior to the “science” theories for me. </p><p><br /></p><p>Over time I have increasingly come to a feeling that new discoveries by science are God showing me how He is in control. How did this happen? It is because I seem to be inundated with new discoveries of science that are so wondrous, mysterious, and complex that I came to feel God is revealing things directly to me. I think of these as things only He could create. I hear so many times that these new discoveries are part of why we exist. For example, we would have no galaxies, suns, or planets without Dark Matter. I’ve also heard we would have no galaxies without Black Holes, Inflation, and more Matter than Antimatter. Also, no life without Supernova, Water, DNA, and the Sun. This is a long story but I read that the newly discovered cosmic rays of Supernova may be the cause of speciation on Earth. Also, even fungus and viruses are necessary for life. I appears that nothing can exist without the genius of God. I see God as a purposeful designer who personally creates for me. God is leading my new discoveries of science to further “proclaim the glory of God”.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>CONCLUSION</p><p><br /></p><p>I write to explore and clarify things for myself. My ideas are from a collection of facts in my head, gathered after a lifetime pursuit of knowledge. My past writings are handwritten and personal in nature. Always for myself and essentially not read by anybody else. Because of this I now realize much of my writings are hard to understand. I can’t explain all the detail and complexity that goes into my thoughts without writing a book. However, the deeper insights from my studies are from details and are a basis for my beliefs. The following are a couple examples of what I mean by how the deeper details influence me.</p><p> </p><p>I was making a statement about water in one of my videos on God’s extreme design for life and got caught up in details. My videos were made from notes, unscripted, and very amateur, and I got carried away describing detailed characteristics of water. It involved trying to briefly discuss the unique chemical and solubility properties from it molecular structure, it’s utility for biological functions, it’s formation and prevalence in the Cosmos, Earth and Human body, among other things. Needless to say, it was over long, boring, and still incomplete. It was dropped from my videos. However, my belief is validated by such details. I wanted to include how the water is distributed and maintained on Earth, and how hydrogen was formed from the early Big Bang, and oxygen by nuclear fusion in suns, and both distributed in stardust from Supernova. It really is the details that showed me that water is not by luck, but by an intricate design from God. The same complexity easily exist with the details in understanding how Carbon, rare elements, and the Iron Core of the Sun and Earth were formed, made available, and utilized for life to exist. I do not have the ability to express my impressions of these wonders of God.</p><p><br /></p><p>Evolution is another example of how details influence me. I have seen videos and read many articles on evolution, especially of Man. Science’s origin stories are so vague and ambiguous to me. The fossil records, carbon dating, genetic studies, evolutionary trees, etc. are very inconclusive to me. There are so many controversies that it becomes very confusing. The conviction that God has created Homo sapiens, specifically, is also not easy. Things would be easier if the Bible was clearer. However, the origin of the human species is hard to accept from an evolutionary process to me. Humans hardly seem possible because we are so extremely unique and complex from all other animals. Survival is not by natural selection for Man to me. It seems more like we survived because of a series of lucky, timely, and fortunate events. I can imagine Man as created as we are by God. I saw the hominid skulls, bird-like reptiles, and genetic trees and am still convinced that God is creator. It is disturbing to see Darwin’s evolution of Monkeys to Apes to Man diagrams and realize science so strongly supports their theory that people turn from God.</p><p><br /></p><p>I have written so much on science and God and tried to make it clear why I believe in God as the Creator. I think I spent so much effort with this essay because I want it to help people who won’t accept or consider belief in God, using science or reason as an excuse, like I did. It is helpful because believing in “A God” helps when evaluating a belief for “The God” of the Bible. The search for the God of salvation starts with the Bible for Christians. To accept a God who personally cares for you does not have concrete evidences and is “a narrow road”. This topic is complex and I feel involves a person’s personal journey to God. If I personally wasted a large part of my life wondering and studying, I will feel the vanity of my life. However, I pray that God leads me and I can serve Him in someway. I will attempt to examine my pathway to Christianity in my next essay ( “I Believe” ).</p><p>———————————————————————————————————————</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>This topic is a major part of my life’s energy, passion, time, and mental efforts. I have hundreds of writings, a blog, and a video series on the topic. Essentially nobody views these, but they were my way to record my thoughts. I once had a hope my son would read them. This essay stands alone but I am including links to them. They are dated and repetitious and I think are best read and watched only if you are interested in more detail.</p><p><br /></p><p>This is a link to my blog. It was first published on the internet in 2011. It was started as science and religion but as time passed it became a jumble of many old miscellaneous writings I typed to preserve and formalize. To access my 5 essays on Intelligent Design, scroll down on the right side to “Blog Archive”, start on year 2011 and then 2015.</p><p>http://scienceofgodscreation.blogspot.com/</p><p><br /></p><p>This is the link to my 15 video series. It was started enthusiastically, but for some reason I could not start chapter 6 (it’s been over 4 years). I just made notes, stuck a black board behind me, and started talking. They are very amateurish.</p><p>https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLArZojo6WU_jX9mSOAOBYMBuHI_R2tR1p</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>◦<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><div><br /></div>Gordon Hisayasuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12217944472609485438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8684512444354188290.post-42759757423925062532022-07-20T13:10:00.000-07:002022-07-20T13:10:12.635-07:00<p> <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 42.66px; font-weight: bold;">1-28-22</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 32.6px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 25.82px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 25.82px;">Senses</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 32.6px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 25.82px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 25.82px;">God said “Let there be light” and the brilliance of the stars exposed the wonders the darkness could not hide. </span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 25.82px;">The Sun illuminated the marvels of the World, seen by the curious eyes of Man.</span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 25.82px;">With technology assisted eyes we discovered the miracles of nature and life.</span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 25.82px;">I “see” the glory of creation only “A” God is capable of.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 32.6px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 25.82px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 25.82px;">I am such an insignificant part of a large, aged Cosmos.</span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 25.82px;">I seek and find only confusion and questions.</span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 25.82px;">“It is written” and Hope is planted in my mind.</span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 25.82px;">God did not make me as a vain vessel, but as part of His plan.</span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 25.82px;">I “hear” the Word of God.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 32.6px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 25.82px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 25.82px;">Belief is a seed in a forest, though planted and nurtured, is still fragile.</span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 25.82px;">The fog that encloses the mind clouds the clarity of belief.</span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 25.82px;">An arrogant mind distracts from the path of discerning “Truth”.</span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 25.82px;">It is God’s Holy Spirit that humbles and opens my heart to “understand”.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 32.6px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 25.82px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 25.82px;">Christ provides the beginnings of finding meaning and purpose to life.</span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 25.82px;">He is the “Way” to unity with “THE” God.</span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 25.82px;">I would not know a path to righteousness without His example.</span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 25.82px;">Now I await my destiny as a Holy entity “one” with God.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 32.6px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 25.82px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 32.6px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 25.82px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 32.6px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 25.82px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 32.6px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 25.82px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 32.6px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 25.82px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 32.6px;"><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 25.82px;"></span><br /></p>Gordon Hisayasuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12217944472609485438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8684512444354188290.post-68498041363918594312022-07-20T12:24:00.000-07:002022-07-20T12:24:09.869-07:00<p>2-16-2019</p><p><br /></p><p>Outside the Box</p><p><br /></p><p>I’ve heard that “there is nothing new under the sun”, that Man has not thought or done before. Of course that is not true of new scientific discoveries. Still, as a man, what new creative things can I come up with? I try to have imaginative, original, progressive ideas. Even acting on my own, studying hard, thinking long and hard, I find my writings are very repetitive, limited in innovation, and boring. Maybe I don’t let myself be bold enough? Individuality can be compromised by fear of; censorship from peers, being called out of touch, being misinformed, making mistakes, or just plain looking stupid. You can also be accused of being indiscrete and tactless. Those fears may control the act of freedom to my mind. So I wonder, can I write my thoughts even if highly controversial? Do I even have the intellect, knowledge, and inventiveness to be creative? Can I allow myself to think “outside the box”? Remember that as a layman my “outside the box” is different to the privy of information the specialist have. That makes me naive, but I still have a right to speculate. The following are just thoughts, many things I always wanted to verbalize, and others just old ideas, written to allow myself to freely express speculative ideas. In many ways “outside the box” is just trying to answer questions I have, and being brave enough to just speculate.</p><p>________________________________________________________</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>God is much more than Man could ever comprehend. Science reveals a creation so complex and designed it is hard to even guess at an entity capable of such genius. Being alive and human exposes an inferred sense of the wonder of God’s power. The miraculous nature of existence leaves us guessing at God’s divinity. Where would such guesses lead if I could let my mind freely and openly think?<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>God is the conscious source of energy; the E of E=mc2 that gets matter started, the fires of the Cosmos that light up our night, the gravity that holds us together, and the other forces of nature that shields us from chaos.</p><p><br /></p><p>Time could be God’s way to limit Man’s arrogance. We are finite and are left vulnerable by life’s brevity. We may not exist long enough to get answers. For those who think Man will eventually have answers, be aware that it most probably won’t happen in your lifetime, or never. Time makes your “for the good of mankind” rather irrelevant. Furthermore, it is seemingly optimistic to think mankind will be around much longer.</p><p> </p><p>The mystery of “life” given by God is matched by the mystery of “everlasting life” given by God through Jesus. What gives us life may be similar to what gives us everlasting life. If we can figure out what life is, may be we can visualize everlasting life better.</p><p><br /></p><p>God is the Truth, not absolute or provable, but confirmable by the privilege of God’s guidance and your ability to trust your belief. You should recognize this is your truth, relative to you. Take ownership.</p><p><br /></p><p>Believing in God may be the most important aspect of your life. Everything else vanishes in your death.</p><p> </p><p>The human brain may be the pinnacle of God’s creation, without which, He is nonexistent and incomprehensible to us.</p><p><br /></p><p>We may be so special that God created everything for us. Certainly, the Bible which describes the great mercy and sacrifice that God made for us seems to indicate so.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Nature or natural forces may be just a scientific word that acknowledges God as the source of creation. They are just unwilling to call it God. God may be the “natural” source of everything.</p><p><br /></p><p>Things we think of as “natural” like oxygen forming O2 in the atmosphere, or Hydrogen + Oxygen forming water, or other chemistries may also be God’s design. All nature may be designed by God as easily seen in DNA.</p><p><br /></p><p>Fortunate and lucky coincidences of existence are just God organizing things, an extension of fine tuning necessary for His willful means of creation. </p><p><br /></p><p>A spiritual God allows God to be everywhere, to know where we are, and be with us. Can a spirit be so big as to encompass a cosmos?</p><p><br /></p><p>All mystery may lead to who God is. We have no answers. Mystery certainly accents our limited mind and infers an absolute truth beyond us. A truth beyond us sounds like God.</p><p>_______________________________________________</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>There are many things I think we forget to realize because we take them for granted or do not see their significance. </p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p>A photon, an eye, a brain allow us to “see” God’s creation. This sight helps us know the wonder and awe of our existence. God said, “Let there be light”, not, “let there be gravity”. Light must be special.</p><p><br /></p><p>DNA is a key for organization and functions of life. It may be the key for abiogenesis, how life began. As DNA may give life, maybe it also can be used for everlasting life after death. It certainly represents a wonder of God’s genius. It could be the tool God uses for speciation.</p><p><br /></p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Consider the role of DNA in stem cells</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Making proteins</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Controlling life functions</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Defining species characteristics</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Controlling adaptations</p><p><br /></p><p>So can you use DNA to design a new species? Can you manipulate DNA to make whatever you want? It would take a God.</p><p><br /></p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Design a better eye</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Design better teeth</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Design faster muscle responses</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Design a bigger, more complex’s brain</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p><br /></p><p>The brain is the site for cognition, it may also be the site for the spirit of Man. Is there a physical basis for the spirit, or is the physical a manifestation of a spiritual world? Our life, with it’s memory and identity, may only be preserved as a spirit. We live in a physical world and don’t even know what a spiritual world is, but maybe that is where heaven is and where we will live forever after death. </p><p><br /></p><p>Our intellect gives humans the ability to conceptualize a God, but something else gives us the ability to believe in God. The brain gives us the ability to discern and maybe helps us to believe. The Bible describes a process besides intellect, referring to a “change of heart”. Perhaps love is involved, and we should not “lean on our own understanding”.</p><p><br /></p><p>Human intelligence is supplemented by accumulated data and knowledge, the tools and resources of scientific discovery, and an ample time for the age of Man. Our wisdom is still full of holes and shortcomings and is highly overrated by arrogant Man. </p><p><br /></p><p>Our worldly, human nature parallels the sin of Satan. We crave fame, power, and wealth to make us relevant, better, or godlike. A smarter animal may follow us that can be humble and respect God. </p><p>______________________________________________</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>A mind is very limited and maybe ideas are also limited. I can looked at all these attempts to be innovative and unique, but find that I am still hardly original. I still harbor fears of offending others and myself by trying to free my thoughts “outside the box”. My mind is full so I will still continue on. These are just stronger efforts to use my mind and studies to try to figure out some of the mysteries of existence. Remember these are just thoughts and sometimes wild speculations</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>God is ruler of a realm, maybe full of others, including gods and angels.</p><p><br /></p><p>God can do anything, but works by intellect and control, not magic.</p><p><br /></p><p>God is spiritual, but created a physical cosmos.</p><p><br /></p><p>God is beyond time and space. The future is controlled because time can be manipulated.</p><p><br /></p><p>God created humans and gave us sovereignty to make us more interesting. Maybe we are challenging to God? Free will may be because God wants us to come to Him by our own volition.</p><p><br /></p><p>God is described in the Bible in human terms, so we may not know the true nature of God. Surely God, though described in human terms, is an entity beyond description.</p><p><br /></p><p>What we think of heaven and hell may be all wrong. Was heaven made for us or is it where God lives? Could heaven be made of dark matter?</p><p><br /></p><p>The Bible presents God as a Trinity. Because we are so limited, He may be much more and we are not close to understanding. We limit God by the limitation of our mind.</p><p><br /></p><p>We are described as “clay” and given our arrogance, entirely overrate ourselves. Maybe not believing in God is part of that conceit and makes us feel more important.</p><p><br /></p><p>We don’t understand the significance of life or death. A conditional everlasting life , given with belief is more confusing. Why is belief so important?</p><p><br /></p><p>Given another 2-300,000 years, would Man comprehend God better? Maybe knowing the truth of God just takes time.</p><p><br /></p><p>Trying to give God a name, an image, a gender, and a personality using human concepts may be way off. One name, of God as our Creator, leaves a totally impossible way to effectively imagine or visualize Him.</p><p><br /></p><p>Is it okay to wonder how big God is? He may be just pure energy, spiritually present everywhere. Can He live in us, be omnipresent, and dwell in Heaven?</p><p>___________________________________________</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>If science can speculate, so can I. A mind is limitless if free. Easy to get crazy with scientific questions.</p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>What could lie outside the boundaries of the Universe? It is only limited because we have limited sight. Could be other universes, or maybe nothing. Maybe as galaxies make up a universe, our “uni”verse is just a small part of a very large “ultra”verse. Like we thought the Milky Way was everything.</p><p><br /></p><p>Life is just things made animated. The design is beyond us now but may someday be as obvious as DNA and atoms are. It could be just another thing intellectually designed.</p><p><br /></p><p>Size can be thought of as relative to our size. A fundamental unit may not exist for small, and large is only large because the universe is as far as we can see now. Maybe all size is relative to the viewer. Is there smaller than strings and larger than the cosmos?</p><p><br /></p><p>Science theories get so wild they lose credibility. The desperate need to vindicate their theories may be founded on their fear of acknowledging God as creator. They will take their theories to their death.</p><p><br /></p><p>Science is not a belief. It is only humans trying to figure things out. Science formulates “theories” and people formulate “beliefs”. Both theories and beliefs can be compelling but are without concrete evidence. The word Faith does not seem synonymous with belief because of the implication of God in the word Faith. </p><p><br /></p><p>Science teaches the finality of death without really knowing what death is. “Ashes to ashes” or “stardust to stardust” are just guesses by science. Defining death as the absence of life is shallow if you don’t know what life is.</p><p><br /></p><p>The complexity science finds in many things defy explanations. Science often ends in an eventual theory but does not try to explain why the complexity exist. Maybe complexity infers that creation is the product of a higher intelligence.</p><p><br /></p><p>Science still wonders about black holes, inflation, time, gravity, dark matter and energy, abiogenesis, cognition, and many other things. Maybe, without God as an explanation, the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle applies to everything, uncertainty!</p><p><br /></p><p>Science is progressing so rapidly, but because it’s conscience is often controlled by economics and politics, so is the rapid possibility of extinction by climate and war. Likewise, “survival of the fittest” is an immoral concept leading to a vain death. Where do the reasons for a moral compass for science come from? Who is accountable?</p><p><br /></p><p>Because of the way the specialized sciences isolate themselves, it is hard for them to communicate with unity and a consensus of purpose. Progress is impeded by limited interactions and is further aggravated by the existence of only a few “jack of all trades” type scientist. Why do they tend to believe and trust only other scientist?</p><p><br /></p><p>Science should not sound so sure of itself. Almost every theory is controversial, and, like the concept of a steady state universe, is subject to change. Is science an arrogant concept? </p><p><br /></p><p>When unknowns pile up in science, and seemingly contradictory and impossible conditions appear that are necessary for existence, God should be a viable theory. Humans say we don’t know “yet”, but maybe never will with our limited intellect and brief time of existence.</p><p><br /></p><p>Science needs sound ideas of how life can exist in the hostile exoplanet environments. The statement “could” is hardly satisfactory or rational. Are there alternates to DNA? What other details are necessary? With our perfect conditions, where are other forms of life on Earth based on science’s many statements of “could”?</p><p><br /></p><p>The ecosystems of nature display a balance that makes life possible and sustains life. Does not the probiotics of earth’s history confirm a system so dynamic and controlled as to be impossible to duplicate? Likewise, the history of natural events (volcanoes, meteorites, climate change, diseases, and extinction events) cannot be duplicated. This infers “life as we know it” is not reproducible and seems so elegantly and purposefully designed. </p><p><br /></p><p>Maybe all the natural forces of nature are all different forms of the same force? We seem far from understanding forces, especially life force.</p><p><br /></p><p>Time could have multiple dimensions like String Theory, that are too small to see. If time has only one direction, what does that mean for space/time as in the Theory of Relativity? What would a world without time look like? Is God timeless? Can God turn time on and off? As with gravity, time could be a force that binds the fabric of space together. Do not forget what a very brief moment in time we exist.</p><p><br /></p><p>Maybe Dark Matter and Dark Energy exist in one of the multiple dimensions of String Theory? Too small to see?</p><p><br /></p><p>Science has provided a means for “all” to see the second coming of Christ with the 375 day, 24 hour coverage of news. Modern technology seems to help explain an unexplainable prophecy in the Bible. Is there more to come? Will science find heaven? Will a soul in Man, or spiritual world be found? Is there a true “God Spot”?</p><p>___________________________________________</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Science and religion seem to be at such odds with each other. To speculate on these two together may be helpful to reconcile a Christian that is also a strong advocate of science. They disagree, but both offer no conclusive facts to disprove each other.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>God is in control of our scientific discoveries and is now using them to help us better comprehend Him. As we learn more about the genius and seemingly designed nature of creation, God could be realized as the most probable, reasonable, and viable answer to the mysteries of creation. Is there a tool Man could create that can find God?</p><p><br /></p><p>More scientist may find God as they understand the limitations of human intellect better. Could we be so humble as to acquiesce to a higher power? Maybe we will realize how limited we are as we learn more about the brain of Man?</p><p><br /></p><p>The Bible may be only the first Word of God given to Man. There may be more to come as Man matures and God wills. Maybe more science in the second.</p><p><br /></p><p>Maybe Man can learn to be more acceptable to God and be a candidate for change. Can we control our behavior without God’s guidance and help? Would it make a difference?</p><p><br /></p><p>Is the destiny of Man complete now with our salvation through Jesus? Do the dammed have a chance? Are the end times the end of Man’s history? Will God change our fate? We may be just living in Act one.</p><p><br /></p><p>We are just one species exercising our mental abilities. To think our existence is random and our survival is just lucky is to short circuit our place in God’s plan of creation. Left to our own resources we would probably be our own demise. God may be our only hope.</p><p><br /></p><p>Both science and sin promise a false utopia. Are the benefits of a longer, more leisurely, comfortable, and prosperous life offered by science, or the hedonistic pleasures of sin worth it? Even if those benefits only exist for a short time during a relatively brief lifespan? God does offer more, and possibly forever, if we can believe.</p><p><br /></p><p>Science does not represent people. An individual can have anti-religious views and various differing philosophies. A person represents himself and is accountable to himself for who he is. The same is true for the individual with Faith, but he surrenders his self and is accountable to God.</p><p><br /></p><p>For a Christian, anti-religious groups represent heretics. Unfortunately, for many scientist, science is a type of “idol” to many of them. In a strict sense anything put before God is an idol. The worship of idols is the most apparent form of heresy. </p><p><br /></p><p>As the advancements of science reflect a modern world, there is no similar reflection of modern Christian belief. The foundation of Faith is of what happened over 2000 years ago. Where are the wise men of faith that parallel the geniuses of science? Where is the inspiration of God in men that parallels the discoveries of science? Has God said nothing new in response to a new world from 2000 years ago?</p><p><br /></p><p>In today’s world of the internet, the loudest, richest, more famous voices get heard. This seems to be to the detriment of faith because science seems more interesting and the Christian voice seems to say the same thing over and over. Can God inspire another updated Bible in a clearer language and easier to understand?</p><p><br /></p><p>Love is an emotion, a behavior, a state of mind, a benevolent part of us, an antagonist to our evil nature, and a mystery. Is it also part of our genetic heritage, in our genes? If God is love does that mean our access or predisposition for true love is through God?</p><p><br /></p><p>Is the righteousness of God just lucky? As our creator, He is also our Lord. As our judge, He is also our savior. As our Father, He is also someone who unconditionally loves us. He need not be good to be our God, but thankfully He is. His grace is apparent with Jesus, His Son.</p><p><br /></p><p>It is hard to imagine that God created us as He wanted us to be. However, I’m glad not to be a robot although I’m not sure how “free” my will is?</p><p><br /></p><p>The Ten Commandments that God gave us may be as natural as the “Laws of Nature. Obedience and consequences infers a fear of God’s authority. Can we both fear and love God?</p><p><br /></p><p>Would we be able to discern if a new prophet or apostle came to represent God? How could his or her authority be proved? Maybe authorization could be “seen” by the wisdom of words, or miracles, or a definitive sign from God. It can be supposed that even Jesus would not be believed in today’s mass media carnival. Maybe the reason we need no new apostle is because Jesus sent the Holy Spirit as our helper, guide, and Counselor.</p><p>______________________________________________________</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>These following concepts “outside the box” are a lot of more wilder ideas put together. They are speculations that I allowed my mind to think but not express openly, usually.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>E (energy) is used to start everything. The singularity is energy. Energy is the starter, reverses Entropy, the cause. Maybe something does not come from nothing, and quantum fluctuations require Energy.</p><p><br /></p><p>E=mc2 (mass converted to energy= Atomic bomb). Energy converts. Energy is the beginning of space, time, mass. Energy is invisible and has no mass. A vacuum could be pure energy that even without form can be Dark Matter, causing gravitational effects.</p><p><br /></p><p>Energy is both the product and cause of the stretching of space. The increased acceleration of space was caused by a threshold in that stretching that released additional energy. Space is a name for that stretched vacuum. This is Dark Energy.</p><p><br /></p><p>Energy is a force in many forms. Maybe the units of the various forms of energy (kinetic, work, potential, conservation of) can help explain the 1st Law of Thermodynamics. Energy in any form is related. </p><p><br /></p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Gravity- the “Theory of Everything” centers around Energy, not gravity.</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“W” force</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“Z” force</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>E/M force </p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Higgs</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Photons</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>force of nature</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>force of life (physical and spiritual).</p><p><br /></p><p>The most beautiful use of Energy is by God (Alpha and Omega, spiritual, intellectual, I AM). Energy creates, is eternal, and is everywhere. God controls all energy. With controlled energy, creation can start.</p><p><br /></p><p>Eternal life may be the conservation of Energy (1st Law of Thermodynamics). Our life is a physical manifestation of life force. The preservation of our identity and <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>memories is related to the information paradox (never lost).</p><p><br /></p><p>God created a physical realm. That is our reality. The physical is finite, unlike the infinite spiritual realm. The design of our physical realm reveals the intellect of God.</p><p><br /></p><p>Love is a force. Jesus is a manifestation of love. The relationship of God to love is God’s control of that force.</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p>The energy of life is like a battery that drives our cells. The process of reproduction multiplies that energy. The unity of an organism is God’s control of our life force. </p><p><br /></p><p>The relationship of time to energy connects time to space, mass, and gravity. It does not move backward or forward. It is related to the physical realm God created and is always the present.</p><p><br /></p><p>Light (the Photon) is the creation that let us be in touch with our environment and nature around us. Vision when coupled with intellect is fundamental to human <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>consciousness. Aware, we can “see” God. Light as a wave/particle must have some mass. How does it burst from the interior of a sun and irradiate outward in all <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>directions? How is it’s speed caused and controlled? </p><p><br /></p><p>The Sun is a nuclear energy source, created for bringing all the energy necessities for life to Earth, starting with photosynthesis and ending with the Kreb Cycle for Man. A nuclear power plant helps exemplify the superior design of God’s suns, compared to Man’s attempts to utilize nuclear energy.</p><p><br /></p><p>The use of energy to create requires such fine tuning that randomness and a natural cause are not reasonable. The design of creation displays a level of complexity and intelligence unexplained by random and natural cause. A casual <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>relationship for creation is more rationally described by divine influence.</p><p>________________________________________________________</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Throughout a life, the meaning and purpose of life takes on different degrees of importance. As the physical aspects of life diminish more and more, and death approaches, “why” is the greater mystery. Science never answers this and the reason for the existence of “us” is left unanswered. Can we find the truth? Does God make it clear enough for us to possibly understand? What speculations exist for the questions of why we are alive?</p><p><br /></p><p>The question “why” never really has a concrete answer. It is a guess. Will God let Man know “why” in a comprehensive way? Perhaps the best answer is in the Bible as the Will of God. The question of knowing and understanding “God’s Will” is as problematic as the question “why”, and is often answered with “I don’t know”. There are many reasons to say “I don’t know”.</p><p><br /></p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Maybe we are not smart enough?</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Maybe we don’t have enough data?</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Maybe everything is too confusing and complex to know?</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Maybe we don’t recognize the answer is right before us?</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Maybe we’re not asking the right question?</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Maybe God doesn’t want us to know?</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Maybe someone knows but won’t tell? </p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Maybe there is no answer?</p><p><br /></p><p>It may be better we don’t know and that is the way it should be. Mystery is a part of having intellect. Intellect brings on curiosity. Curiosity forces us to seek answers. Since God gave us this intellect, maybe we should trust Him for answers someday. Perhaps mystery is just a way to show us our limitations.</p><p><br /></p><p>We could be so insignificant that asking “why” makes as much sense as an ant questioning a rain storm. Part of humility is acknowledging our shortcomings.</p><p><br /></p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Wisdom eludes us.</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Reason and discernment are lacking.</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Our arrogance blinds us to reality.</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Our limited intelligence leads to a dead end.</p><p><br /></p><p>“Alive” may be a misunderstood term to describe ourselves. Life may be improperly defined. It may be more than our animated self, but also an undefined, unidentifiable part of our identity. We may be created in both the body and soul. Death may only be related to the end of life of our finite physical body. The soul may live on with the potential of eternity.</p><p><br /></p><p>Our bodies are such a small part of the vastness of matter in the cosmos. The reality of the present that we live our short, finite life in, is insignificant in contrast to the age of the cosmos. Still our small, weak voice is heard because God is so great, not us. We know we are special and loved because God sent Jesus, His Son to save us from ourselves. Life has meaning, maybe only because of God.</p><p>——————————————————————-</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Getting wilder still. Maybe not speculations, but more like fantasies. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Would if God is not a magician, but more like our picture of a “mad scientist” (not in a derogatory way). He would be like a genius tinkering with His creation. He is a God, outside time, making “us”. He may not control nature, but is nature. That would mean nature moves with intellect and motive (this is natural selection by God). </p><p><br /></p><p>Need trillions and trillions of planets to get a perfect one for life, and us. </p><p><br /></p><p>Need many species to make one like a human. Humans may be the pinnacle of <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>God’s creation, at least for now.</p><p><br /></p><p>Need many environmental and historic events to create and control man’s destiny. </p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>A volcano changes Earth’s temperature.</p><p><br /></p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>An asteroid wipes out the dinosaurs and gives mammals and humans an <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> environment to survive and flourish in. </p><p><br /></p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>A war gives the Israelites a home.</p><p><br /></p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>A nation develops a process to crucify Jesus.</p><p><br /></p><p>Continuous manipulations of supernova and nebula finally results in an elemental makeup that can produce life, as God wants it.</p><p><br /></p><p>An intellect is created that gives a consciousness to humans. That intellect allows <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>awareness of God and dominion over the world. Consciousness is superior intellect, exemplified by God’s ultimate creation, us.</p><p><br /></p><p>Would if there are many other Gods. Not for us because we are told to worship the “one” God, our creator. In God’s realm, the kingdom of Heaven, we get a picture of an existence entirely beyond our reality. Our imagination can envision other God-like entities in this kingdom. The Bible is not clear on this point. Specifically God, the Father, and Jesus, the Son of God, are described as our “Lord”. </p><p><br /></p><p>Would if God is something way beyond our ability to comprehend. Are there dimensions invisible to us, like the spiritual realm the Bible describes, but more? What could be the design of pure intellect and power? Could we just happen to be in the one of the trillions and trillions of universes that have a God (like the “anything is possible multiverse”)? Our brain is too limited to even begin to understand reality and truth. </p><p><br /></p><p>Looking at the grandeur of what is around us, do we think way too highly of ourselves? The Savant Syndrome infers unbelievable potential of our brain. The geniuses in human history make normalcy a meek, humble perspective on Man’s intellectual potential. The vast physiology of the brain displays an unfantomable complexity. Still we comprehend little and have more questions than answers. How much we don’t know should humble us. Maybe the brain isn’t a key to intelligence? </p><p>_______________________________________________________________</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Getting outside the box is more than speculations of data and evidence. The mind builds “worlds” for you that are wishes and fantasies. They can be alternate realities, wild dreams, or visions of wished for truths. While I am surrounded by unknown, seemingly “impossibles”, I persevere by “possibilities”. A world can be speculated that is an accumulation of many speculative insights that together create a separate reality. Mystery and questions are answered by assumptions that can bring hope of better solutions for the many “I don’t knows” of science and the Bible. It is a world of my imagination.</p><p><br /></p><p>Life and the design of Man is only explainable by speculations. The mystery is so vast that even human intellect falls short of comprehension. Putting God as the source is just a start to “outside the box”. What our minds can grasp with progressing data are a beginning of a possible ability to “see” the truth and magnitude of God through His creation. To believe in God is a start. To let your mind fill in questions is a fearful process that hinders “outside the box” thoughts. However, as fearful as it is to think of possibilities in relationship to God, it is the freedom I am giving myself.</p><p><br /></p><p>One speculation involves Man’s relationship to God.</p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p>INTENT? Everything is created by God for me (Man).</p><p><br /></p><p>I am like no other. God does not act randomly. Matter and elements were created in precise abundance’s and ratios so I can exist. The occurrences of cosmic events were not natural, but purposeful plans of creation. To make a perfect home for me, trillions, upon trillions of planets were created so my one perfect Earth would exist. Nature provided weather, volcanoes, meteors, extinctions (mass and otherwise), etc. to accommodate specific speciation leading to me. It was not accidental, lucky, coincidental, or fortunate that complex factors, like DNA, persisted with the versatility and viability to survive the environmental stress necessary for life and me. The control and balance of nature is so incredible and incomprehensively broad that it cannot be duplicated, which is what makes everything so valuable. Life is unique and specific to our world. The tools that were implemented and designed for us are not natural. We are the product of an evolving, designed creation, not evolution. God made it so, which adds to our specialness.</p><p><br /></p><p>God is alive, existing in some form, someplace, with control and cognition beyond our imagination. What we “see”, understand, and believe in our physical existence infers a God of such power that even the Bible may fall short of reality. Who can create a Big Bang and envision a Man as a product on the other end? How can God make this happen? The complex manipulations necessary for us is a testimony to the magnitude of God’s power. An abbreviated list of some of these manipulations defining existence are as follows:</p><p><br /></p><p>A singularity (?) formed and expanded that creates everything. Space, time, matter, light, suns, galaxies, etc., are brought into being for a cosmos. </p><p><br /></p><p>Timely processes, events, and nature establish the conditions for Man.</p><p><br /></p><p>Life, functionally programmed by DNA, is somehow developed on our specially formed planet.</p><p><br /></p><p>Many forms of life come and go throughout the history of Earth, leading to the pinnacle of creation, us.</p><p><br /></p><p>Human consciousness leads us to revelation of the specialness and purpose of our life.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>God made me alive and conscious. I am the pinnacle of design. I am created unique and with autonomy. I am a privileged person. Above all other life as I know it, I am superior. I reason and discern. I am curious and seek. I read and study. I am created to be able to marvel and believe in God. I am the artistic, animated product of genius</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>SPIRITUAL WORLD? God has a plan for me.</p><p><br /></p><p>God created a physical world, but lives in an invisible spiritual world. Our soul represents the unity we have with God, made in His image. The soul is an eternal part of us. It is devoid of material needs. We live in a practical physical world, but find eternity in an abstract spiritual world. We are a finite speck in the physical world, but are given the privilege of the spiritual existence that is infinite and omnipresent. Our temporary physical life pales in comparison with the promise of our eternal spiritual rebirth after death. While we are wrapped up with what we “see”, the relevance of life is in joining God in His world. In a spiritual state we can be infinite and with God. </p><p><br /></p><p>I see incomprehensibly “where” and “who” I am. The rest of me is defined by my Creator. God made me so special as to be beyond His physical creation. It is the essence of the purpose to my life. The meaning to life is to “find” a truth to my reality within the brief, limited span of my physical existence, before death. The Bible reveals a plan offering me the opportunity to be with Him through my belief in His son, Jesus. I can believe in spite of my human, physical predispositions. Maybe, only with His help. Belief in a non proven spiritual world is a concession to reason. Spirituality is enforced in a mind that God has made open to believe. God leads us through the pitfalls of indecision, inability to commit, doubts, fear, insecurities, contradictory influences, and temptations to a place where the Holy Spirit can work in us. It is our soul and God’s Spirit that bring us to Christianity.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>DESTINY? I am responsible for myself.</p><p><br /></p><p>God gave me my brain. It is a gift. With this brain, Man decides his destiny. We are given the free will to chose. Left to ourselves, we cannot get beyond ourselves. We fail to meet God’s criteria of righteousness. Our human nature fails. God intervenes and gives us opportunity to find Him, in spite of ourselves. The door is open for us to walk through, but we must take the step. Righteousness is obtain through belief in Jesus as the Son of God. We must walk the narrow path. God will help.</p><p><br /></p><p>My will can be freely given as surrender to God’s Lordship. The brain within me gives me the capability to reason, discern, and chose. It is how God made me. I have been given autonomy within the limits of my intellect. </p><p><br /></p><p>God reveals a moral compass. Disobedience to God is sin. Sin is punishable by death. God sets the rules and demands obedience and faith. </p><p>____________________________________________________</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>I have been told that expressing my thoughts as “outside the box” could be dangerous. Speculations that are not wholly Biblical can be heresy to some who study the Bible and have set, stringent feelings about the Word of God. The Bible is the foundation of my Faith but it does leave me with a multitude of questions. I think that I can easily maintain my belief and still address the “I don’t know” or “understand” the many mysteries of God. It is the very mystery of God that leads my attempts to speculate. As “The heavens proclaim the glory of God” and “Man is without excuse”, I feel that God is much more that even the Bible describes. </p><p><br /></p><p>God gave me a brain, and to not use it is problematic to me. I think that the “surrender” that the Bible demands is not of intellect, but of the arrogance (folly) of Man. I seek, read, and study to alleviate my innate curiosity. I find that my journey to “find” (knock) answers was revealed in the truth of Jesus.</p><p><br /></p><p>I wonder about who and why I am. I have been writing my thoughts since 24 years old. For some reason, I have always had a passion for science and have actively pursued answers to my Christianity. “Outside the Box” is an attempt to see where my ideas lead, if I have ideas, and can I effectively write them. It is a work in progress that I don’t know where it will lead.</p><p><br /></p><p>I am secure with my Christian faith and understand it as a gift from God. My wild speculations are not to promote advocacy. There are certainly enough Christians with various “ideas” from their studies. Also, I don’t think anyone will read my writings, but even so, I feel compelled to write, and pray for God’s guidance. I am now 78 years old and hope my life has purpose for God. I know my thoughts are controversial, but I hope it can be a good thing to try to see God in such a wondrous way.</p><p>_______________________________________________</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>2-16-2019</p><p><br /></p><p>Outside the Box</p><p><br /></p><p>I’ve heard that “there is nothing new under the sun”, that Man has not thought or done before. Of course that is not true of new scientific discoveries. Still, as a man, what new creative things can I come up with? I try to have imaginative, original, progressive ideas. Even acting on my own, studying hard, thinking long and hard, I find my writings are very repetitive, limited in innovation, and boring. Maybe I don’t let myself be bold enough? Individuality can be compromised by fear of; censorship from peers, being called out of touch, being misinformed, making mistakes, or just plain looking stupid. You can also be accused of being indiscrete and tactless. Those fears may control the act of freedom to my mind. So I wonder, can I write my thoughts even if highly controversial? Do I even have the intellect, knowledge, and inventiveness to be creative? Can I allow myself to think “outside the box”? Remember that as a layman my “outside the box” is different to the privy of information the specialist have. That makes me naive, but I still have a right to speculate. The following are just thoughts, many things I always wanted to verbalize, and others just old ideas, written to allow myself to freely express speculative ideas. In many ways “outside the box” is just trying to answer questions I have, and being brave enough to just speculate.</p><p>________________________________________________________</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>God is much more than Man could ever comprehend. Science reveals a creation so complex and designed it is hard to even guess at an entity capable of such genius. Being alive and human exposes an inferred sense of the wonder of God’s power. The miraculous nature of existence leaves us guessing at God’s divinity. Where would such guesses lead if I could let my mind freely and openly think?<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>God is the conscious source of energy; the E of E=mc2 that gets matter started, the fires of the Cosmos that light up our night, the gravity that holds us together, and the other forces of nature that shields us from chaos.</p><p><br /></p><p>Time could be God’s way to limit Man’s arrogance. We are finite and are left vulnerable by life’s brevity. We may not exist long enough to get answers. For those who think Man will eventually have answers, be aware that it most probably won’t happen in your lifetime, or never. Time makes your “for the good of mankind” rather irrelevant. Furthermore, it is seemingly optimistic to think mankind will be around much longer.</p><p> </p><p>The mystery of “life” given by God is matched by the mystery of “everlasting life” given by God through Jesus. What gives us life may be similar to what gives us everlasting life. If we can figure out what life is, may be we can visualize everlasting life better.</p><p><br /></p><p>God is the Truth, not absolute or provable, but confirmable by the privilege of God’s guidance and your ability to trust your belief. You should recognize this is your truth, relative to you. Take ownership.</p><p><br /></p><p>Believing in God may be the most important aspect of your life. Everything else vanishes in your death.</p><p> </p><p>The human brain may be the pinnacle of God’s creation, without which, He is nonexistent and incomprehensible to us.</p><p><br /></p><p>We may be so special that God created everything for us. Certainly, the Bible which describes the great mercy and sacrifice that God made for us seems to indicate so.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Nature or natural forces may be just a scientific word that acknowledges God as the source of creation. They are just unwilling to call it God. God may be the “natural” source of everything.</p><p><br /></p><p>Things we think of as “natural” like oxygen forming O2 in the atmosphere, or Hydrogen + Oxygen forming water, or other chemistries may also be God’s design. All nature may be designed by God as easily seen in DNA.</p><p><br /></p><p>Fortunate and lucky coincidences of existence are just God organizing things, an extension of fine tuning necessary for His willful means of creation. </p><p><br /></p><p>A spiritual God allows God to be everywhere, to know where we are, and be with us. Can a spirit be so big as to encompass a cosmos?</p><p><br /></p><p>All mystery may lead to who God is. We have no answers. Mystery certainly accents our limited mind and infers an absolute truth beyond us. A truth beyond us sounds like God.</p><p>_______________________________________________</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>There are many things I think we forget to realize because we take them for granted or do not see their significance. </p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p>A photon, an eye, a brain allow us to “see” God’s creation. This sight helps us know the wonder and awe of our existence. God said, “Let there be light”, not, “let there be gravity”. Light must be special.</p><p><br /></p><p>DNA is a key for organization and functions of life. It may be the key for abiogenesis, how life began. As DNA may give life, maybe it also can be used for everlasting life after death. It certainly represents a wonder of God’s genius. It could be the tool God uses for speciation.</p><p><br /></p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Consider the role of DNA in stem cells</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Making proteins</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Controlling life functions</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Defining species characteristics</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Controlling adaptations</p><p><br /></p><p>So can you use DNA to design a new species? Can you manipulate DNA to make whatever you want? It would take a God.</p><p><br /></p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Design a better eye</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Design better teeth</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Design faster muscle responses</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Design a bigger, more complex’s brain</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p><br /></p><p>The brain is the site for cognition, it may also be the site for the spirit of Man. Is there a physical basis for the spirit, or is the physical a manifestation of a spiritual world? Our life, with it’s memory and identity, may only be preserved as a spirit. We live in a physical world and don’t even know what a spiritual world is, but maybe that is where heaven is and where we will live forever after death. </p><p><br /></p><p>Our intellect gives humans the ability to conceptualize a God, but something else gives us the ability to believe in God. The brain gives us the ability to discern and maybe helps us to believe. The Bible describes a process besides intellect, referring to a “change of heart”. Perhaps love is involved, and we should not “lean on our own understanding”.</p><p><br /></p><p>Human intelligence is supplemented by accumulated data and knowledge, the tools and resources of scientific discovery, and an ample time for the age of Man. Our wisdom is still full of holes and shortcomings and is highly overrated by arrogant Man. </p><p><br /></p><p>Our worldly, human nature parallels the sin of Satan. We crave fame, power, and wealth to make us relevant, better, or godlike. A smarter animal may follow us that can be humble and respect God. </p><p>______________________________________________</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>A mind is very limited and maybe ideas are also limited. I can looked at all these attempts to be innovative and unique, but find that I am still hardly original. I still harbor fears of offending others and myself by trying to free my thoughts “outside the box”. My mind is full so I will still continue on. These are just stronger efforts to use my mind and studies to try to figure out some of the mysteries of existence. Remember these are just thoughts and sometimes wild speculations</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>God is ruler of a realm, maybe full of others, including gods and angels.</p><p><br /></p><p>God can do anything, but works by intellect and control, not magic.</p><p><br /></p><p>God is spiritual, but created a physical cosmos.</p><p><br /></p><p>God is beyond time and space. The future is controlled because time can be manipulated.</p><p><br /></p><p>God created humans and gave us sovereignty to make us more interesting. Maybe we are challenging to God? Free will may be because God wants us to come to Him by our own volition.</p><p><br /></p><p>God is described in the Bible in human terms, so we may not know the true nature of God. Surely God, though described in human terms, is an entity beyond description.</p><p><br /></p><p>What we think of heaven and hell may be all wrong. Was heaven made for us or is it where God lives? Could heaven be made of dark matter?</p><p><br /></p><p>The Bible presents God as a Trinity. Because we are so limited, He may be much more and we are not close to understanding. We limit God by the limitation of our mind.</p><p><br /></p><p>We are described as “clay” and given our arrogance, entirely overrate ourselves. Maybe not believing in God is part of that conceit and makes us feel more important.</p><p><br /></p><p>We don’t understand the significance of life or death. A conditional everlasting life , given with belief is more confusing. Why is belief so important?</p><p><br /></p><p>Given another 2-300,000 years, would Man comprehend God better? Maybe knowing the truth of God just takes time.</p><p><br /></p><p>Trying to give God a name, an image, a gender, and a personality using human concepts may be way off. One name, of God as our Creator, leaves a totally impossible way to effectively imagine or visualize Him.</p><p><br /></p><p>Is it okay to wonder how big God is? He may be just pure energy, spiritually present everywhere. Can He live in us, be omnipresent, and dwell in Heaven?</p><p>___________________________________________</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>If science can speculate, so can I. A mind is limitless if free. Easy to get crazy with scientific questions.</p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>What could lie outside the boundaries of the Universe? It is only limited because we have limited sight. Could be other universes, or maybe nothing. Maybe as galaxies make up a universe, our “uni”verse is just a small part of a very large “ultra”verse. Like we thought the Milky Way was everything.</p><p><br /></p><p>Life is just things made animated. The design is beyond us now but may someday be as obvious as DNA and atoms are. It could be just another thing intellectually designed.</p><p><br /></p><p>Size can be thought of as relative to our size. A fundamental unit may not exist for small, and large is only large because the universe is as far as we can see now. Maybe all size is relative to the viewer. Is there smaller than strings and larger than the cosmos?</p><p><br /></p><p>Science theories get so wild they lose credibility. The desperate need to vindicate their theories may be founded on their fear of acknowledging God as creator. They will take their theories to their death.</p><p><br /></p><p>Science is not a belief. It is only humans trying to figure things out. Science formulates “theories” and people formulate “beliefs”. Both theories and beliefs can be compelling but are without concrete evidence. The word Faith does not seem synonymous with belief because of the implication of God in the word Faith. </p><p><br /></p><p>Science teaches the finality of death without really knowing what death is. “Ashes to ashes” or “stardust to stardust” are just guesses by science. Defining death as the absence of life is shallow if you don’t know what life is.</p><p><br /></p><p>The complexity science finds in many things defy explanations. Science often ends in an eventual theory but does not try to explain why the complexity exist. Maybe complexity infers that creation is the product of a higher intelligence.</p><p><br /></p><p>Science still wonders about black holes, inflation, time, gravity, dark matter and energy, abiogenesis, cognition, and many other things. Maybe, without God as an explanation, the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle applies to everything, uncertainty!</p><p><br /></p><p>Science is progressing so rapidly, but because it’s conscience is often controlled by economics and politics, so is the rapid possibility of extinction by climate and war. Likewise, “survival of the fittest” is an immoral concept leading to a vain death. Where do the reasons for a moral compass for science come from? Who is accountable?</p><p><br /></p><p>Because of the way the specialized sciences isolate themselves, it is hard for them to communicate with unity and a consensus of purpose. Progress is impeded by limited interactions and is further aggravated by the existence of only a few “jack of all trades” type scientist. Why do they tend to believe and trust only other scientist?</p><p><br /></p><p>Science should not sound so sure of itself. Almost every theory is controversial, and, like the concept of a steady state universe, is subject to change. Is science an arrogant concept? </p><p><br /></p><p>When unknowns pile up in science, and seemingly contradictory and impossible conditions appear that are necessary for existence, God should be a viable theory. Humans say we don’t know “yet”, but maybe never will with our limited intellect and brief time of existence.</p><p><br /></p><p>Science needs sound ideas of how life can exist in the hostile exoplanet environments. The statement “could” is hardly satisfactory or rational. Are there alternates to DNA? What other details are necessary? With our perfect conditions, where are other forms of life on Earth based on science’s many statements of “could”?</p><p><br /></p><p>The ecosystems of nature display a balance that makes life possible and sustains life. Does not the probiotics of earth’s history confirm a system so dynamic and controlled as to be impossible to duplicate? Likewise, the history of natural events (volcanoes, meteorites, climate change, diseases, and extinction events) cannot be duplicated. This infers “life as we know it” is not reproducible and seems so elegantly and purposefully designed. </p><p><br /></p><p>Maybe all the natural forces of nature are all different forms of the same force? We seem far from understanding forces, especially life force.</p><p><br /></p><p>Time could have multiple dimensions like String Theory, that are too small to see. If time has only one direction, what does that mean for space/time as in the Theory of Relativity? What would a world without time look like? Is God timeless? Can God turn time on and off? As with gravity, time could be a force that binds the fabric of space together. Do not forget what a very brief moment in time we exist.</p><p><br /></p><p>Maybe Dark Matter and Dark Energy exist in one of the multiple dimensions of String Theory? Too small to see?</p><p><br /></p><p>Science has provided a means for “all” to see the second coming of Christ with the 375 day, 24 hour coverage of news. Modern technology seems to help explain an unexplainable prophecy in the Bible. Is there more to come? Will science find heaven? Will a soul in Man, or spiritual world be found? Is there a true “God Spot”?</p><p>___________________________________________</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Science and religion seem to be at such odds with each other. To speculate on these two together may be helpful to reconcile a Christian that is also a strong advocate of science. They disagree, but both offer no conclusive facts to disprove each other.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>God is in control of our scientific discoveries and is now using them to help us better comprehend Him. As we learn more about the genius and seemingly designed nature of creation, God could be realized as the most probable, reasonable, and viable answer to the mysteries of creation. Is there a tool Man could create that can find God?</p><p><br /></p><p>More scientist may find God as they understand the limitations of human intellect better. Could we be so humble as to acquiesce to a higher power? Maybe we will realize how limited we are as we learn more about the brain of Man?</p><p><br /></p><p>The Bible may be only the first Word of God given to Man. There may be more to come as Man matures and God wills. Maybe more science in the second.</p><p><br /></p><p>Maybe Man can learn to be more acceptable to God and be a candidate for change. Can we control our behavior without God’s guidance and help? Would it make a difference?</p><p><br /></p><p>Is the destiny of Man complete now with our salvation through Jesus? Do the dammed have a chance? Are the end times the end of Man’s history? Will God change our fate? We may be just living in Act one.</p><p><br /></p><p>We are just one species exercising our mental abilities. To think our existence is random and our survival is just lucky is to short circuit our place in God’s plan of creation. Left to our own resources we would probably be our own demise. God may be our only hope.</p><p><br /></p><p>Both science and sin promise a false utopia. Are the benefits of a longer, more leisurely, comfortable, and prosperous life offered by science, or the hedonistic pleasures of sin worth it? Even if those benefits only exist for a short time during a relatively brief lifespan? God does offer more, and possibly forever, if we can believe.</p><p><br /></p><p>Science does not represent people. An individual can have anti-religious views and various differing philosophies. A person represents himself and is accountable to himself for who he is. The same is true for the individual with Faith, but he surrenders his self and is accountable to God.</p><p><br /></p><p>For a Christian, anti-religious groups represent heretics. Unfortunately, for many scientist, science is a type of “idol” to many of them. In a strict sense anything put before God is an idol. The worship of idols is the most apparent form of heresy. </p><p><br /></p><p>As the advancements of science reflect a modern world, there is no similar reflection of modern Christian belief. The foundation of Faith is of what happened over 2000 years ago. Where are the wise men of faith that parallel the geniuses of science? Where is the inspiration of God in men that parallels the discoveries of science? Has God said nothing new in response to a new world from 2000 years ago?</p><p><br /></p><p>In today’s world of the internet, the loudest, richest, more famous voices get heard. This seems to be to the detriment of faith because science seems more interesting and the Christian voice seems to say the same thing over and over. Can God inspire another updated Bible in a clearer language and easier to understand?</p><p><br /></p><p>Love is an emotion, a behavior, a state of mind, a benevolent part of us, an antagonist to our evil nature, and a mystery. Is it also part of our genetic heritage, in our genes? If God is love does that mean our access or predisposition for true love is through God?</p><p><br /></p><p>Is the righteousness of God just lucky? As our creator, He is also our Lord. As our judge, He is also our savior. As our Father, He is also someone who unconditionally loves us. He need not be good to be our God, but thankfully He is. His grace is apparent with Jesus, His Son.</p><p><br /></p><p>It is hard to imagine that God created us as He wanted us to be. However, I’m glad not to be a robot although I’m not sure how “free” my will is?</p><p><br /></p><p>The Ten Commandments that God gave us may be as natural as the “Laws of Nature. Obedience and consequences infers a fear of God’s authority. Can we both fear and love God?</p><p><br /></p><p>Would we be able to discern if a new prophet or apostle came to represent God? How could his or her authority be proved? Maybe authorization could be “seen” by the wisdom of words, or miracles, or a definitive sign from God. It can be supposed that even Jesus would not be believed in today’s mass media carnival. Maybe the reason we need no new apostle is because Jesus sent the Holy Spirit as our helper, guide, and Counselor.</p><p>______________________________________________________</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>These following concepts “outside the box” are a lot of more wilder ideas put together. They are speculations that I allowed my mind to think but not express openly, usually.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>E (energy) is used to start everything. The singularity is energy. Energy is the starter, reverses Entropy, the cause. Maybe something does not come from nothing, and quantum fluctuations require Energy.</p><p><br /></p><p>E=mc2 (mass converted to energy= Atomic bomb). Energy converts. Energy is the beginning of space, time, mass. Energy is invisible and has no mass. A vacuum could be pure energy that even without form can be Dark Matter, causing gravitational effects.</p><p><br /></p><p>Energy is both the product and cause of the stretching of space. The increased acceleration of space was caused by a threshold in that stretching that released additional energy. Space is a name for that stretched vacuum. This is Dark Energy.</p><p><br /></p><p>Energy is a force in many forms. Maybe the units of the various forms of energy (kinetic, work, potential, conservation of) can help explain the 1st Law of Thermodynamics. Energy in any form is related. </p><p><br /></p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Gravity- the “Theory of Everything” centers around Energy, not gravity.</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“W” force</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“Z” force</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>E/M force </p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Higgs</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Photons</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>force of nature</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>force of life (physical and spiritual).</p><p><br /></p><p>The most beautiful use of Energy is by God (Alpha and Omega, spiritual, intellectual, I AM). Energy creates, is eternal, and is everywhere. God controls all energy. With controlled energy, creation can start.</p><p><br /></p><p>Eternal life may be the conservation of Energy (1st Law of Thermodynamics). Our life is a physical manifestation of life force. The preservation of our identity and <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>memories is related to the information paradox (never lost).</p><p><br /></p><p>God created a physical realm. That is our reality. The physical is finite, unlike the infinite spiritual realm. The design of our physical realm reveals the intellect of God.</p><p><br /></p><p>Love is a force. Jesus is a manifestation of love. The relationship of God to love is God’s control of that force.</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p>The energy of life is like a battery that drives our cells. The process of reproduction multiplies that energy. The unity of an organism is God’s control of our life force. </p><p><br /></p><p>The relationship of time to energy connects time to space, mass, and gravity. It does not move backward or forward. It is related to the physical realm God created and is always the present.</p><p><br /></p><p>Light (the Photon) is the creation that let us be in touch with our environment and nature around us. Vision when coupled with intellect is fundamental to human <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>consciousness. Aware, we can “see” God. Light as a wave/particle must have some mass. How does it burst from the interior of a sun and irradiate outward in all <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>directions? How is it’s speed caused and controlled? </p><p><br /></p><p>The Sun is a nuclear energy source, created for bringing all the energy necessities for life to Earth, starting with photosynthesis and ending with the Kreb Cycle for Man. A nuclear power plant helps exemplify the superior design of God’s suns, compared to Man’s attempts to utilize nuclear energy.</p><p><br /></p><p>The use of energy to create requires such fine tuning that randomness and a natural cause are not reasonable. The design of creation displays a level of complexity and intelligence unexplained by random and natural cause. A casual <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>relationship for creation is more rationally described by divine influence.</p><p>________________________________________________________</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Throughout a life, the meaning and purpose of life takes on different degrees of importance. As the physical aspects of life diminish more and more, and death approaches, “why” is the greater mystery. Science never answers this and the reason for the existence of “us” is left unanswered. Can we find the truth? Does God make it clear enough for us to possibly understand? What speculations exist for the questions of why we are alive?</p><p><br /></p><p>The question “why” never really has a concrete answer. It is a guess. Will God let Man know “why” in a comprehensive way? Perhaps the best answer is in the Bible as the Will of God. The question of knowing and understanding “God’s Will” is as problematic as the question “why”, and is often answered with “I don’t know”. There are many reasons to say “I don’t know”.</p><p><br /></p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Maybe we are not smart enough?</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Maybe we don’t have enough data?</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Maybe everything is too confusing and complex to know?</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Maybe we don’t recognize the answer is right before us?</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Maybe we’re not asking the right question?</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Maybe God doesn’t want us to know?</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Maybe someone knows but won’t tell? </p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Maybe there is no answer?</p><p><br /></p><p>It may be better we don’t know and that is the way it should be. Mystery is a part of having intellect. Intellect brings on curiosity. Curiosity forces us to seek answers. Since God gave us this intellect, maybe we should trust Him for answers someday. Perhaps mystery is just a way to show us our limitations.</p><p><br /></p><p>We could be so insignificant that asking “why” makes as much sense as an ant questioning a rain storm. Part of humility is acknowledging our shortcomings.</p><p><br /></p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Wisdom eludes us.</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Reason and discernment are lacking.</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Our arrogance blinds us to reality.</p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Our limited intelligence leads to a dead end.</p><p><br /></p><p>“Alive” may be a misunderstood term to describe ourselves. Life may be improperly defined. It may be more than our animated self, but also an undefined, unidentifiable part of our identity. We may be created in both the body and soul. Death may only be related to the end of life of our finite physical body. The soul may live on with the potential of eternity.</p><p><br /></p><p>Our bodies are such a small part of the vastness of matter in the cosmos. The reality of the present that we live our short, finite life in, is insignificant in contrast to the age of the cosmos. Still our small, weak voice is heard because God is so great, not us. We know we are special and loved because God sent Jesus, His Son to save us from ourselves. Life has meaning, maybe only because of God.</p><p>——————————————————————-</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Getting wilder still. Maybe not speculations, but more like fantasies. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Would if God is not a magician, but more like our picture of a “mad scientist” (not in a derogatory way). He would be like a genius tinkering with His creation. He is a God, outside time, making “us”. He may not control nature, but is nature. That would mean nature moves with intellect and motive (this is natural selection by God). </p><p><br /></p><p>Need trillions and trillions of planets to get a perfect one for life, and us. </p><p><br /></p><p>Need many species to make one like a human. Humans may be the pinnacle of <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>God’s creation, at least for now.</p><p><br /></p><p>Need many environmental and historic events to create and control man’s destiny. </p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>A volcano changes Earth’s temperature.</p><p><br /></p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>An asteroid wipes out the dinosaurs and gives mammals and humans an <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> environment to survive and flourish in. </p><p><br /></p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>A war gives the Israelites a home.</p><p><br /></p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>A nation develops a process to crucify Jesus.</p><p><br /></p><p>Continuous manipulations of supernova and nebula finally results in an elemental makeup that can produce life, as God wants it.</p><p><br /></p><p>An intellect is created that gives a consciousness to humans. That intellect allows <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>awareness of God and dominion over the world. Consciousness is superior intellect, exemplified by God’s ultimate creation, us.</p><p><br /></p><p>Would if there are many other Gods. Not for us because we are told to worship the “one” God, our creator. In God’s realm, the kingdom of Heaven, we get a picture of an existence entirely beyond our reality. Our imagination can envision other God-like entities in this kingdom. The Bible is not clear on this point. Specifically God, the Father, and Jesus, the Son of God, are described as our “Lord”. </p><p><br /></p><p>Would if God is something way beyond our ability to comprehend. Are there dimensions invisible to us, like the spiritual realm the Bible describes, but more? What could be the design of pure intellect and power? Could we just happen to be in the one of the trillions and trillions of universes that have a God (like the “anything is possible multiverse”)? Our brain is too limited to even begin to understand reality and truth. </p><p><br /></p><p>Looking at the grandeur of what is around us, do we think way too highly of ourselves? The Savant Syndrome infers unbelievable potential of our brain. The geniuses in human history make normalcy a meek, humble perspective on Man’s intellectual potential. The vast physiology of the brain displays an unfantomable complexity. Still we comprehend little and have more questions than answers. How much we don’t know should humble us. Maybe the brain isn’t a key to intelligence? </p><p>_______________________________________________________________</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Getting outside the box is more than speculations of data and evidence. The mind builds “worlds” for you that are wishes and fantasies. They can be alternate realities, wild dreams, or visions of wished for truths. While I am surrounded by unknown, seemingly “impossibles”, I persevere by “possibilities”. A world can be speculated that is an accumulation of many speculative insights that together create a separate reality. Mystery and questions are answered by assumptions that can bring hope of better solutions for the many “I don’t knows” of science and the Bible. It is a world of my imagination.</p><p><br /></p><p>Life and the design of Man is only explainable by speculations. The mystery is so vast that even human intellect falls short of comprehension. Putting God as the source is just a start to “outside the box”. What our minds can grasp with progressing data are a beginning of a possible ability to “see” the truth and magnitude of God through His creation. To believe in God is a start. To let your mind fill in questions is a fearful process that hinders “outside the box” thoughts. However, as fearful as it is to think of possibilities in relationship to God, it is the freedom I am giving myself.</p><p><br /></p><p>One speculation involves Man’s relationship to God.</p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p>INTENT? Everything is created by God for me (Man).</p><p><br /></p><p>I am like no other. God does not act randomly. Matter and elements were created in precise abundance’s and ratios so I can exist. The occurrences of cosmic events were not natural, but purposeful plans of creation. To make a perfect home for me, trillions, upon trillions of planets were created so my one perfect Earth would exist. Nature provided weather, volcanoes, meteors, extinctions (mass and otherwise), etc. to accommodate specific speciation leading to me. It was not accidental, lucky, coincidental, or fortunate that complex factors, like DNA, persisted with the versatility and viability to survive the environmental stress necessary for life and me. The control and balance of nature is so incredible and incomprehensively broad that it cannot be duplicated, which is what makes everything so valuable. Life is unique and specific to our world. The tools that were implemented and designed for us are not natural. We are the product of an evolving, designed creation, not evolution. God made it so, which adds to our specialness.</p><p><br /></p><p>God is alive, existing in some form, someplace, with control and cognition beyond our imagination. What we “see”, understand, and believe in our physical existence infers a God of such power that even the Bible may fall short of reality. Who can create a Big Bang and envision a Man as a product on the other end? How can God make this happen? The complex manipulations necessary for us is a testimony to the magnitude of God’s power. An abbreviated list of some of these manipulations defining existence are as follows:</p><p><br /></p><p>A singularity (?) formed and expanded that creates everything. Space, time, matter, light, suns, galaxies, etc., are brought into being for a cosmos. </p><p><br /></p><p>Timely processes, events, and nature establish the conditions for Man.</p><p><br /></p><p>Life, functionally programmed by DNA, is somehow developed on our specially formed planet.</p><p><br /></p><p>Many forms of life come and go throughout the history of Earth, leading to the pinnacle of creation, us.</p><p><br /></p><p>Human consciousness leads us to revelation of the specialness and purpose of our life.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>God made me alive and conscious. I am the pinnacle of design. I am created unique and with autonomy. I am a privileged person. Above all other life as I know it, I am superior. I reason and discern. I am curious and seek. I read and study. I am created to be able to marvel and believe in God. I am the artistic, animated product of genius</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>SPIRITUAL WORLD? God has a plan for me.</p><p><br /></p><p>God created a physical world, but lives in an invisible spiritual world. Our soul represents the unity we have with God, made in His image. The soul is an eternal part of us. It is devoid of material needs. We live in a practical physical world, but find eternity in an abstract spiritual world. We are a finite speck in the physical world, but are given the privilege of the spiritual existence that is infinite and omnipresent. Our temporary physical life pales in comparison with the promise of our eternal spiritual rebirth after death. While we are wrapped up with what we “see”, the relevance of life is in joining God in His world. In a spiritual state we can be infinite and with God. </p><p><br /></p><p>I see incomprehensibly “where” and “who” I am. The rest of me is defined by my Creator. God made me so special as to be beyond His physical creation. It is the essence of the purpose to my life. The meaning to life is to “find” a truth to my reality within the brief, limited span of my physical existence, before death. The Bible reveals a plan offering me the opportunity to be with Him through my belief in His son, Jesus. I can believe in spite of my human, physical predispositions. Maybe, only with His help. Belief in a non proven spiritual world is a concession to reason. Spirituality is enforced in a mind that God has made open to believe. God leads us through the pitfalls of indecision, inability to commit, doubts, fear, insecurities, contradictory influences, and temptations to a place where the Holy Spirit can work in us. It is our soul and God’s Spirit that bring us to Christianity.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>DESTINY? I am responsible for myself.</p><p><br /></p><p>God gave me my brain. It is a gift. With this brain, Man decides his destiny. We are given the free will to chose. Left to ourselves, we cannot get beyond ourselves. We fail to meet God’s criteria of righteousness. Our human nature fails. God intervenes and gives us opportunity to find Him, in spite of ourselves. The door is open for us to walk through, but we must take the step. Righteousness is obtain through belief in Jesus as the Son of God. We must walk the narrow path. God will help.</p><p><br /></p><p>My will can be freely given as surrender to God’s Lordship. The brain within me gives me the capability to reason, discern, and chose. It is how God made me. I have been given autonomy within the limits of my intellect. </p><p><br /></p><p>God reveals a moral compass. Disobedience to God is sin. Sin is punishable by death. God sets the rules and demands obedience and faith. </p><p>____________________________________________________</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>I have been told that expressing my thoughts as “outside the box” could be dangerous. Speculations that are not wholly Biblical can be heresy to some who study the Bible and have set, stringent feelings about the Word of God. The Bible is the foundation of my Faith but it does leave me with a multitude of questions. I think that I can easily maintain my belief and still address the “I don’t know” or “understand” the many mysteries of God. It is the very mystery of God that leads my attempts to speculate. As “The heavens proclaim the glory of God” and “Man is without excuse”, I feel that God is much more that even the Bible describes. </p><p><br /></p><p>God gave me a brain, and to not use it is problematic to me. I think that the “surrender” that the Bible demands is not of intellect, but of the arrogance (folly) of Man. I seek, read, and study to alleviate my innate curiosity. I find that my journey to “find” (knock) answers was revealed in the truth of Jesus.</p><p><br /></p><p>I wonder about who and why I am. I have been writing my thoughts since 24 years old. For some reason, I have always had a passion for science and have actively pursued answers to my Christianity. “Outside the Box” is an attempt to see where my ideas lead, if I have ideas, and can I effectively write them. It is a work in progress that I don’t know where it will lead.</p><p><br /></p><p>I am secure with my Christian faith and understand it as a gift from God. My wild speculations are not to promote advocacy. There are certainly enough Christians with various “ideas” from their studies. Also, I don’t think anyone will read my writings, but even so, I feel compelled to write, and pray for God’s guidance. I am now 78 years old and hope my life has purpose for God. I know my thoughts are controversial, but I hope it can be a good thing to try to see God in such a wondrous way.</p><p>_______________________________________________</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>◦<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><div><br /></div><p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>◦<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><div><br /></div>Gordon Hisayasuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12217944472609485438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8684512444354188290.post-82955608892109051522021-10-16T11:06:00.002-07:002021-10-16T11:06:59.376-07:00<p> <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 42.66px; font-weight: bold;">SOMETHING</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 42.66px; font-weight: bold;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-size: 25.82px;">Not dated but before 2008. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I think written while in my car at a lunch break.</span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 30.8px;"><span class="s2" style="font-size: 25.82px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 30.8px;"><span class="s2" style="font-size: 25.82px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 30.8px;"><span class="s2" style="font-size: 25.82px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-size: 25.82px;">There is something wonderful here——-</span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 30.8px;"><span class="s2" style="font-size: 25.82px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-size: 25.82px;"> I am surrounded by something, <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>what is it?</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-size: 25.82px;">Why does it not jump out at me and proclaim it’s presence?</span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 30.8px;"><span class="s2" style="font-size: 25.82px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-size: 25.82px;">I can reach within and feel the nearness of God. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>He says “open up, free yourself, let yourself loose from your petty concerns”.</span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 30.8px;"><span class="s2" style="font-size: 25.82px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-size: 25.82px;">I’m missing the boat. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I’m caught up in myself and my world. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I can’t get free. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I need HELP.</span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 30.8px;"><span class="s2" style="font-size: 25.82px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-size: 25.82px;">And God says, “You’re fine. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>You don’t need anything. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I gave you what you need. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It’s inside you. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It’s there”.</span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 30.8px;"><span class="s2" style="font-size: 25.82px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-size: 25.82px;">“Look at the beauty of my world and the beauty of my creation, even you. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>You are surrounded by it and are a part of it”.</span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 30.8px;"><span class="s2" style="font-size: 25.82px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 30.8px;"><span class="s2" style="font-size: 25.82px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 30.8px;"><span class="s2" style="font-size: 25.82px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-size: 25.82px;">Life is a mystery. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Full of wonderment and unsolved questions. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Perhaps one of the foolishnesses of Man is to believe we have the capability to understand the true nature of things. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>But we try, and our human knowledge base increases. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I think that the net results of this “Intellect” is to help us truly understand and appreciate the complexity and genius of our creator. </span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 30.8px;"><span class="s2" style="font-size: 25.82px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-size: 25.82px;">To be alive and think is to know the miracle of life and feel blessed by this gift. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It is given to us to totally understand or comprehend the nature of being. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>We may have the ability and tools to learn to appreciate and define how awesome the things we are given truly are.</span></p><p class="p3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 30.8px;"><span class="s2" style="font-size: 25.82px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-size: 25.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-size: 25.82px;">When given something of great beauty, why is it our nature to take it apart and try to understand what makes it tick, rather than to accept and reflect on the incredible act of generosity in the giving? <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>We may have missed the boat.</span></p>Gordon Hisayasuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12217944472609485438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8684512444354188290.post-27555347704302924962021-10-16T10:42:00.000-07:002021-10-16T10:42:02.686-07:00 Living by PRINCIPLE<br />
<br />
I was 14 years old when I laid the foundations of a philosophy of life. I remember the moment well.<br />
<br />
I lay on my back, in the cool grass, beneath a giant elm, it’s leaves dancing from a gentle breeze. Rays of golden sun stream down through the branches and leaves, sending bright beam of light through them. The leaves shine and come alive with vibrant colors. Above the tree, bellows of clouds slowly move across a deep blue sky, creating a panoramic living picture. <br />
In the wonderment of the majestic beauty in my vision, I ponder the mystery of my existence.<br />
<br />
A profound thought plants itself in my consciousness.<br />
<br />
“THE BEAUTY IN THE WORLD RESIDES IN ABSTRACT PRINCIPLES NOT THE PRACTICAL REALITIES OF LIFE”<br />
<br />
This will define me. This will be the focus that helps create who I am. Principles will be a priority in my life.<br />
_____________________________________________________<br />
<br />
The individual survives by practical reality. You cannot get away from the time tested “rules and laws”, established by societies and legal systems to regulate behaviors for the good of all. They are the reality the individual must comply with to be comfortable and acceptable in society. Society judges, enforces, and rewards practical behavior. To exist in society, the rules and laws must be followed. LIFE necessitates conformity. <br />
<br />
Principles are standards of thought and behavior that have moral and ethical roots. They are decisions based on “rightness”. They are pure and idealistic. They are not easy to live and can be counterproductive to a comfortable life. Principles are abstract ideas that are controlled by the conscience and integrity of the individual. Their reward is within a person; self-satisfaction, self-esteem. <br />
<br />
The need to conform is so compelling that it is difficult to live a life that focuses on abstract principles. The personal challenge is:<br />
<br />
To establish sound principles <br />
To make principles a foundation of my character. .<br />
To require a standard of righteousness as a foundation of principle.<br />
To stay focused on my purpose and personal conviction<br />
To have courage and perseverance <br />
To be willing to pay the cost of a life of principle <br />
<br />
<br />
A measure of the beauty within me is my ability to live up to the principles that lie at the core <br />
of my identity. Gordon Hisayasuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12217944472609485438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8684512444354188290.post-62752209999849037922021-10-16T10:41:00.001-07:002021-10-16T10:41:24.091-07:00<br />
<br />
FRUSTRATION<br />
<br />
Chaos weakens the process of the mind and constant turmoil clouds rationality. The persistent march of time makes the stage we act on a vanity. We are a finite microcosm in an evolution made static by our shortness of life. The realities of the human condition forces us to practicality and a sustained substandard existence. Survival wearies the tired spirit. We persevere but are spoiled by the unpleasantness of our environment. Rules and laws, meant to protect us from the lowest standards of Man, become our standards to live by. Our life seems to have no sanctuaries and our futility is only rescued by mindless apathy. Our wisdom is confused by the overwhelming scope of human knowledge, and yet we struggle to understand and hope to learn. Beauty and heroism surround us, but unrecognized, we are left searching and yearning rescue. This is the state our frustrations leave us with.<br />
<br />
The enlightenment of Man is conquest of frustration. We overcome the darkness by our beliefs and hopes. We conquer death by living the moment. We vanquish defeat by principled courage and face our enemies with mindful optimism. Our salvation comes with searching out and living ideals and incorporating them into our character. Ignorance and reality crushes, but the spirit of Man soars with higher standards of value. The richness of righteousness lifts us to reach for the beauty and heroism we did not see and our struggles with justice and truth become the promise of our humanity.<br />
<br />
REFLECTIONS<br />
<br />
There exist affairs of the mind and affairs of the heart. The mind acts to set the plan- to decide- to survive- to put into motion- to react. The heart is passive- it is response.<br />
<br />
A person should try to understand the affairs of the heart. It exist as a function of who that person is. A person is defined by his ability to recognize the affairs of the heart- to be open- to be honest-to handle the things he carries inside him. When the heart, with it's feelings, needs and desires become inconvenient and conflict with the practicality of the mind, that is when the character of the person is fundamental to his processing. The way he maintains balance is critical.<br />
<br />
The measure of a person is often seen in how he handles himself in situations of conflicts of the heart. How does he balance integrity, responsibility and fairness with needs and desires.<br />
<br />
The mind always leads you in directions of what you should do. The correct, best action. The direction of the heart results in honest action without ulterior motive or hidden agenda. <br />
<br />
The Measure of LOVE<br />
<br />
Words are limited and their message speaks to the moment.<br />
Actions can convey purpose and intent, but are not conclusive and are subject to insensitivity and misinterpretation. <br />
Gifts are definable by the relative pertinence of cost, but lack personal intimacy.<br />
A more accurate measure of love is the CONSISTENCY of words, actions and gifts over TIME. <br />
<br />
Risk is such an admirable quality. Not the kinds of risk that border on stupidity, but the risks and daring to seek out life and it's abundance. The safe way leads to the well traveled, known paths. <br />
<br />
Their is a word "Empathy". It is interesting because it conveys a character trait. It is not something a person can generate easily. It is something that is a reflection of the character of a person. The capacity, the ability, the willingness, the effort to generate "empathy", lies in the existence of those feelings within that person. It's existence is a fact only in the individual capable of creating it.<br />
<br />
The nature of a person is a product of many factors. A person is not born kind- he becomes kind. A person becomes who he is. Empathy does not exist in the person who is so self-centered and self-absorbed he could never get inside another's feelings. On the other hand, empathy is a beautiful and productive trait to the individual who is kind, generous and sensitive.<br />
<br />
There are some very interesting factors to the concept of empathy. It puts a person in a very vulnerable position to reach out to another's pain. It cries out against instincts of self survival and well-being. It contradicts the practicality of taking care of yourself. From this fact it is apparent that one of the conditions to becoming a person with empathy is becoming a person with enough courage and self confidence to be able to sacrifice. To be invulnerable enough to allow yourself to be vulnerable. To have confidence inside yourself, of yourself.<br />
Synonymous with empathy is "caring. The naturalness of the caring person is again a product of becoming. Do we naturally care, or do we learn to care?<br />
<br />
There are forces that drive a person. They come from many sources and carry powers to control and direct a person's life. The power within a person to be in control of himself is predicated by his energy, courage, and strength to assert himself against opposing forces. To overcome, in spite of.<br />
<br />
To see the person:<br />
fighting, opposing, asserting against the flow, A rebel without selling out, decisive, purposeful, taking risk. The courage to face life, accepting who you are. Taking care of agenda important to you. Expending enormous energy.<br />
<br />
Courage is one of the most beautiful components of Man. The risk in spite of possible failure. Conquest of fear. Self assurance, self esteem.<br />
<br />
In between a man's reality and fantasy lies his true nature. Strangely, it is not what he is, as perceived and conditioned by his real world around him, or even what he wishes to be in an imagined non-real world. His nature is really a product of abstract ideas and the extent of his abilities to incorporate them into his persona. Herein lies the foundations of his actions, whether in the real practical world, or the perceived fantasy world, or various mixtures of both that exist around him.<br />
<br />
We have words for a dreamer- "out of touch with reality", "head in the clouds", "in wonderland"<br />
And for the realist- "shortsighted, Narrow-minded","Lacks vision", "feet on the ground".<br />
The problem is that neither of these describe what a man really is. This way to look at a person with neither "his feet on the ground" or "head in the clouds", acknowledges that the factor to identify what a person is may not be under what is seen, said, heard, or dreamed, but what underlies his actions, his principle, his character.<br />
<br />
The real world is full of fallacies, lies, poor perceptions, and deceptions, and is never is seems to be. The fantasy world is also full of fanciful dreams, wishes and non-truths. It really does not exist. Taking these concepts to the identity of a person is similar to the real and fantasy worlds. The person is NOT either of these concepts- real and fantasy. It follows then, to look into the true nature of a person or even yourself, the place to look is not in these directions. Where then lies the way to find the true nature of yourself or another? Actions are deceptive- they are often inconsistent and ambiguous. I would not wish to be judged by my actions. My actions fail me. Also, many times I am restricted to inaction. I would not wish to be judged by my inactions. As I battle myself, I realize the realities as seen by my actions is not who I really am. I do not believe anyone does "everything" they want to or should, nor, does not do everything they wantto or should not.<br />
<br />
In the same way the fantasy explanations and perceptions one conjures up about actions and thoughts is so and unreal that it is foolish to let yourself get carried away with wishful mockeries.<br />
I wish I was the fantastic person I want to be, and can try to be, but I know these concepts and beliefs of myself are not true, just wishful. I would not believe the grandiose nature of another and know that these things are not me either.<br />
<br />
The concepts that makeup a person are the key to who he is. The nature of that person is best defined by his ability to live up to or incorporate these concepts. (Concepts=principles, philosophies, abstract beliefs, ethics, integrity, etc.). Realities are failures. Fantasies are frivolous ventures. The beauty in character is the ability of the person to be who he is conceptually.<br />
<br />
THOUGHTS <br />
<br />
I am born to a time and place that becomes the beginnings of who I am. It is a finite part of infinity, marked with such short duration in the scheme of all history, but defined by all that came before. I am taught all the rules of my time and learn the game of survival. I am not only the pawn of when, but the product of where and what. My life will evolve from this start and be well defined before I ever start knowing, or wondering, who I am. All learning, maturation, ideas, and dreams are controlled by the time and place I was born to. It is only in the individuality that I assert in my life, that I can ever be more than the recipient of the things I was born to and the chances of opportunity within that life. My fate is not sealed and I am not without my free will.<br />
<br />
History is a great teacher. The present is no more then evolving History. Within History is stored all the lessons, knowledge and education of Mankind. The present state of humanity is the sum total of lessons learned and forgotten, technology used and abused, and the ever growing complexity of religions, mores, societies and cultures, jumbled together to make a world. Into that PRESENT is thrown the individual, the newborn, to learn, to be taught, to a lesser or higher degree.<br />
<br />
Your best memories are not of the times you were sensible, and "safe" can be the path of the coward. Tis why regrets are often the things you don't do, rather than what you did badly?<br />
<br />
Do not fail to notice the beauty that is life.<br />
<br />
Of all of the senses to hone- sensitivity is the best.<br />
<br />
All those beautiful stories nobody heard.<br />
<br />
Opportunity does not always knock, sometimes it just whispers in your ear.<br />
<br />
Good is better than evil. To accept this can set the stage for your life.<br />
<br />
Strive to be the best you can be.<br />
<br />
Don't let life pass you by- be aware of life around you- see beauty- stay in touch with your environment.<br />
<br />
Don't let things get you down/ be cheerful/ be optimistic<br />
. <br />
Be sensitive to others/ hear their story/ be just/ be kind.<br />
<br />
Don't take things for granted/ be thankful.<br />
<br />
Conquer fear/ be brave/ be strong/ don't give up<br />
<br />
Worship God/ recognize creation/ see the power and authority of God/ Be prayerful/ study/ be aware of the spirit.<br />
<br />
Can I take my mind and soar to new heights, do something, be something- new, better?<br />
<br />
Am I only a product of influences in my life? Can I not create and be different?<br />
<br />
Are generations after generations always the same and individuality non-existent?<br />
<br />
This I know- that my last breathe and this breathe and the breathes to follow were all a different times. An the time to come is not the same- it can be created and is unique.<br />
<br />
I change with time- with each heartbeat and breathe and blink of an eye. I age- I tire- I think an evolve<br />
. <br />
The limits of my body are much more finite than my mind. That is free and bound only by the limits my intellect put on it. The freedom of the mind is the door to creating, not in reality but in fantasy.<br />
<br />
Do not run from reality- face your truths- conquer your fear- that is the noble way.<br />
<br />
It is not the unasked for adversity that is the problem- it's existence is an unfortunate reality.<br />
But the strength inside you to standup to this reality and squarely defeat it is the noble way.<br />
<br />
Nobility is comprised of your tools inside you that hold you together in battle. Gordon Hisayasuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12217944472609485438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8684512444354188290.post-61020536496498704722021-10-16T10:41:00.000-07:002021-10-16T10:41:06.214-07:00 TRUTH<br /><br /><br />Truth is not found by rationalization, speculation, or even realization, but by INSPIRATION. What that means is that our quest for truth does not lie in our intellect or discovery by science, but as a gift from God. <br /><br />I searched for Truth by reason. I studied and found God as as a very reasonable explanation for creation. By making reasoned decisions based on whatever supportive knowledge and experiences I could, I pursued Christianity. The experience of believing in Christ and finally accepting something beyond facts and provable evidences, through the intervention of the Holy Spirit, was the path to Truth. It is my Faith that sustains me in that Truth.<br /><br />I am fascinated by Science, History, Theology, Philosophy, and all the other products of the human mind (like medicine, cosmology, politics, etc.). I have loved and take pride in the accomplishments of human intellect. I have always pursued these things in my search for answers, to give meaning and purpose to life. With such high regard for humanities ability to Discover and Reason, it was surprising to find that these pursuits were in vain. The ultimate answers lie in my beliefs, beyond the scope of evidence. The mind receives the knowledge of the Truth through God’s gift of the Holy Spirit. <br /><br />The ability to accept Jesus is so hard for the rational, intellectually driven, evidence driven, scientific mind to do. The scientific mind is so based on factual evidences and rational theories, that will not easily surrender to unprovable beliefs. In addition, this mind set can become so conditioned as to actively resist and disapprove of anyone thinking differently. For such a mind the word Belief becomes synonymous with Stupidity. Without an open-mindedness and a heartfelt search for truths beyond hardcore evidences, the scientist is not compelled to find God. Even the many mysteries that lie beyond our current “science” present no credibility for the existence of God. The semantics says it all. Faith relies on Belief in the absence of evidence and the foundation of Science is Facts, proven by supporting evidence. <br /><br />The underlying difference of the Faithful and the Scientist is the use of reason. The existence of God is reasonably apparent to the Faithful in everything; beauty of nature, the complexities of life, the vastness of the universe, and the written Word of God. The Scientist does not see God’s hand in creation, nor believes the Bible, and so, reasons that future discovery will prove God is a myth. Both the Christian and the non-believing Scientist have intellect and the ability to reason, but come to entirely opposite conclusions. In actuality, a grey zone exists with the agnostic scientist and the extremes of some sects of Christians. Also, since many people believe scientific evidences do not contradict Christianity, and even help support the existence of God and Christ, the disparity is hardly a simple I believe and you don’t. <br /><br />It is always hard to be “labeled”. My experiences with religion and science are very personal and unique. I do not have to be like all Christians or all Scientist. My individuality cries out for the freedom to express myself and not be grouped with fanatics, skeptics, or even identified with any organizations. I weary of the battles that wage between scientist who “label” and lump all Christians together as naive, unreasonable, non-thinking, self-denying, conditioned followers: and Christians who “label” all non-believing scientists as arrogant, self-centered, unenlightened, pseudo-intellectual, heretics. <br /><br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Gordon Hisayasuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12217944472609485438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8684512444354188290.post-70399150333123354182021-10-16T10:40:00.001-07:002021-10-16T10:40:40.343-07:00<div align="left" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>PREMISE</b></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><span style="font-size: small;">There are two basic premises that I have made a part of my life. One is that I will take responsibility for my life and beliefs. The second is that I believe I was created by God, whose nature is Love, as exemplified by Jesus. Once I decided to make these two premises become major factors in my life they have defined my identity. I have attempted to make them more of an influence then other things, like my country and culture I live in, or family and society. This mentality controls my life and is the foundation for the development of my character. I can establish myself much clearer, having accountability only to myself and God. I can make decisions based on my beliefs, negating the frivolous type reasoning of governments, religions, bureaucracy, and even society. I can establish an identity that is unique to my beliefs.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">The act of taking personal responsibility for myself is very liberating and allows more independence and exercise of free will. The basic premise of believing in God leads me into a realm of accepting things in terms of "Principles", rather than the "Practicalities" that exist in life today. I believe principles are superior and I define them as benevolence, composed of ideas like love, generosity, goodwill, forgiveness and serenity. Practicalities are defined by ideas like power, ambition, conformity, wealth, and other factors that define modern survival in Man. I know it is not easy to live a life based on principles and the battles in my life will be to not sell out.</span></span><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div align="left" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial;">
<b><span style="font-size: medium;">REASON</span></b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><span style="font-size: small;">The ability to reason is man’s heritage. The problem is that it is a predisposition, that, if not exercised, is inert. We surrender reason as a society by letting others do the thinking for us. We surrender reason to "unreasonableness" for conformity, for laziness, for fear, for insecurity, for malicious intent, for convenience, and when we relinquish our own personal qualities of leadership, direction, and courage. The loss of reason leaves us defenseless to the worst of mankind, and we become controlled by the bigotry, aggression, tyranny, and the greed or opportunism of others. We accept things that are against our own judgement and intellect, allowing us to not take responsibility for behaviors that go against our own reason. This has long been the problem of Man’s malicious behavior; the cause of wars, the cause of injustice, the cause of inactivity against prejudice and bigotry. The evil within Man is freed by the unwillingness or inability to exercise reason. Man is a creature of habit and is pulled by needs of survival and biological drives. Our reason and free will are our heritage that separates us from rest of the animal kingdom. The freedom to exercise reason is the best in Man and can rescue us from actions against the good of our species. We possess a benevolence that can oppose the forces of malicious intent. As long as we continually surrender reason, we are subject to a nature of evil that is unreasonable and counterproductive for the harmony and survival of Man. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">The mind can reason the best way, the right way, the correct way, but when we act against ourselves and others, we are selling out. The ultimate goals of cooperation, getting along with others, showing kindness, finding peace, and protecting the well being of oneself and others, are reasonable; the acts of war and destruction, prejudice, hate, and jealousies, are unreasonable. When we are controlled or are forced to react with unreasonableness we negate our intellect. The free man lives by reason. The unreasonableness of man puts us in chains. We can survive by reason, we are doomed by unreasonableness. A conscious regard for reason is a path that leads to the best of mankind. The fool surrenders his reason for others. The fool acts without reason. The fool sells out the best in himself for the unreasonableness that surrounds and seduces him. He will surrender his conscious goodwill to the forces of prejudice and greed. </span></span><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div align="left" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial;">
<b><span style="font-size: medium;">BELIEF</span></b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Belief should not be blind. Belief should be an extension of reason. If reasonableness is an intellectual process then belief should have a foundation of intellect. You should have reasons for beliefs. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Beliefs exist in the absence of facts. The need for facts to define your truths can create a deficit in your potential as a person because many things cannot be confirmed or addressed by facts. The ambiguity of interpretations of data leaves a nebulous, ill-defined gap in the intellectual process that produces facts. There are also a huge variety of abstract ideologies in life that are never definable by facts. These include the ideas of love, righteousness, justice and spirituality which are vague and interpretative. These are the higher qualities a person establishes as part of his character and are enforced by his beliefs. If a person’s character is made up of higher abstract ideas and principles, and those ideas consist of reasoned out beliefs, then the foundations of that person’s character are strong. The rationality of reason as the basis for beliefs produces a consistency of the mind, as opposed to a blind or conditioned reasoning process, that is both ambiguous and subject to change of conditions. Since the interrelationship of what we know and what we believe is what makes up who we are, the use of reason for forming beliefs increases your control over your identity and character. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">A person processes his beliefs from data that falls far short of absolute truths, such as believing in love and belief in God. Looking at belief from a reasoning perspective, it follows that the more thought and energy a person puts into his beliefs, the stronger and more definitive his beliefs are. It is as irrational for a person to believe "blindly" as it is for a person to act blindly. Both blind belief and blind action negate reason, and undermine the heritage of intellect in Man.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">The natural inquisitiveness of Man (his need to know) is the power pushing the pursuit of knowledge, asking questions, attacking mystery, and creating a tension and restlessness about the shortcomings of what we really know. A belief system is an extension of inquisitiveness that is an attempt to find satisfaction and credibility in the absence of absolute truths. Blind beliefs are circumvented by the pursuit of information and supportive mental process to supplement the acceptability of beliefs and is a much more rational approach to forming beliefs . </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: medium;"><a href="http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewshortstory_all.asp?Authorid=44369"><span style="font-size: x-small;">All Stories by Gordon H. Hisayasu</span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> <a name='more'></a></span></span></li>
</ol>
</div>
Gordon Hisayasuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12217944472609485438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8684512444354188290.post-36645156710367213592021-10-16T10:40:00.000-07:002021-10-16T10:40:19.944-07:00<div id="yiv2725843971">
<div>
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
12-29-18. Compelling Belief</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
My continuous theme is that God created and designed everything for
humans. I can even feel that God had all of us, even as individuals,
in mind when He created. There are so many factors and unexplainable
conditions that make the creation of even myself and the life I live
possible. In reality, I know my life best. In a very short 75 years,
all my thoughts and beliefs were formed. The beauty and wonder of the
discoveries of creation made it impossible for me to ignore the
conclusion that God is not involved. I came to this conclusion over
many years of studying science, reading the Bible, and trying to
understand meaning and purpose for existence of the universe, and of
myself. The extreme complexity and design unveiled by science made the
most reasonable answer for creation to be God. Everything leads me to
an undeniable conclusion that creation is far beyond what humans can
comprehend. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Searching for truth required me to get past prejudice, biases,
cultural and social influences, or relinquishing my own reasoning to
others. I tried for the most part to rely on my own intellect and
reason to come to conclusions. I sought data to be as discerning and
rational as I could be. It required trying to avoid basing beliefs on
seductive influences, perceived and real fears, weaknesses, and even
emotions. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
My life reflects the ambiguous nature of religion, science,
philosophy, and life’s experiences and environment. I went from
Christian, to agnostic, to atheist, and back to Christian. Ultimately,
it may not matter where you’ve been, but where you end up. What all my
life is about may be to explain how I came to the conclusion that God is
in control of everything. I know my reason will be unreasonable to
others, and my personal ideas will offend others, and I could be wrong,
but I will trust God that I am where He wants me to be. Since I write
so much, and it is so repetitive and differs over many years, I will try
to define this “Compelling Belief”.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<ol>
<li> Science. </li>
</ol>
<div>
</div>
<div>
I have made numerous writings and even a video trying to describe
how science has made discoveries that lead me to believe God is the
best, most reasonable explanation for creation. The “could be”,
“maybe”, and “we don’t know” in the numerous theories expounded are
sometimes so speculative, strange, and weakly supported that I have
become very disappointed in the intensity of which science tries to
assert it’s theories. They inflate their theories like gems of elegant
wisdom and on TV have the same showmanship as commercial news or
politics. They desperately use sensationalism to expound their fantasies
as truth and reason. Theories like the multiverse, parallel worlds,
extra dimensions, and the idea that possible exoplanets are compatible
for life without solid evidence has shocked me at these things being
called science. They are wild ideas based on extreme theories. All
totally unprovable. So I become left with discerning if God is not more
reasonable.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The phrase “life as we know it” has become so repetitive and abused
by science that after awhile it is embarrassing to hear. This is
because the existence of life is so very complex and of such ingenious
design that none of the sciences have come up with plausible ideas to
explain it. I would like to know what kind of life they imagine with
water and a habitual zone? What is a model for simple life, not to
mention complex life without DNA? The conditions for “life as we know
it” are so unique that science continually states without our large
gaseous planets, sun, moon, extinctions, plate tectonics, magnetic
fields, DNA, the Higgs boson, etc., etc., there would be no life.
Science leaves such large gaps when trying to explain “origins” like the
singularity, abiogenesis, consciousness, and evolution. The Anthropic
Principle, both weak and strong, implies our existence is the results of
properties unexplained by our known scientific data, but we know we
exist because we exist. Science doesn’t know where life came from, or
even has good theories trying to explain our origins. The probability
of unusual, improbable coincidences, lucky circumstances, and the
multitude of fortuitous facts and fine tuned conditions make it
virtually impossible for any life like ours to exist elsewhere or at
all. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Envision if we wanted to create life, and had to start with
nothing. It is not like making a robot because we need to also create
the materials, tools, and design to bring this life into existence. We
would also possibly need to create a universe that has trillions upon
trillions of planets to create one suitable as a home for our creation.
Also, one additional thing to remember, our creation is not alive, so
we need to figure that out. The robots we humans create from the
materials we have on hand are not alive. Makes you think about how
smart God is, and about how deficit our intellect is.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
There is a reason I started with science. It is something I
emphasized all my life. It is something I always wrote about. It is
science that brought me to the conclusion that God (a God) created
everything. God is undefinable as creator because science and myself
don’t really know what or who He is (a force of nature, a supreme
intellectual entity, a magician?). Science defines God, to me, as
beyond comprehension, of such wonder, mystery, and power as to be able
to create. Scientific discovery reveals the complexity, genius, and,
seemingly, directed purpose (human life?) of His plan of creation. My
“Anthropic Principle” says, “We exist because God made it possible”.
Science is the beginning of my compelling belief. The rest follows.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
</div>
<ol>
<li>Religion</li>
</ol>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Religion is a topic that has always been on my mind throughout my
life. I wanted to study comparative religions but never really got
around to it. While science pursues “what” and “how” things are and
came to be, it essentially ignores “why”. Religion is one way Man tries
to understand “meaning and purpose “. Religion is a quest for answers
of “why”. Ultimately, my curiosity is to determine what is my place in
creation.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I have been told that humans throughout the ages have always sought
religion. This may be to bring meaning and hope for life beyond the
apparent finality of death. I am a human and also do not want to accept
the apparent surrender of “ashes to ashes” of the atheistic scientist
(scientist say, “stardust to stardust”). If belief is thought to be a
“crutch” against fear of death, then it is welcome, especially if the
belief is true. I do not look at religion as a crutch, but as a hope.
It is optimism and gratitude of not only a life given, but of an escape
from the vanity of death. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It is hard to discern if religions are a bunch of fables and myths
because, frankly, they sound like them. Advocating reasonableness as
opposed to blind faith, I attempted to define my beliefs as a product of
intellect and reason. Reason is difficult to use to rectify unprovable
beliefs. Religion as an unprovable belief can be thought of as similar
to an unproven theory of science. I used study and discernment to come
to my most probable belief. This turned out to be in God as creator.
Atheists tout “In Reason We Trust” as their response to the fallacy of
religious faith. This seems ludicrous to me given the historic
“unreasonableness” of humans. I suppose trusting in God seems equally
ludicrous to atheists.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
My belief as a Christian is also guided by revelation and inspiration, so a compelling belief needs further explanations.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<ol>
<li>Bible. </li>
</ol>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I went to church in my youth and initially developed a foundation
in Christianity. The Bible was a part of my life, though not a strong
study component until later in life. I lost my faith through doubts,
many having to do with science. As I returned back to my belief, I felt
that some part of God was with me, guiding me. I could not surrender
reason for belief, and so, constantly studied science and the Bible to
help me understand my commitment to God. This is when the Bible helped
me find “the” God.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
It is the Bible that describes the character and plan of God in
human terms. It is the Bible that demonstrates a personal God, invested
in His creation. The Bible introduces many mysteries about life that I
normally don’t think about. I found everything there. Topics like
sin, heaven and hell, a spiritual realm, holy, and Jesus add to my
confusion about life. It is the Bible that tells me that God is love,
as exemplified by His grace.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The Bible is described as the Word of God by Man. As a conscious,
intelligent human being I needed to know what the Bible is to me. As I
study more and more, I realize that the Bible seems to have insight
beyond the wisdom, words, and understanding of Man. This is subjective,
but becomes more reasonable as I study into the depths of context and
meaning in the Bible. The credibility of the Bible as the inspired Word
of God, written by Man, is by belief. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I became disillusioned when learning how the Bible was formed
(canonization) and the many controversial translations by so-called
bible scholars. Now I have reached a compromise within myself,
accepting what I can reasonably understand, not discounting what I can’t
believe, and letting unresolved things remain as mystery to me. A
thing science easily does. It is not to say I don’t trust God for
understanding, but more, that I don’t trust human interpretations. This
makes my study of the Bible a maturation in progress. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The word compromise is looked down on by Christians who think
anything that appears contrary to traditional biblical beliefs is wrong.
By their standards, can a scientist ever be a Christian? The Big Bang
theory, physics, evolution, cosmology, genetics, paleontology, and even
many aspects of biology and human physiology are seemingly
contradictory to parts of the Bible. Do we also throw out seemingly
controversial aspects of history and philosophy we don’t like? The
Bible, to some, seems to contradict itself. What does that mean? </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
To me there are two categories of people that I choose to ignore,
the closed-minded scientist and the dogmatic biblical scholar. I can
live with questions and not surrender my faith to irrational,
unreasonable interpretations of scientific theories or overzealous
biblical beliefs. I remain faithful by God’s grace, not my own
understanding, or anybody else’s.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The compelling nature of the Word of God is in the deep insights
and revelations it reveals about creation and Man’s history and destiny.
It is an act of faith to let the Bible establish the conclusions to my
quest for answers. Strangely, as doubts diminish with a growing
relationship with God and the assurance of my belief is confirmed by
strength of conviction, I am finding peace within myself. It is not the
Bible that is so compelling, but is the story it tells. Christianity
is the final solution.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<ol>
<li>Jesus</li>
</ol>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Jesus Christ is a historic figure, compelling and pertinent to our
present world, and relevant in my life as describe in the Bible, mainly
the New Testament. The character of Jesus is what first drew me to him.
There is not even a close equal to Him in my life. What He did in His
ministry to God is amazing and truly does glorify His Father, but what
He said is even more pertinent. Jesus said for us to be humble, meek,
and to surrender ourself to God. The world says to be self-sufficient,
have self-esteem, survive and take care of yourself. Jesus said to be
generous, kind, and to love your enemies. He said He was sent by God to
pay the price for our sins. He said that to believe in Him is to
receive everlasting life. Then He followed up His words with the
sacrifice of His life by crucifixion. Believing in Jesus as the Son of
God is what defines me as a Christian.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
There is evidence of the historic Jesus, inasmuch that His life was
followed by more written validation than for any human ever born on
Earth. It is not hard to believe Jesus the person and the record of his
words. Believing what He said about himself, God, and our relationship
with God is hard because it is without concrete evidence. Believing in
Jesus as the Son of God is beyond the scope of rational and reasonable,
and, in addition, His words carry with it an inferred obligation to be a
follower and to serve God which makes belief harder still. It is a
choice some say you make and others say God makes for you. Either way
from your point of view you must discern what you will believe. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I never wanted to be a follower type person and am a loner and
independent by nature. Also, this world was always calling me to take
what I can from life for my pleasure so I became part of this world for a
time and lost my initial conviction for Christ. I reassessed my life
and reinstated my Christianity. I strongly feel that God made this
possible because, frankly, I strongly feel I would not have made that
decision on my own. A path to God is so different to all persons. The
route to or away from God varies with each individual. I am a Christian
by God’s grace. I am a Christian because I chose to believe that what
Jesus said is true and He is the Son of God. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Believing in “a” God, “the” God, the Bible, and Jesus as the Son of
God are all a part of who I am. In my lifetime, these beliefs were
influenced by numerous factors. I am the sum of many parts. These may
be summarized by my philosophy of life.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<ol>
<li>Philosophy </li>
</ol>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Life is full of many things that make you who you are. It is a
process of adapting to the many changes and lessons encountered
throughout the different phases of growth and maturation. I wanted to
study philosophy but it ended up much like my interest in comparative
religions and never really happened. However, the concept of developing
a set of ideas to live by appealed to me. In my youth, the life of
Christ influenced me. His standard of life was so moral and idealistic
it created an unreachable goal to aspire to. My very early philosophies
of life were founded on the idea of the pursuit of abstract ideas like
love, kindness, gentleness, and humility, as opposed to the principles
of practicality like goals, security, rules and laws, and conformity. I
focused my life on “character” and decided I could be who I wanted to
be. I just had to decide who that was. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Life is like running through a gauntlet. I strove for idealism’s,
like integrity and righteousness, and was victimized by my harsh
realities. My weaknesses and vulnerabilities got in the way of my path
to “who I wanted to be”. My initial persistent idealistic “head in the
clouds” ideas were not religious. They were philosophical by my
standards. Ideas and principles pulled from a lot of reading and a
complex, diverse life I think everybody lives. Like a snowflake, no two
lives are much more than similar, and mentally probably miles apart.
So like Confucius, Taoism, Proverbs, or just plain Benjamin Franklin I
wrote my thoughts, draw from and most likely stolen from their minds and
writings. I owned my thoughts, without wondering where they came from,
so many things like the following sprung to my mind:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Pieces of knowledge, lying like fragments of a puzzle, even when put together, create a picture we cannot comprehend.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Of all the senses to hone, sensitivity is best.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Do not fail to notice the beauty that is life.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Opportunity doesn’t always knock, sometimes it just whispers in your ear.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
If you minimize and eliminate some of your neediness, you will be less unsatisfied.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Pages and pages of these insights were written, but I also wrote
essays on things like Responsibility, Love, Character, Frustration, and
even one titled “Normalcy”. These were not religious, but I later
started writing about Creation, Belief, Vanity, Life, Death, and many
other topics that were part of my Christian discovery. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Living up to manufactured ideas and principles was very similar to
trying to live up to God’s commandments. There was a major difference.
The high ideas I manufactured were often in direct conflict with my
opportunistic personal desires in life, while my living up to the high
standards of God required obedience. They can somewhat be thought of as
being similar fights with human nature, but the motives are entirely
different. One is to serve self while the latter is to serve God.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
How does reason standup to a “compelling belief” devoid of the type of evidences required by the logic of science?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
6. Reason</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Reason is an ability we inherited with our intellect. If belief is
a product of reason, it carries a responsibility to be part of an
intellectual process that is honest and not biased. Seeking truth should
not be a surrender of conscious reasonableness to pressures of fears
and prejudices. Searching for answers that have no evidence requires a
need to use my brain in a rational yet speculative manner. My beliefs
should be logical and the best possible explanation to my questions. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So how does a rational person believe in something so mysterious
and irrational as God? This question is not frivolous. Who is God?
What is God? Where does He live? In Heaven? Where’s that? </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I recently thought about how does God keep track of me (as in GPS)?
We are constantly in motion, rotating on Earth, circulating around the
sun, spinning around our galaxy the Milky Way, and our galaxy
accelerating through space. I found out we are moving at about 3
million miles/hour. Does God abide in us, or with us? Is He
omnipresent? How does He know where I am? I don’t know. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I can go on and on about questions in cosmology, abiogenesis,
anthropology, genetics, evolution, etc., etc., etc.. Many things
science doesn’t know, and I don’t know. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
From what I infer from science, God must be so intelligent,
powerful, and ingenious to create. I rationally don’t suppose of God as
a magician, which means creation was not a snap of the finger. When I
try to paint, since I’m a lousy artist, things never come out like I
plan. I ask myself, what kind of genius is necessary to start with an
explosion of a singularity and end up with the creation of me? I don’t
know.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Not knowing does not stop science from making many “theories” to
answer questions. In a like manner, not knowing does not stop me from
“believing”. That belief is based on the realization that God exist as
the most rational, probable, possible answer to questions. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So after much thought, because I don’t advocate blind faith, I
chose to believe in God. My path to God is by reason, which may have
been necessary for someone like me to have a stronger faith. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<ol>
<li>Revelation</li>
</ol>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Revelation is a surprising turn of events for a person of reason.
It is hard to surrender reason, so when the Bible says, “Lean not on
your own understanding”, I tend to rebel. The mind is a great gift from
God so why ignore it? For me the turn from the “compelling worldly
life” to “compelling belief” was by act of God because I couldn’t do it
on my own. I had to recognize something so irrational as the Spirit of
God leading me in the direction of Faith. Since I think living a life
of Christianity is not easy in this world, the act of believing was
indeed hard for me. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
A believing Christian will never seem rational to an unbeliever.
Belief is by no means easy. The path is not only “narrow”, but
difficult for most, and impossible for some. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I am one of those difficult, reasoning type believers. My path was
not only filled with the doubts of a “doubting Thomas” but also of the
modern, doubting scientist-like person. Is revelation and inspiration
an epiphany sent by God? Is “compelling” from God? I think so, but I
don’t know. So revelation to me is a trust in God as the source for my
belief in Jesus. Trust in God succeeds reason. If you know me, you
know that relinquishing reason is not easy.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I do not want to run from hard questions. Questions like: defining
Israelite biblical history in conjunction with opposing archeological
discoveries; resolving different contradictory biblical interpretations
from each other; or simply trying to make sense out of the Tower of
Babel, create unanswered conflict. Even harder questions in science or
Christianity revolve around the questions of “why”. Science hardly
tries to answer questions of “why” and the Bible almost says it is not
for us to know. I can listen to the conjecture of others or try to come
to my own resolution, but ultimately I must surrender to the fact that I
will not know answers for many questions. Reason cannot provide
answers. The revelation from God is that I don’t need to know. My
curiosity and seeking answers is vain. The destiny for my life is in
God’s hands. I will still ask questions. I am built that way.
However, I have been given Truth through the grace of God and answers
can wait. I have received an unshakable, compelling belief.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
<br /><br /><div dir="ltr" id="yiv2725843971AppleMailSignature">
Sent from my iPad</div>
</div>
</div>
Gordon Hisayasuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12217944472609485438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8684512444354188290.post-90842954948871186772021-10-16T10:39:00.000-07:002021-10-16T10:39:15.754-07:00<div dir="ltr">
3-19-2019</div>
<div dir="ltr">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr">
Science, the Bible, and Me</div>
<div dir="ltr">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr">
In
my thoughts, study, and writings I just came upon something that really
bothered me. As a Christian do I need to defend the Bible? Probably
just as important, can I?</div>
<div dir="ltr">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr">
Science
disputes the Bible in relationship to the Bible’s truth about creation,
history, and the existence of a divine entity. How can I believe in the
Bible and maintain a sense of reasonableness for science?</div>
<div dir="ltr">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr">
I
read too much to not be aware of the intellectual and scholarly battle
science and religion wage. I feel, and sort of know, where I am in this
immense and historical war of the minds. I am a naive and undereducated
outsider. That is true, but I still have my opinions and have spent a
lot of my 75 years thinking and writing my thoughts. Those opinions have
always been to myself and unshared, except for more recent attempts to
type and utilize the internet to record my ideas. Strangely, I now write
to be read.</div>
<div dir="ltr">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr">
I just
read an article (2-19-2019) “Can Christians add the Big Bang to the
Bible?”. It exposed the apparent discrepancies of Genesis’s timeline of
God’s 6 day creation to the Big Bang Theory. From a personal side, the
article exposed my shortsightedness in the Bible and science. I pulled
the article today because I just happened to be writing and thinking
about the “singularity” of the Big Bang Theory. I have always felt open
to criticize science theories but the bothering question was do I
critique the Bible?</div>
<div dir="ltr">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr">
I
have an answer, of sorts, that I should clarify to myself. This is scary
because I have easily said, “I will trust God to help me discern the
truths in the Bible”. I also readily acknowledge to myself that there is
much I don’t understand in the Bible or about God. My prevailing bale
out is I will leave the things I question in the Bible for God to
enlighten me about, or, I just won’t know. This is not very acceptable
because I never go against the Bible, even when I don’t understand it,
but will vigorously dispute science’s claim on truth.</div>
<div dir="ltr">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr">
So
let me try to be honest, at least to myself. If you take a claim that
Genesis says the Sun and moon were created after the Earth, and compare
it to all the cosmological data of formations of solar systems, Genesis
seems very wrong. I really don’t think science is wrong about the way
planets are formed, so is the Bible wrong in my eyes? My normal “I don’t
know” is a good answer. To be more honest, I must admit that the way
creation is described on day 4 makes no sense. I will examine what the
phrase “makes no sense” means to me in relationship to the Bible.</div>
<div dir="ltr">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr">
I
am not an advocate of the idea that the Bible is the inerrant Word of
God. At least not the Bible we have. This makes me a bad Christian, but I
have studied the Bible hard enough, and argued about interpretations
frequently enough to feel there are contradictions. Many of these are
product of flaws in translations, or maybe flaws in my interpretations.
However, I think it is very naive to think that the canonization of the
Bible was flawless or totally inspired by God, or that transcription
errors were not made. I think what makes me a good Christian is that I
believe the Bible reveals who God is and what His plan of salvation is
through Jesus. What “makes sense” to me is I know of God and Jesus
through the Bible, and believe.</div>
<div dir="ltr">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr">
If
you ever hear a man say believe me because I’m perfect, or a scientist
say believe me because I’m smart, beware. If the Bible says every word
in the Bible is true, are you so conditioned as to believe it just
because that’s what it says? I am not sure when we started to call the
Bible the “Word of God”. Was it before Revelations was written, or
after? I’m not sure that what we call the scriptures is exactly what
Jesus or the apostles call the scriptures. I wish I knew for sure who
wrote Genesis because it doesn’t sound the same as the other books of
the Pentateuch. There are so many hard to believe stories in the Bible. I
have trouble with God using the rib of Adam for the formation of woman,
or the Tower of Babel, or Sampson’s long hair as the source of his
strength, and probably many others if I think about them. I don’t really
think about them because the Bible is an amazing book of God,
definitely inspired by God, not necessarily written by God, and one
source God uses to reveal Himself to humanity. I do believe God reveals
Himself in many other ways, one of which is science. If I were to say I
am a Christian because I believe Jesus is the Son of God as revealed in
the gospels, is that enough? Do I also have to say, without a doubt, I
believe every word in the Bible?</div>
<div dir="ltr">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr">
I
need to follow up with a clarification. I don’t think the Bible
disputes science much. I have a strong tendency to feel that science
needs to defend science much more than a Christian needs to defend the
Bible. The history of theories is not good. Science’s defense of
theories seems so desperate and, at times, contrived. I defend the Bible
because it may be a vehicle for the salvation of the scientist. The
scientist defends for the sake of their own sense of rightness. I will
ask the scientist denying God, do I need to believe you so my ashes will
rest in peace?</div>
<div dir="ltr">
<br /></div>
Gordon Hisayasuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12217944472609485438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8684512444354188290.post-78662543579637015852021-10-16T10:38:00.001-07:002021-10-16T10:38:37.653-07:00<div class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText";">3-19-2019</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText";"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText";">Science, the Bible, and Me</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText";"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText";">In my thoughts, study, and writings I just came upon something that really bothered me. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>As a Christian do I need to defend the Bible? <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Probably just as important, can I?</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText";"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText";">Science disputes the Bible in relationship to the Bible’s truth about creation, history, and the existence of a divine entity. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>How can I believe in the Bible and maintain a sense of reasonableness for science?</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText";"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText";">I read too much to not be aware of the intellectual and scholarly battle science and religion wage. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I feel, and sort of know, where I am in this immense and historical war of the minds. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I am a naive and undereducated outsider. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>That is true, but I still have my opinions and have spent a lot of my 75 years thinking and writing my thoughts. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Those opinions have always been to myself and unshared, except for more recent attempts to type and utilize the internet to record my ideas. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Strangely, I now write to be read.</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText";"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText";">I just read an article (3-19-2019) “Can Christians add the Big Bang to the Bible?”. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It exposed the apparent discrepancies of Genesis’s timeline of God’s 6 day creation to the Big Bang Theory. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>From a personal side, the article exposed my shortsightedness in the Bible and science. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I pulled the article today because I just happened to be writing and thinking about the “singularity” of the Big Bang Theory. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I have always felt open to criticize science theories but the bothering question was do I critique the Bible? <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I have an answer, of sorts, that I need to clarify for myself. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>This is scary because I have easily said, “I will trust God to help me discern the truths in the Bible”. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I also readily acknowledge to myself that there is much I don’t understand in the Bible or about God. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Am I really rationalizing and am afraid to criticize the Bible? <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>My prevailing bale out is I will leave the things I question in the Bible for God to enlighten me about, or, I just won’t know. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>This is not very acceptable because I never go against the Bible, even when I don’t understand it, but will vigorously dispute science’s claim on truth. </span></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText";"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText";">So let me try to be honest, at least to myself. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>If you take a claim that Genesis says the Sun and moon were created after the Earth, and compare it to all the cosmological data of formations of solar systems, Genesis seems very wrong. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I really don’t think science is wrong about the way planets are formed, so is the Bible wrong in my eyes? <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>My normal “I don’t know” is a good answer. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>To be more honest, I must admit that the way creation is described on day 4 makes no sense. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I will examine what the phrase “makes no sense” means to me in relationship to the Bible.</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText";"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText";"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText";"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText";">I need to follow up with a clarification. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I don’t think the Bible disputes science much. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I have a strong tendency to feel that science needs to defend science much more than a Christian needs to defend the Bible. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The history of theories for science is not good. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Science’s defense of theories seems so desperate and, at times, contrived. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I defend the Bible as my means for the revelation of God’s plan of salvation from sin by my belief in Jesus as the Son of God. The scientist defends their theories for the sake of their own sense of rightness. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>My belief serves and glorifies God. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Science’s theories glorify human intellect. </span></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText";"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText";">The man of science supposes that human intelligence can eventually expose the truth and the fallacy of false beliefs. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The Christian searches for confirmation of his beliefs and finds that the Bible (his source of truth) says that God will assist his understanding. Resolution lies in conviction and the ability of the individual to assert his view of the truth. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I have certainly found that resolve strong for both sides.</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText";"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText";">Also for some reason science seems drawn to condemn the Christian as foolish and mislead. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I have never seen science try to prove God. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Instead, science actively pursues it's naturalistic theory of creation and mocks the Word of God. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>As a Christian I strongly oppose the aggressive, dogmatic criticism <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>that Christians have among themselves and others. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It is not scriptural. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>As for the scientist who actively attack belief in God, I wonder why? <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Can they be so sure they are right as to lead people to a position of disbelief that offers little in the way of purpose and hope. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Is their intellect and reason so superior? <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>This is why I can't steer clear of this topic.</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText";"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText";">The arrogance of Humanity is to feel that they are the great wonder of the universe. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>They take the greatest, most complex design of nature and proclaim that their intellect can unlock the mysteries of existence. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>They throw into high gear the so called "God spot(s)" coupled with their superior ability of free-will (or to choose) and decide their is no God. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>For some reason they don't need proof of this like they seem to require of all else to establish credibility and reasonableness. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>After all, it isn't a theory. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Now they can teach their children that the highest purpose of Humanity is to serve Humanity. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>That survival only encompasses our brief, finite life ("dust to dust"), so make the most out of it. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>There is a truth in the Bible that says "eat, drink and make merry for tomorrow you may die". <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>They can relish the fact that they have truth and life can be fun. They can tell their innocent, vulnerable child about the foolishness to have Faith and the Hope of a life after death. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Tell them the brain of Man is the source of higher abstract ideas and moral purpose. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>If their higher purpose is reality and facts, they should not forget to tell them Humanity isn't all that great. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Tell them how Man is in the process of killing off most other species of animals (Anthropocene extinction?), and hopefully are smart enough to not kill ourselves off in the process (the suggestion is to find another home). Tell them how we use our intellect to create tools to dominate, conquer and destroy everything, even ourselves. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>How we use our greed, vanity, and competitive nature, call it ambition, to get fame and fortune. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>How we use our ability to be cruel and malicious to punish and kill our enemies. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>How we manipulate natural selection and intellectually create technology to select our own interest over all others. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>How we have a short, but great time, without God. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>We may have been formed by the <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>process of Naturalism, but what we humans have done seems far from natural. </span></div>
Gordon Hisayasuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12217944472609485438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8684512444354188290.post-59601096730352807942021-10-16T10:38:00.000-07:002021-10-16T10:38:11.380-07:00<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">The Bible- Reality</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">I realized in a bible study I have been a part of for the last three years that I have very different ideas about the Bible. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I don’t express these often but they reveal a wide gap I created in my ideas about Christianity from my questions. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>This is due to the inquisitive nature I developed with processing religion and science. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>When I started to write about the Bible and science I found it very difficult. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The abundance of unanswered questions accented the difficulty in accepting the Bible as the unqualified Word of God. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Reason needed to be addressed to validate my assurances and credibility of my own Christian beliefs. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I do not accept “blind” faith in myself so I needed to be honest about the questions and process of my reasoning in studying the reality of the Bible. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>This writing is a revelation in process.</span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">————————————————————————————</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">THE BIBLE TO A CHRISTIAN</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">The Bible is “the greatest book ever written”. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It is the most read, copied, and quoted book ever published. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It is the inspiration for Christians and the foundation of their Faith. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It is God’s message to Mankind and paves a path to the ultimate fate of each and every person. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Life is vain without the Hope that the Bible gives Man’s destiny. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The wonder of expression, insight, revelation, and divine narrative is the reflection of the mystery of God. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>What the Bible says to us is unbelievable and the following is just examples.</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">The Bible is the means God uses to reveal Himself to Man. </span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">The Bible is God’s message that characterizes God and tells how He revealed a <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>concept of one God to the Israelites. </span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">The Bible describes God as creator, of unlimited knowledge, control, and power over <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>everything. </span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">The Bibles’s scope encompasses the beginning of the cosmos, to the prophecy of the <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>end times of the world. </span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">The Bible describes God’s plan for the world and presents an account of the fulfillment <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>of His plan through a historic journey of the Israelites, His chosen people. </span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">The Bible is a story of God’s relationship to Man and describes a sinful, constantly <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>disobedient humanity. </span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">The Bible is a harsh story of Man’s disobedience to God and our weakness as humans. </span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">The Bible tells us God hates sin and the penalty for sin is death.</span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">The Bible teaches us that perhaps we have a special destiny and purpose and we are <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>not just another more intelligent animal. </span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">The Bible presents each of us with an alternate reality of what life is and what it’s <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>meaning may be. </span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">The Bible exposes a novel reality that we are created for a relationship with God. </span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">The Bible reveals God and Jesus as the Truth. </span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">The Bible reveals a benevolent God who loves us and offers us a means for a <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>redemption of sin through His son, Jesus Christ. </span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">The Bible personifies God and describes Jesus in human terms. </span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">The Bible tells how Jesus was crucified to be payment for our sins and how He was <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>resurrected to exemplify His victory over death. </span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">The Bible clearly states that our salvation and victory over death is contingent on our <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>ability to believe in Jesus as the Son of God. </span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">The Bible tells us our belief is the beginning of our journey with God. </span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">The Bible explains the details of our path to <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>redemption and salvation and how to <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>please God. </span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">The Bible answers questions of “meaning and purpose” for us, the “conscious and <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>sapient life” (Anthropic Principle) on Earth. </span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">The Bible is the “greatest book ever written”, when you believe it. </span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">The Bible is the Word of God, leading us to Christianity and our salvation.</span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">___________________________________________________________</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">THE BIBLE AND THE MIND</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">It is interesting to me of how many Christians have bridged the gap of belief and truth by circumventing or surrendering reason. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>When the Bible states that human wisdom leads to foolishness, understanding is though the Spirit of God, <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>and fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, it is infers that Man is deficient and God is the guiding influence for truth. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Some “blindly” accept this. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>For myself, not being able to blindly accept anything, and believing that one great asset God gave to humanity is our ability to reason, my journey to God involves my mind for exploring and trying to understand. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>My curiosity, asking abundant questions, drive to study and learn, need to try to be open and honest with myself, and constant pursuit for a reasonableness of my beliefs, are part of my nature. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Even though my intellect creates hard questions, contradictions, and conceptual and interpretive problems in my Christian belief, <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I accept the challenge and feel God will help me. </span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">The Bible says "seek and ye shall find". <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It takes a curious mind to seek, discern, and to believe. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>There is a philosophical sense to our intellect for me. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I have always reflected on the superiority of the human mind. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>We love and hate, imagine and speculate, create and destroy, and do many other special things with our mind. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Our mind gives us the ability to be curious. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Curiosity is just one special function Man has from his superior brain. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The brain allows humans unique talents like, being able to memorize events and data, process complex ideas, have wild imagination and speculations, reading and writing, building and creating, and communicating with each other, among many other things. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I emphasize curiosity to highlight it's importance. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It is innate in Man, sort of a predisposition, like a compelling need to climb a mountain. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>If we were not curious, and could not visually "see" creation with our eyes and invented technology, we would not discover the wonders of God. </span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">The ability to reason is a gift from God, but it is also a burden. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Our God-given superior human intellect allows us to be reasonable, rational, and hopefully as openminded as possible. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Reasonableness makes it hard to find Truth. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Our mind is filled with unresolved questions, irrational theories, unfounded speculations, unsupported conclusions, and unprovable data. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Answers are seldom fulfilling or complete. Truth is often unsupported by facts and data. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The “Truth” is elusive, undefined, abstract, subjective, and hardly recognizable “absolute”. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Our reason as a tool for belief may be the closest way to find a credible Truth, of sorts. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>With our mind comes the curiosity that compels a search for the elusive Truth. </span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">Beliefs are hard to justify because it is hard to ignore things that make no sense to you. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>When the Bible “makes no sense” an explanation or understanding is warranted. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>With the abundance of questions, the rarity of answers, and the pursuit of reasonableness, comes the difficulty in forming beliefs. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Though questions may not be answered, the credibility of your belief lets you put explanations and understanding on hold. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The Bible ask us to “lean not on our own understanding”, <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>to surrender our will to God, and to acknowledge the authority of God. Using intellect to “chose” a path to God (perhaps led by God) and defy, or surrender, your reasoning is indeed humbling to arrogant Man. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>A believing Christian will never seem rational to an unbeliever. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The span of not believing in God runs from the committed atheist to the agnostic that does not want to totally say no. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The span of believing Christians is also diversified, as exemplified by the amount of time and effort they put into practicing their belief, as seen by the degree of priority they put in God in the face of the many distractions throughout life. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Belief is by no means easy. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Our inherited, or evolved, or given intellect is the essence of our search for the credibility of our beliefs. The path is not only “narrow”, but difficult for most, and impossible for some. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>With the reality of Christianity comes the realization that “all things are possible for the Lord” and “the Lord sure do work in mysterious ways” (movie- Sargent York).</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">There is always doubt in belief. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It is that incredible mind of Man that makes decisions and discernment so hard, and feeds the seeds of doubts. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The Bible says to study and to trust. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The very complexity, difficulties of understanding, and commitments demanded by God in the Bible require presence of mind. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Surely we are not given a mind to acquiesce to mindlessness. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Perhaps, only the assurances received after death will alleviate doubts?</span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">____________________________________________________________</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">THE BIBLE AND THE SECULAR WORLD</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">To say the Bible is difficult to believe has always been understated by Christians. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>While it is hard for Christians, it is almost impossible for the secular world to accept the authority of the Bible as the Word of God. The Bible makes this really clear, stating about how hard it is and how few people will accept God’s Word over the temptations <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>of a carnal, secular world. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The secular world becomes especially disenfranchised when Christian explanations seem to be mostly quotes from the Bible. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It becomes easier to understand the polarization this causes when stated differently. The unanswered questions that arise for Christians require them to trust their reasoning to God. The secular world trust their intellect (“In Reason We Trust”). <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>They use reason to intellectually challenge the credibility of Christians, pointing out the contradictions and their incredulous claims of Biblical truths. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Christians respond with the Bible and spiritual inspiration for answers. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The secular world wants you to believe in the power of human intellect and the Christian wants you to believe in God’s Holy Spirit for understanding. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Neither side offers definitive proofs that can give convincing resolution to critical questions. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Both sides claim the reasonableness of their claims.</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">It should not be too hard for the Christian to understand the skepticism of the secular world for the Bible because we do not surrender our sinful human nature when we become a Christian. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>We are Christian because of a “change of heart” and a willingness to surrender our will to God. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>As such, we can understand the mentality of the secular world because surrender of our “will” does not mean we are surrendering our human nature. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>That human nature is still present to tempt us to sin. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The Bible says we are in the world of the “flesh”, but as Christians we are “reborn” into a “spiritual” world. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>We can understand the secular world because we still live in the world of flesh until death. </span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">The Bible states that Man is given dominion over all animals on the Earth, but also that Satan has dominion over the evil, carnal, hedonistic world. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The intensity of a Christian’s battle with sin is seen in our efforts to believe and serve God against the forces of Satan. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The Bible makes Satan real. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The secular world, and even some Christians, tend to look at Satan as a symbolic figure of evil. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Many Christians don’t easily acknowledge demons, possession, and the devil. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Jesus did not face evil in the desert as temptations of fame, wealth and power. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>He was presented these temptation through Satan, an evil entity. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Satan is not a cartoon character or Halloween costume. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>How can the secular world recognize a Christian’s battle with sin if they are skeptical of the existence of a Devil. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>How can they understand the sinfulness of worldly temptations? <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Before the Bible, Christians did not accept sinfulness as disobedience to God’s Laws. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The Bible makes realization and confession of your sinful disobedience a necessary step for becoming a Christian. </span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">The secular mind boldly and arrogantly acknowledges the wonder and scope of <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>it’s discoveries of the cosmos. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It proclaims that their superior intellect can unlock the mysteries of existence. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Their trust in human reason allows them to declare <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>there is no God. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>They allow themselves to maintain the credibility of their declaration of no God without proof. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It is not stated as a theory, but an inferred fact. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The secular philosophy is that the intellect of Man, not God, is the source of higher abstract ideas and moral purpose. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>They teach their children that the highest purpose of Humanity is to serve Humanity. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>They teach that survival is the goal of human’s brief, finite life ("dust to dust"). <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Life is short, so it is best to make the most out of it and have fun. </span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">The secular world tells their innocent, vulnerable child about the foolishness to have Faith and the Hope of a life after death, because there is no life after death. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Some state that they do not fear death. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The secular world bravely attempts to be be honest with themselves, even unto death. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Death is an inevitable conclusion to life. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The secular world not believing God gave them life, why should they think God can give them eternal life?</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">However, if the secular world wants to honestly portray reality and facts, they should not forget to tell their kids that Humanity isn't all that great. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>They should confess how Man is in the process of killing off most other species of animals (Anthropocene extinction), and maybe ourselves. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>They could also mention how we use our intellect to create weapons of mass destruction to dominate, conquer, and destroy. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>How our greed, vanity, and competitive nature (envy, jealousy,and ambition), are maliciously used to get fame and fortune. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>How we use our ability to be cruel to punish and kill our enemies. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>How we manipulate nature and create technology to greedily pursue our own human interest over the welfare of the world. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>They should also confess they do not intellectually know what life is, much less death. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Their conclusions are suppositions. </span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">The question for the secular world is do they have the Truth? <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Humanity chooses between the Bible and the reality they live in. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>In fact, most don’t choose. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Reality often ignores the question of belief in God or Jesus. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>A world without God is before our eyes. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Satan has dominion. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Life is hard enough as it is. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Survival and distractions are the tools of the devil. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>We are brainwashed by the secular world. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It does not matter what Truth is if you don’t seek it. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>If you don’t seek God it is hard to find Him. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>That is the major strength the secular world has, apathy. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The secular world easily teaches the lessons of false religions, atheist, and agnostics, and the world listens. </span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">The Bible tells us to live a spiritual life with God and to not be part of the secular world. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Jesus says “I am the Way, the Life, and the Truth”. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It is the victory of the Bible to find God in a Godless world. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The value of the Bible is to teach humanity the Truth. </span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">_____________________________________________________________</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">THE BIBLE AS THE WORD OF GOD</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">I am not sure when we started to call the Bible the “Word of God”. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Was it before Revelations was written, or after? <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>How does calling Jesus the “Word” compare with calling the Bible the Word of God? <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I’m not sure that what we call the Scriptures is exactly what Jesus or the apostles called the Scriptures. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I wish I knew for sure who wrote Genesis because it doesn’t sound the same as the other books of the Pentateuch. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It is hard to discern if the stories in the Bible are a bunch of fables and myths because, frankly, they sound like them. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The Bible is not clear on many things. If you ever hear a man say believe me because I’m perfect, or a scientist say believe me because I’m smart, beware. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>If the Bible says every word in the Bible is true, are you so conditioned as to believe it just because that’s what it says about itself? </span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">The credibility of the Bible makes more sense because it is so real. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The Bible certainly doesn’t <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>try to sugarcoat itself. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It is written to get a message out and doesn’t edit or protect itself. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It could be less controversial and easier to understand. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>In the Old Testament, God is portrayed as a vindictive, jealous, harsh deity, to be feared, and demanding worship. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>God destroyed most of Man with a flood and destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah with fire. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>With stark reality the Bible predicts and tells of wars, famine, and disease. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It is not a message we want to hear. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>God’s actions are painful and hard to take. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>God makes no excuses, demands strict obedience, punishes, and ask Man to go against his nature. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>God teaches a very hard lesson to Man. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It’s message is written and given to Man as an honest and stark reality. </span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">The Bible could be easier on itself. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>For one it could write of it’s heroes without exposing their innate sins and weaknesses. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Most or maybe all of the humans in the Bible were very flawed. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Moses killed a man and rejected God at first. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Adam and Eve both disobeyed God directly. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Abraham “took” his handmaiden and gave his wife to a king. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>David, Solomon, Jonas, and Sampson were all very flawed. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It could also tell more credible stories that are easier to believe. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Thinking of God using the rib of Adam for the formation of woman, or the Tower of Babel as the source of the confusion of languages, or Sampson’s long hair as the source of his strength, is troubling. It could eliminate the pages and pages of repetitious, mundane, details of Israelite history, culture and genealogy. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It could eliminate the intricate laws, hierarchy, and minute instructions of many things, like the building of Noah’s ark, or the arc of the covenant structure. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Even some of the poems and songs seem repetitious and strange. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>However, given the centuries of study and dialogue the Bible creates, these mundane things may be part of it’s credibility and design. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It seems God message to Man is not for credibility, but Truth. </span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">I am not a total advocate of the idea that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>At least not the Bible we have. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>This may make me a bad Christian, but I have studied the Bible hard enough, and argued about interpretations frequently enough, to feel there are valid contradictions. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Many of these are product of flaws in translations, or maybe flaws in my interpretations. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>However, I think it is very naive to think that the canonization of the Bible was flawless or totally inspired by God, or that transcription errors were not made. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I think what makes me a good Christian is that I believe the Bible reveals who God is and what His plan of salvation is through Jesus. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>What “makes sense” to me is I know of God and Jesus through the Bible, and believe. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I do not require the Bible to answer all questions for me. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I can live with unanswered questions, even those I that make no sense and I don’t understand. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I don’t know if parts of the Bible are in error. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The Words of God are clearly stated in the Bible but human error may play a part of faulty interpretations. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>This may be God’s intent and I am left to trust God.</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">There are many conflicts and questions that will never be fully answered but I am now fully resolved. If we all had the same understanding of the Bible, or believed alike, then maybe things could be clearer. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>But it is hard to know the truth, even if the words are in the Bible. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I don’t really think about them because the Bible is an amazing book of God, definitely inspired by God, not necessarily written by God, and one source God uses to reveal Himself to humanity. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I do believe God reveals Himself in many other ways, one of which is science. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>If I were to say I am a Christian because I believe Jesus is the Son of God as revealed in the gospels, is that not enough? <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Do I also have to say, without a doubt, I believe every word in the Bible?</span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">__________________________________________________________</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">THE BIBLE AND SCIENCE</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">I spend my life studying and writing about the controversies of science and belief in God. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The realization that this is very different than studying the Bible in respects to science was driven home last month (May, 2019) when I ran into a video by Dr. Hugh Ross. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I read his book “The Creator and the Cosmos” many years ago and remember it as one of the foundations of my personal passion with science and the Bible. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Now, my past of not reading works of experts, trying to form ideas without being over invested in controversies and debates, and not trying to memorize everything, seems exposed. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Wanting to form my own thoughts without undo biases left me very naive and uninformed about the depth and scope of scholarly discord. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Again Dr. Ross is foundational to this epiphany. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I cannot go back through over 50 years of study to try to read books, remember names, data, and references, and follow any person or institutions specific ideas on various topics. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I wanted to be a fairly educated, well-studied layperson on science and the Bible. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Thinking I could create my own understanding, without too many outside influences, is arrogant. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I have a broad understanding of science from journals, TV, internet articles, and some books. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I have read the Bible all my life but am far from being a Bible scholar. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>After exposure to the intellectual scientific assessment of the Bible and science by a scientist, Dr. Ross, and seeing some responses by true Bible scholars, I realize how simple my layperson perspective is.</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">The idea of experts gets lost in science by the real fact of the specialization of sciences,, hence, Dr. Ross, a astrophysicist, references a staff member of his foundation “Reasons to Believe, as a biochemist, in his talks. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Additionally, the Bible scholars usually have little formal science background. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Even so, unlike my mentality, they use experts and many prominent people to empathize their points of view. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Although I have not yet taken advantage, their lectures, books, articles, and TV dialogues are readily available. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>As such, my ideas about this section of writing is now deferred to the opinions of experts. </span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">Experts in science and the Bible are very intellectual and comprehensive about how the Bible confirms science. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>They discuss how the Bible addresses the cosmos, nature, life and the human species. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The topics are similar to a discussion of the credibility of God’s hand in the design and complexity of creation. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It is enlightening to find how the Bible can be used to address things like the Big Bang Theory, Inflation and the expansion of the cosmos, Abiogenesis, Evolution, Particle Physics, and even areas like extinctions, plate tectonics, and genetics. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It is a little disturbing how these experts disagree about so much. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>If these are looked at in the same vein as the many different kinds of Christian Churches that exist, then perhaps, they reflect Man’s confusion, not the Bible. </span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">I actually have many writings on why I write. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Mostly, in the past, it was to just write my thoughts and ideas for myself (nobody has, or will read most of these). <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Later I typed and started putting things on the internet in various forms (Author’s Den, a blog, and a video series) with my wife’s help. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It was started to just put some of my writing in a savable form. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It became much more as I wrote more and thought maybe God made my life as it is with a purpose. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>My awkward strangeness is partly explained by the reality, “I never had a cell phone in my life”. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>That exemplifies, by today’s modern standards, how backwards and isolated I am. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I never joined an organization, corresponded with anyone, or shared my independent thoughts. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I think the internet may be me trying to reach out to society. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Since this is not supposed to be an autobiography, I’ll just say I pray that God will somehow use me, and my strangeness, for His glory.</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>AuthorsDen.com <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>- Gordon H. Hisayasu</span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Blog- <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>scienceofgodscreation.blogspot.com</span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Video series- <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>How Science Reveals God’s Creation....YouTube- Gordon Hisayasu</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">Turning “theories to facts” in science, is like the Biblical concept of turning “Words into belief”. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The Bible is not written as a science book, or science proposed as a theological discourse on God. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Scientist use reason and evidence to support theories, and theologians use inspiration and revelation to support belief. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>In a sense the Bible addresses the meaning and purpose of Man as revealed by God, while science is the accumulation of empirical data to try to explain the mysteries of existence. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>There may be little overlap of the two.</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">I heard a biblical scholar describe how science is a source of doubting the Scriptures for children. My youth was bombarded with questions of God, evolution and the origins of life. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Likewise, the religious scholarly community responded with “Intelligent Design” and a very defensive posture. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The predicament for a realistic assessment is to try to look at data and be reasonable, open-minded, and honest. There is much we may never know or understand, but even in confusion we can try. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>God’s gift of intellect leaves some with no alternative but to try to figure out who God is.</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">The state of the world and mankind makes it hard to understand the relation of science to the Bible. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>We do not know how things are made or why things are as they are. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Science leaves many mysteries unanswered and gaps in knowledge, especially origins. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The Bible describes why God lets things happen, what His motives are, what God’s lessons in the Bible and life mean, but still God is clouded in mystery. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>If we all had the same understanding of the Bible, or believed alike, then maybe things could be clearer. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It is not hard to imagine nature, or the Naturalistic Model of the cosmos, is the product of God’s creativity. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>What we see and discover (science) can reasonably lead to belief in God. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Relating the Bible to science is different. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The days described in Genesis, the “stretching” of the universe, the Flood, the history of Species and Humans, and many other things are not clear or are ambiguous. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Believing in the abundance of scientific evidence to prove God as “Creator” is easy when compared to using the Word of God to scientifically prove God “created”. </span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">___________________________________________________</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">THE BIBLE AND WORDS</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">The Bible says, “There exist FAITH, HOPE, and LOVE, and the greatest of these is LOVE”.</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">The Bible says about JESUS, “. Whosoever BELIEVETH in me shall not perish but have EVERLASTING LIFE”.</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">The Bible says, “The HEAVENS proclaim the GLORY of GOD”.</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">And the words continue. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>SATAN tempts. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>All have SINNED. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>None are RIGHTEOUS. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>By God’s GRACE we are SAVED. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>God is HOLY. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>God gave His COMMANDMENTS and established a COVENANT with His CHOSEN PEOPLE. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Jesus is our SALVATION. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The HOLY SPIRIT is with us. </span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">The words in the Bible do something few books can. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>They present a separate reality outside the apparent circumstance and environment that surrounds us. The words reveal concepts that stimulate a lethargic, worldly mind to think about what life is really about. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>They are words that reveal the Holiness, Character and Will of God. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>They reveal God’s plan of salvation from sin and death for Man. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>They teach us of God’s divinity and grace. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>They help us make difficult decisions that can change our lives. The words are outside words of daily conversation and train of thought. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The words are strange, or used strangely, that present innovative ideas about the meaning and purpose of life. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>These are the words the Bible uses to tell us we can have a relationship with God. </span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">Words are why Humanity does not live in caves today. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The ability to communicate makes us collectively and individually who we are. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The words of the Bible are a good reflection of how differently we “hear” words. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>To those who “hear” the words of God, their lives are changed. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>When words of the Bible becomes “The Word of God” the Bible becomes a revelation and inspiration leading to Christianity. </span></div>
<div class="p1" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;">______________________________________________________</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: x-small;"> </span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22.8px;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".sfuitext"; font-size: 19.08pt;"></span><br /></div>
Gordon Hisayasuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12217944472609485438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8684512444354188290.post-81090512755199967752017-09-15T10:21:00.001-07:002017-09-15T10:21:07.158-07:00Watch my new video series HOW SCIENCE REVEALS GOD'S CREATION on YouTube.<br />
<br />
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVaTEvjpE7JRSRBME-3bX_kah7klKjQodGordon Hisayasuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12217944472609485438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8684512444354188290.post-16801527924545964902016-05-17T13:24:00.000-07:002016-05-18T01:38:13.991-07:00Story: Theory<br />
<br />
Preface 4-13-2016<br />
<br />
I wrote when I was very young. I remember driving to work once and thinking some profound thought that should not be lost and I had to write it down. I have now been collecting my thoughts on paper for years. My very old writings which I kept in a large notebook are now long lost. Now 72 years old I still write and have many writings that when read now show how my mind has evolved over the years. The story, “Theory” started over 20 years ago. This story describes a cult, or movement called SI or the “Spiritual Intellectualism” movement. In real life, scientist and theologians argued about a similar movement called the ID or “Intelligent Design” movement. Spiritual Intellectualism came about because the fictional writer of this story took the liberty of trying to show how scientific theories, discoveries, and ideas could help understand the religious stories of creation. Intelligent Design tries to explain how the intellect and design of creation is something that only a God could do. Science says creation is random and is the natural results of the laws of nature. No God or Creator is necessary.<br />
<br />
The character of my story wrote a very speculative essay called the “Theory of Creation”. He owns that it’s ideas are just theories and speculations of a way a religious person may understand creation from a scientific point of view. He gave himself freedom to put them together in a way which seemed possible and maybe even reasonable, and ended up offending everyone. I find the bible and science vague. The character of the story reasoned, if God made man in his image, maybe this is where we get our ability to conceptualize a God, to be smarter, reasonable, and more inventive than other species. This may be why we possess the character of God, being able to love. His studies of Genetics inferred that our ability to love, hate, and exercise free-will is through our brain and our genetic heritage. The uniqueness of Man may also be the key to our possession of a spirit which may also lie in the complexity of our genetic makeup. As science makes assumptions, so did he boldly write what his years of reading and study said he was free to think.<br />
<br />
Science has a history of theories and contradictions. It readily ignores all the “just right” physics of the big bang, the events of Cosmology, the evolutionary driven extinctions, and the coincidences of nature that make our Earth and life possible from the vastly impossible. Science will take questionable evidence and make theories using terms like; possibly, maybe, perhaps, and even, we don’t know, when their theories are not explained or deviate to various degrees from the facts. Still their theories remain intact and are even accepted and stated as fact without the test of differentiating theory from fact.<br />
<br />
Religion is not based on evidence, but is the product of faith. The diligent study of the bible or inspiration creates the foundations of a person’s beliefs. Religion discourages speculation about interpretations of the bible. A choice of denominations or specific factors of belief once made inhibit a person’s ability to freely express himself. The bible is the not something to mess with. Difference is the arbitrator of wars and persecution. The judgement is blasphemy, or heresy, and maybe at best censor. <br />
<br />
The story was originally to demonstrate the folly of the man of science and the dogmatic, close mindedness of the religious scholar. It would have been much more complex with the additions of the decades of new knowledge and discoveries of science. The new discoveries of science over the decades of my life are incredible. Genetics, evolution, cosmology, physics, and biology all create a multitude of contentious topics for scientist and religious scholars. In spite of all the high intensity discussion about a man obsessed with science, this story tries to include more. It is resurrected because I have a message to tell about how people are lost by others and how life can bring people together. In the end, perhaps this is, “just another love story”.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
THE QUEST <br />
<br />
Once in his youth he lay on his back in the cool grass, gazing up at the blue sky. The sun peeked through the leaves of the large tree he lay under, sending bright flashes of reflection off the leaves<br />
and a brilliant stream of light through the twisted branches. He lay in thought as he often did. On this day he pondered the beauty of abstract ideas and principles. A topic he often contemplated. The abstract ideas were the ill-defined concepts that were the foundations of virtue, like love, empathy, humility, gentleness, kindness, sensitivity, and honesty. These he felt were parts of the beauty of Man, but were became overwhelmed by the practical principles of the real world. In the reality of principles, the foundations of survival were hard work, material possessions, economics, and goals. The survival of the fittest was the person who excelled in the practical, real world and abstract ideas were an annoying distraction. It was then, at a time of his early youth, that he decided that he would focus his life on the virtue of the abstract and make them the reality of his life. It was not a passing whim, but a reasoned, conscientious, priority in his life, but he was not ready for the consequences this decision he would cost him throughout his life.<br />
<br />
The practice of abstract ideas was shattered by everyday life. It was a herculean chore to walk through life, sensitive to everyone and everything around you. It was impossible to live up to abstract standards because they were vague and inconsistent and could not stand up to the test of reality. He remembered the girl they laughed at because she was ugly and clumsy. He remembered the feeling of superiority when he beat his colleagues in class. He more than once lost his temper for infringements of his supposed territories, defined by him as his rights to privacy, fair treatment, understanding, sympathy, and most of all respect. He was constantly challenged to bend truth and honesty for expediency, a battle mightily fought and lost.<br />
<br />
He was a failure, but he would not give up.<br />
<br />
In the process of his struggles in life, he was introduced to religion. Here was a whole realm of existence that seemed focused on the abstract. Here was support and companionship for his philosophy of life. He learned and was inspired and comforted by the teachings of the Christian bible. He was absorbed by the many principles of behavior and thought he learned. Most of all he was impressed with the character of Jesus Christ. Here was perfection in the practice of virtue. Here was complete victory over the ambiguity in Man. The conquest of sin. The idea that we did not have to be slave to the cruelty and malice that presides inside us. The foundation of a bond with God, and that, that God was benevolent and forgiving. It was a message he had long yearned for. He was no longer alone, joining in the fellowship of the Church.<br />
<br />
The message seemed to crumble as illusion when he saw the disparity between the principle and the fact. He saw the evidence of self-righteous arrogance and hypocrisy among the church members, making him feel that the fellowship he initially felt was imagined. There was little discernable difference in his Christian and non-Christian friends. Even more troubling was his study of the history of religions. He was confused by the failure of the church, not only to prevent or condemn the cruelties of Man, but also, to be a large part of them. Where God could forgive, he could not. He did not lose his belief in God, but he lost his connection with the church and soon found himself running from religious endeavors.<br />
<br />
His struggles remained. His resolve was weakened, but not destroyed. He was strengthened by the character he saw in the person of Jesus and from that day on emphasized the "building of character" in his life and the goal to be Christ-like.<br />
<br />
This meant a specific use of free-will. The will to be anything you want to be. He built character by conscious awareness and repetition, tested by consistency. The abstract ideas of virtue had to be a part of him. They had to be a natural part of who he was, not wishful thinking, not grandiose imagery, not unnatural enforced resolutions, but a real part of his persona. He would practice sensitivity by utilizing intense, conscientious perception of the people around him. He soon found he could "see" many things by conscious effort, and became very good at recognizing the neediness in people, missed by most in casual glance. He would continually judge and modify his behavior and thoughts based on what he knew was right, to try to create a natural purity inside himself. He would review and guard against his failures, always looking for underlying principles. He had control over nobody but himself, and he actively, with enormous resolve and energy kept the idea of character as a priority in his life. Slowly, in time, surrounded always by the distractions of life, he put his character together. It was always vulnerable, it was always open to changes, it was not well formed in some areas, but his character existed with the abstract ideas and higher principles as its' foundation.<br />
<br />
There were cost. He had become too introverted and isolated. He was perceived by others as impractical and unrealistic. He was perceived as too quiet, too shy, too non-materialistic, too unmotivated, too meek and too laid back about issues. He was always internally his worst critic. He had set his standards high and was forced to constantly work on his own shortcomings. In addition, it was always hard to watch those around him sort of drift through life without recognition or sensitivity for the people and things around them. It was hard to see world events occur with no process except the practical and necessary. The sellout of people and society to the unreasonable pursuit of rules and laws, prejudices, and cold ruthless, dogmatic standards was so demoralizing and painful. When he realized he could do nothing about most of those things, he further built a wall around himself and kept his mind to himself.<br />
<br />
In the privacy of his mind, so focused on a standard of living incorporating the principles of love and righteousness, he turned to looking at the mysteries that surrounded the creation of Man and the universe around him. It was a natural pathway for the internalized, constantly inquisitive mind.<br />
<br />
Every avenue of intellectual process only brought about more questions. Every piece of knowledge he could accumulate only left frustrating speculation, with no resolve or insight into truth. He studied and turned to the vast pool of human knowledge to try to gather insight. He studied evolution, astronomy, physics, genetics, and the pyschopharmacolgy of the brain to find out more about the details of creation of Man and universe. He studied the various ideologies and theological theories of religions to try to understand Mans' relationship to God and the predictions of the fate of Man after death. Everything became more confusing and complex, and answers were beyond grasp. It was apparent that intellect was a means to conceive of the concept of God, but not to understand Him. It was apparent that the great advances of science could help appreciate the grandeur of creation, but not explain creation. It was apparent that the limited intellect of Man and his finite time, fell far short of what would be necessary for answers. The fact that “HOW” was incomplete and incomprehensible made “WHY” unattainable.<br />
<br />
He was faced with the impossible, but compelled, by curiosity and innate in the nature of humanity to question, to continue his search. His intellect existed to search for answers. He needed to give life meaning and purpose and to know and understand the destiny of Man. He needed to define his relationship with God and answer questions about the immortality of the spirit. His character created a need to justify the idea of righteousness and a quest for answers to explain the beauty of creation.<br />
<br />
He was armed with a myriad of facts and theories. He had the whole of history of humanities recorded knowledge as a resource. His fear was that even if he could put the pieces together, like fragments of a puzzle, he would create a picture he could not comprehend. He could never be able to discern truth from imagery, or ever trust an idea he theorized from the data at his disposal. To be able to know was an illusion. To search and expect to find truth was a vanity, but he would strive for answers anyway, that was inside him.<br />
<br />
After a long while, he discovered that truth would not be found by intellect or imagination. Everything inside him was conditioned, either genetically or by his environment. Nothing inside him could create a new insight into truth. His mind was too limited and programmed. All he needed was answers, understandable and acceptable to him, inspired from a source beyond his own mind, outside himself. He needed inspiration, he needed belief, and for these he needed the ability to trust.<br />
<br />
He went to the mountains, and there, in the quiet solitude of his thoughts and meditation he recaptured the bond of Man and God, that existed with his early ancestors. God’s presence was found in the mist of the beauty and majesty of his creation. He had found his inspiration. It was insight into Mans' creation and trust in his relationship to God.<br />
<br />
His death had little impact on anyone, because nobody really knew him. It went unnoticed by the world, but after his writings were found and exposed to the world, the world would never be the same.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
THEORIES OF CREATION by Raymond Lockwood<br />
<br />
There exist the physical world ruled by the laws of Nature.<br />
<br />
There exist the spiritual world ruled by the laws of God.<br />
<br />
Creation is the harnessing of the laws of nature to suit the purposes of God.<br />
<br />
In the beginning, creation was non-existent. All mass that existed in the known universe was compressed by incomprehensible forces of gravitation to a small singular point. The energy that sent all this mass outward to create time, space, and our universe, and the laws of nature that formed our stars and planets, was utilized to create order from chaos. Existence had begun, with all the building blocks available, and the plan of God was started. The creation of order from chaos is observable from our finite scientific data base, accumulated throughout the short history of Man. Science is the discovery of the natural rules governing this order. The formation of stars and planets, including our world, utilized a series of random events and natural laws, along with the timelessness of infinity, to create order from chaos. The formation of our universe, world, life, and humanity is existence, put together by design, to form the end product as we know it now. The architect of this design is our creator, God.<br />
<br />
Life, a creation governed by rules of nature, is the ultimate order, observable and pertinent to Man and his destiny. All life is linked by the complexity and design of the genetic code. The diversity and abundance of life on our world is the product of the versatility of this code and the laws governing evolution. The natural evolution of life by genetic inheritance is the cornerstone to Mans' relationship to God. <br />
<br />
Man exist as only one species, Homo sapiens, and is unique over the multitude of diverse species in other life forms. Our intellectual heritage, linked to the genetic process of natural selection and reproductive success, is the fundamental bond that we share with God. Mans' intellect allows us to conceptually recognize the presence and significance of God. Along with intellect is the unique genetic predisposition we have for abstract reasoning. Our link to Gods' purpose is predicated by our ability to love, which is the spiritual character of God.<br />
<br />
Love and its' expression are the natural design and divine purpose of our genetic inheritance. It is the foundation of our existence that signals the uniqueness and purpose of the creation of Man by God. It is the reproductive success of genetic mutation, involving the behavior predilection for evil in early Man, that created the ambiguity of character that has plagued our history. The natural order and design of Mans' character of love was corrupted by the unnatural introduction of evil. The heritage of humanity has since existed as a battlefield of Good verses Evil.<br />
<br />
The products of evil are not tools for the success of the human species. The rule of nature is disrupted by the destructive power of evil. Survival and the continued dominion of Man on Earth is predicated by the existence of his ability to love and take care of all life around him. The salvation from death of our species, and perhaps, of all life on Earth is contingent on our benevolence, which exist only in our communion with God.<br />
<br />
Free-will exist only in Man and is a wonder of creation that separates us from the controlled instinctual behavior of the rest of the animal kingdom. Mankind's behavior is dictated by free-will and the internal exercise of free-will determines our identity and character. Our external conditioning influences our behavior, but does not have ultimate control and ability to subjugate us. Our ability to have choice, through free-will, is our heritage of freedom. The righteousness of our character is modified by our recognition and response to the abstract principles of love, which is God's gift to humanity by his creative genetic design. The willful exercise of our predisposition for love is our hope of survival. Our hope of union with God also exist within humanities genetic predisposition to discovery and willingly surrender to the precepts of Gods' love.<br />
<br />
The purity of God demands the control over the evil character inside us, which is now also, a genetic part of all Man. His redemption lies with our free-will. The ability to chose good over evil. The ability to acknowledge Gods' existence, to recognize Gods' plan of salvation, and to accept his truth without intellectual proof, are all a matter of each individuals free-will. These are the keys to an individuals victory over evil.<br />
<br />
The spirit also exist within the complexity of our genetic makeup. The domain of the spirit is a part of our genetic makeup, linked to the behavior that predisposes the expression of spiritualism in Man. The potential of that spiritualism is behavior that links us to love, the character of God. Love is the behavior that is our hope to escape from the finite bonds of the physical world. It is within the spiritual world of God that His promise of salvation and immortality lie.<br />
<br />
As we were given intellect and the ability to love, we were also given a predilection for existence in spirit, beyond our physical existence. We can see and understand, within the limits of our knowledge, the fact of existence and creation. However, although, we can see the fruits of the spirit, we can never understand or see the spirit. Its' existence in our life is a measure of our Faith. The immortality of the spirit exist as a predisposition because its' survival is mandated by acceptance through free-will, or choice exercised as Faith, to acknowledge God beyond physical evidence or proof.<br />
<br />
The vastness and the beauty of creation, with it's seemingly infinite complexity of design, are evidence of Gods' presence. The means and scope of God's creation is beyond our intellectual comprehension and we cannot unlock it's mysteries, but in our quest, our science continually uncovers a physical world of limitless possibilities. Our intellect is our means to discover, appreciate, and recognize the wonders of this physical world and, more importantly, conceptualize it's creator. The bond of Man to all life is through his genetic inheritance. The bond of Man with God is through the natural genetic design that predisposes his ability to love. This was given to early Man and marks the creation of Homo sapiens. This was corrupted by the introduction of evil by genetic mutation. The foundation of evil in Man is distortion of our intellectual process by the deceit of immorality, laying the seeds of doubt and malicious intent. Nevertheless, the presence of God remains prevalent throughout the history of Man through the character of love and God's intervention of our destiny. Our conquest over the nature of evil and our union with God lies in our freedom to find, within ourselves, acceptance, through Faith, of our creator. This is the ultimate meaning and purpose for Man.<br />
<br />
THE BATTLEGROUND<br />
<br />
"They have distorted the Truth. They will destroy the foundations of our religion. They must be stopped before more damage is done to the faithful people of the world”, said the religious leader to his followers.<br />
<br />
"The fundamental beliefs of our religion are at stake with the claims made by the followers of the so-called "Spiritual Intellectualism". Their claims are in direct conflict with the precepts of our time tested beliefs. The doctrine we have long known and so many have laid down their very life for, is being denagrated by false teachings. Our history is filled with the sacrifice and heroism of martyrs, who have died for the integrity of our beliefs. We cannot make a mockery of those lives for a doctrine of nebulous theories. Our scholars find no theological basis for belief in any of the claims proposed by the SI sect. They cannot be allowed to continue spreading their lies any longer", said the theologian.<br />
<br />
“We have seen the very foundations of the balance between the State and Religion disrupted by the introduction of the controversial theories by the SI organization. The government cannot tolerate the chaos and disorder this movement is causing. We urge all our citizens to refrain from violence and let us handle the few people involved in this movement. We have alerted the proper departments within government to take swift and effective action. Legislation to stop those behind the development and spread of this travesty to a law abiding society will be strictly enforced. We will do all within our power to support our respectable religious leaders and their congregations", said the politician.<br />
<br />
"We cannot allow our faith to be jeopardized by these heretics. They will corrupt our children with their lies.<br />
God will not allow this. They must be destroyed at all cost! They must be wiped from the face of the earth before they corrupt the foundations of our beliefs", said the religious fanatic.<br />
<br />
It had started out simple. An article called "Theories of Creation" was published by a small group of people. A group of students at a small college were enthusiastic about the intellectual and scientific basis of the writings and started a study group around the topic. They were joined by others and small debates became large hot issues. When certain religious organizations got wind of the activities, the controversies were glamorized and exploited by the media. The moment of sensationalism started a movement that quickly gained momentum. To make matters worse, the scientific community became very defensive and vocal. When the movement was given the name "Spiritual Intellectualism" by the media, it became a world event. Sides were drawn. None could have predicted the harsh reality that would come to past.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
RAYMOND<br />
"There have not been many philosophers in the history of Man", said his father. "Each life seems so short and so full of distractions that the individual seldom has time or makes effort to search for life's meaning and purpose. We are forced by the pressures of survival to put practicality over abstract values and principles. We live in the reality of everyday existence, and die in the finite blink of an eye, relative to the time we have on Earth. We draw our own conclusions to our own ideas of the meaning and purpose of life and bring those thoughts to the grave with us".<br />
<br />
This was a rare moment. Jonathan's father never said much and always seemed out of touch with the world. His father was soft spoken and hard to hear, so many did not make the effort. His father seldom expressed strong opinions because he always gave too much credit to opposing views, and so, often took neutral ground. Hence, few placed much value in his opinions or even pursued his opinion. His father did not assert leadership or authority, and so, was deemed irresponsible and timid. The world his father lived in was not the same world as the rest of mankind, and he was not much noticed. Jonathan had the privilege of knowing him.<br />
<br />
"Why is it so important to know"?, asked Jonathan. Jonathan was aware this talk was a rare moment of intimacy.<br />
<br />
"Because we have intelligence and knowing will help us formulate our own life", his father replied.<br />
"What the hell is he talking about"?, Jonathan thought. "I don't understand"? He said.<br />
<br />
"If Man knew why he existed and for what he existed, the way he lived his life may change. To not try to know makes life and the values in life senseless and we just live and die in vain", his father responded, wondering if his son heard him or really cared. "Understanding to some degree what meaning and purpose is to our heritage as Man warrants seeking out answers and reasons to justify our creation".<br />
<br />
"I never knew my father was so out of touch with life", Jonathan thought. "Does he really think like that? I wondered why he was always so absorbed in thoughts and never taught me much about baseball".<br />
<br />
"Dad, is this really the things you spend your time thinking about?" He asked.<br />
<br />
"I guess I do." his father answered. "I spent too much time thinking about all these abstract things. I know it, but for some reason that is a choice I made in life. It has not been a waste of my time because I think the world is too caught up in realities. That may be why things are so out of hand in the world as I see it today".<br />
<br />
"And you think that knowing why we exist will help the world"? Jonathan asked, knowing he had diverted from the issues his dad was sharing but was still thankful he was even talking to his dad.<br />
<br />
"Much of the beauty of Man is in his abstract ideas, like love, integrity, honor, and things like that. Reality has a way of bringing out the worst in Man. We lie and cheat to survive. We murder and bomb cities to survive. We get greedy and want power. We lose our principles because they get in our way. If we can live to a higher purpose, like knowing what our creator had in mind when we were created, then maybe, just maybe, we could live together better and treat each other better", he said wondering. He had hoped that some of the lessons he had learned in life would rub off on his son.<br />
<br />
"Yeah, we are sort of caught up in things aren't we"?, Jonathan responded. “This is really some deep thoughts in my father”, he thought. "Do you really think that answers exist"? He said.<br />
<br />
"They exist but they may be beyond man's intellect or ability to understand. Still, we should try. I always have.", he had given his son a key to himself with this response. “Was his son even interested”? He thought.<br />
<br />
"Yeah, but who has time?", the son answered, not having given the idea much thought himself. It had intrigued him that his father thought like this because his father had always kept thoughts to himself, but he had missed the subtle message his father gave of his strong desire to share.<br />
<br />
The conversation ended like this. It was one of the few times Jonathan had a deep one on one conversation with his dad. The episode hung in his mind like an old photo of locked in memories. He had missed the content of the conversation, but was moved by the fact that his dad had attempted to share the intimacy of his thoughts with him. However, it was the content of this talk that would come back and consume his life in later years. Meanwhile, Jonathan had better things to do.<br />
<br />
<br />
LEGACY<br />
<br />
Jonathan and his brothers were really influenced by his father, although they didn't realize it. Their daily life was run by their mother and their daily living was surrounded by her. His influence was very subtle in their lives and it wasn't until he died and they read what he was really about that they realized and became appreciative of who he was. It was when they read his writings that they saw the character of the man they had lived part of their lives with and had not really known. It was because of his writings that he became a major influence on them in thier later life and was to be a major part of their destiny.<br />
<br />
The subtle influence of Jonathan's dad on his kids was the product of his quiet, peaceful nature. He was always in such quiet control that Jonathan and his brothers received very little discipline from him. His perspective about things was broad minded and reasonable, and he handled situations calmly and gently, never with anger or violence. He gave them their freedom, and encouraged and nurtured the parts of them that was a reflection on their character. He spent little time telling them what to do or how to act, but took great interest in their world and all the parts of their life. The brothers grew up very independent and free-willed. They had the freedom to take responsibility for their own lives and it gave them the self assurance to chose and act for themselves.<br />
<br />
Their mother was also a product of his father’s subtle influences. Her respect and admiration for her husband was apparent. She was the only one who really knew who and what he was, and she defended him as best she could from the misunderstandings that surrounded his actions and motives. She saw his beauty and was hurt by the shortsightedness shown to him by the world around him. She was the product of the abuse of the world before she had met him. She had been brought up in a strict, controlled home and seemed always victim to people telling her how to act and feel. He had liberated her with the same freedom he gave all around him. It was because of the abundant room and respect he gave her that she was able to find herself on her own terms. She was always grateful to him and attributed the peace she had found within herself to him.<br />
<br />
This pair provided the best of care for their kids.<br />
<br />
When Jonathan was 24 years old his father died. It was then that his mother decided to make sure that his kids would get to know who their father really was. She approached them shortly after his funeral.<br />
<br />
"Your father once said that the beauty of life is in the abstract principles, not in the practical realities in life. He coveted these abstract concepts all his life and believed the value in Man lies with these concepts and their relationship to the character of God.", their mother said.<br />
<br />
“He spent a lot of time thinking about these things, and I believe, even trying to live up to these concepts", she continued. Jonathan remembered when he had once tried to talk to him about his thoughts and he had written him off.<br />
<br />
"He wrote down some of his thoughts, and I think you owe it to him and his memory to at least read some of them. Still, its' up to each of you.", she said. It was obvious she would never be over his death, but the firmness of her request made each of them know the importance of their decision to her.<br />
<br />
"Thanks mom, I really want to read them". Jonathan said sincerely, his brothers also immediately assuring her of their willingness also.<br />
<br />
To their surprise, she handed them a folder full of typed and handwritten pages. She was ready and was visibly moved by their quick acquiescence.<br />
<br />
"He didn't date or have order in his writings. They're sometimes hard to read, but if you struggle through them I promise you, you will know your father better", she said.<br />
<br />
Jonathan looked at her. He could see that this was really important to her because it brought a part of her husband back to life. She was truly his soul mate and Jonathan wondered about all the things he didn't know about each of them. He had taken for granted the naturalness of their love and respect for each other. Jonathan also had not know of the deep loss he felt for his dad until that moment. He knew he would honor them both by making a point of her request.<br />
<br />
They didn't know until later what an impact their commitment would play in their life.<br />
<br />
<br />
THE WRITINGS<br />
<br />
The writings revealed an invisible side of their father. They were ideas and concepts dealing with his search for answers to his life and philosophies. There were notes on scientific theories dealing with astronomy, genetics, evolution, and the biochemistry of the brain. There were writings about religious concepts and about the history of Man and his struggles with abstract principles, like love, beauty, character, integrity and free-will. There were examinations of the concepts of righteousness and malice, and the battle that exist within humankind and in individuals. They were the writings of a man searching for meaning and purpose, not only for his life, but for humanity. They reflected a man searching for truth, armed only with his intellectual process and a willingness to make an effort that consumed his life. They reflected a man of reason, attempting to create himself from his philosophy, "it is within us to become the best we can be".<br />
<br />
The brothers learned about their father from these writings. His obsession with an idea he came to early in his life, "that the beauty in Man lies in abstract principles, not in the practicalities of life", was a reoccurring theme that drew him away from the reality of every day life. His character and actions were a validation to his philosophies. A philosophy was not valid unless it was lived, and he struggled to make those abstract principles become a part of him.. They could see him because he was able to make the things he thought as beautiful a part of himself.<br />
<br />
They knew now why their mother wanted them to read his writings. Their father was a quiet, humble man, and the world could not see or recognize who he was. The finer qualities within a person are not easily seen, like kindness, gentleness, honesty and sensitivity. Their father was all of these and more, but was buried in the noise of the world. By the standard of survival in today's society, he was judged timid, unrealistic, too easy-going, irresponsible, and unmotivated. Beauty unseen, beauty unappreciated.<br />
<br />
His latter writings focused on his search for meaning and purpose in life. He felt that if we could answer the question of what we are, we might be able to get insight into why we exist. If we could know why we exist, then we could live our lives with focus. The vanity of meaningless repetitive wars and religious beliefs, prosperity and poverty, health and disease, and life and death may be resolved. The value and quality of life could become better with answers. It was a quest worthy of effort.<br />
<br />
After a time, the brothers discussed his writings. They were all greatly affected by what they read and each had spent considerable time on them. Jonathan and Paul, who was two years younger than Jonathan, and Jason, the baby of the family, being born five years later, rarely spoke of deep issues among themselves. Their ages and maturity level were too different for them to ever find common grounds for discussion. All were well on the way with their lives. Jonathan and Paul deeply entrenched in college, and Jason just starting. It seemed the first time they had interacted with each other as equals and the intimacy they shared with their dad's writings created a profound sense of brotherhood.<br />
<br />
"It's really weird", said Jason, who always had something to say about everything, "I would have never guessed dad was so deep".<br />
<br />
"I know", said Paul, who was always the most quiet of the three. "He was pretty impressive, the way he explained and thought out everything".<br />
<br />
"Mom said that he didn't share his writings with anyone, even her", Jonathan added. "She always knew he was deep and to himself, but even she didn't read all his writings until after he died"<br />
.<br />
"But she really knew him pretty well, didn't she"? Jason responded, not entirely sure after what Jonathan had said.<br />
<br />
"She said she knew him, but not about all his philosophies and ideas about life and creation. He really did all that thinking for himself. It was his way to know and improve himself", Jonathan said. He was closest to his mom, especially after the funeral. She had spent time talking about his dad to him a couple of times. The writings had really drawn all of them closer together.<br />
<br />
"What did you think about his theories of creation"? asked Paul.<br />
<br />
"Incredible!", Jonathan quickly commented.<br />
<br />
"They are kind of scary, too. I wonder how he came up with them? I saw his notes and he really studied a lot, but they don't really give clues that could lead up to those theories. I also didn't know dad was so religious", Jonathan added. He had seen his father's religious character, but his father didn't go to church and was very quiet about his faith and beliefs. Still he could tell from his writings that his father had a natural, unquestioned faith in God.<br />
<br />
"You know, it's weird, but I think a lot of his writings kind of lead up to his theories. The creation stuff has a different tone than his other type writings. They seem to come from nowhere but contain the elements of his studies. I wish he was here to explain them to us". Jason said. He was as mystified by those theories as the other brothers were.<br />
<br />
"Dad had written that answers to questions would not come by intellect or imagination, but by inspiration. Maybe that was it. Maybe he sought inspiration to resolve his life's quest for truth"? Jonathan responded<br />
.<br />
"You know, maybe we should show them to someone"? Jason asked. "What do you think"?<br />
<br />
"I guess so"? Jonathan responded. "What about you, Paul"?<br />
<br />
"Okay". Paul quickly added. "Maybe a minister or something"?<br />
<br />
The innocence of that conversation could never forecast the turn of events that were to come to past. Coupled with the naive and innocuous manner in which they pursued the topic, was the purity of their intent to discover more about their father. Each pursued separate paths for opinions of their dad's theories, each with differing and astounding repercussions.<br />
<br />
<br />
IMPACT<br />
Jason was excited to share his dad's theories of creation with his bible study group. He knew from experience that it would spark some pretty energetic debate. He was surprised to find it did more than expected.<br />
<br />
"That's garbage", said Jim, one of his most outspoken friends of the group. "There is absolutely no biblical foundation for most of the writings. It is a lame attempt to put together modern science and biblical precepts".<br />
<br />
"But I find it interesting", said Barbara, with characteristic opposition. "It's really hard to just forget your intellect and blindly believe unbelievable stories. Read it again!".<br />
<br />
Jason read it again. The group listened more intently, trying to capture the complex essence of the writings.<br />
The group consisted of Jason's friends from high school and church. They were all about his age between 19 to 21 years old. All were interested enough in religion to be part of the weekly meetings. Barbara, Joanne and Christy were the only girls, surrounded by Jason and five other guys Jason hung out with. The group was cemented by Jim and Christy, whose solid religious background kept the group in focus, and more importantly, together. Though the others did not share Jim and Christy's deep commitment to their Christianity, they were still extremely interested and involved to various degrees.<br />
<br />
"Wait, a person can't just throw around theories about creation and not take the bible and our fundamental beliefs into account. These things contradict what the bible says and are dangerous". Jim responded, immediately after the second reading. This time it was obvious that he was somewhat shaken by what he heard.<br />
<br />
"Is it all that contradictory? I mean, I believe in evolution and genetics and don't think they contradict the bible. I agree I don't understand a large part of it, but I like the fact that it acknowledges God the creator and asserts the necessity for Faith". Jack said. Jack was always the skeptic on many issues, but the definite intellectual of the group.<br />
<br />
"Where is Jesus? Where is Adam and Eve? Where is Genesis"? asked Christy. "Still, I like the parts about surrendering to God's love and acceptance through Faith. Where did you get this"?<br />
<br />
"My dad wrote it", Jason responded. Not sure about acting with pride or embarrassment over the issue.<br />
<br />
"My dad was very religious, and these writings are intellectual theories he wrote before he died. I am not defending or condemning them, they are theories, his ideas. I think they are very insightful in some ways". Jason added, deciding on the offensive.<br />
<br />
Against the judgement of Jim, the group went over the issues in the writings one by one. The diversity of opinions was unbelievable. Nobody could have predicted this response. The group lost their unity and was polarized by the needs of the individuals to have their diverse opinions heard. Everyone seemed to have opinions. Everyone quickly formed, either a strong offensive or protective defensive stand. The most prevalent phrases were, "That's not in the bible", "maybe that could be true", "The science seems sound", and "Where did he come up with that"? It could have been fun and interesting, but emotions were too intense and the group broke up frustrated, exhausted, and definitely stimulated.<br />
<br />
Paul took the writings of his father to a minister. He was cautious and reluctant as he approached the subject because he knew he carried a loaded gun. He, personally, was open-minded about his dad's theories, but anticipated a strong reaction from his minister, whom he respected as a firm, somewhat conservative leader of his church. The reaction was more than he expected and like Jason he was required to spell out each aspect of the writing, repetitiously.<br />
<br />
"My dad was always into studying science and was a very humble Christian person", Paul stated, defensively. "My brothers and I were not aware of his writings until after he died. My mom insisted we read them out of respect for him. And we did. I was wondering if you could give me your opinion about one of his writings, called, "theories of creation”?<br />
<br />
"I'd be happy to", replied Pastor John Ellison. He knew Paul as a quiet, friendly, polite and respectful young man, who was not very active in church but was usually there. Paul and his brothers were part of the church, but he didn't think he ever met their father. The youngest, Jason was fairly active with the youth group, but he had not seen Paul's mother or older brother for a long time.<br />
<br />
"Thanks", Paul said and immediately started to read.<br />
<br />
"My brothers and I never really knew my dad thought about such things", Paul said to break the uncomfortable quiet that followed his reading. "This may not have been such a good idea", he thought.<br />
<br />
Pastor Ellison was stunned. He had no idea he was getting into this type of thing. He was a committed Christian almost all his life. He studied the bible well and preached with authority. He was comfortable in his role and felt the security of his beliefs. He knew he needed to respond cautiously, and for this youngster before him, clearly.<br />
<br />
"You said your father was a Christian, didn't you"? He spoke after a moment.<br />
<br />
"Yes, I think from this and his other writings, that he was a very strong Christian, with a strong belief and faith in God.", replied Paul.<br />
<br />
"I can see some of that, but he seems to also be very scientific, and there has always been some dissension between the bible and science. I would tend to want to be very careful about theories that try to combine the two. Could you re-read some of his writings and we'll go through it more in detail"? Pastor Ellison responded. He was actually getting pretty excited about the prospect of matching his theological expertise with these seemingly very erudite, controversial theories.<br />
<br />
"First of all is that these theories are not very biblical. Creation is stated very differently in Genesis and your father's accounts of creation are more scientific and very speculative". He continued, as Paul read specific segments of the writing at request.<br />
<br />
Paul could see the minister picking up momentum as he spoke. He remained silent and only read when requested, without giving his opinions, or challenging anything the minister said.<br />
<br />
"The link of Man to God through genes is pure nonsense. There is absolutely no indications in the bible about this or the possibility of this. He also goes even further by interpreting the fall of Man to sin by genetic mutation. And then, to link spiritualism to behavior, controlled by what he calls "genetic makeup" is pure speculation.", the pastor was on a heated roll.<br />
<br />
"I think these theories are unfounded and contradictory to Christian beliefs. I think they may be dangerous and, maybe, they should be destroyed before damage is done. In any regards, I don't care to hear more", Pastor Ellison concluded. He was now visibly shaken, though he was trying very hard to down play the emotions that ran rampant in his mind. "My God, he thought. "Where did he come up with these ideas"?<br />
<br />
"Thanks, pastor", responded Paul, anxious to leave. No way did he wish to respond to the anxiety he could see in the minister. He politely thanked him again and said he would think about what he had been told.<br />
<br />
The experiences of Jonathan was quite different from Jason and Paul. He shared his father's writings with his friends in college. Jonathan was not well suited for the freedom of college life. His friends were classmates, which shared the intensity of study and class projects together. Their relationship was centered on their common ground of their major in science, being, mainly, the undergraduate classes of biology, chemistry and physics. There was little social interactions in this small group, of what could be termed scientific nerds.<br />
<br />
He first shared the writings with his roommate, a shy, introverted, intellectual competitor in all his classes. This was not a topic or type of personal sharing they ever did. Jonathan was uncomfortable, but really wanted to know the opinions of his classmate, Jerry.<br />
<br />
"Jerry, you know when my dad died, my mom made us read some of the things my father used to write about. He wrote this one paper on theories of creation that was pretty far out. My dad studied a lot and was pretty deep and I wondered if you'd be interested in hearing about his theories? They're pretty scientific, but also religious", Jonathan said. "How about I get you a beer and read them to you"?<br />
<br />
"Sure", responded Jerry. He was pleased to have an opportunity to get to know Jonathan a little better. Jonathan had always been a quiet, reserved type. Very hard to get to know. He certainly had never spoke about his dad before.<br />
<br />
"Its pretty complex, but short", Jonathan responded, wondering if he was asking too much of his friend, or if his friend would think his dad ridiculous. He began reading, slowly.<br />
<br />
"Now that's really something", his friend replied, after Jonathan had finished. "Did your dad really write that? I don't think I ever heard anything like that before. What kind of man was your dad, a minister or something?"<br />
<br />
"No", responded Jonathan, rather pleased at the obvious interest. "He was just a guy who worked all his life as a car mechanic. He was a great father, but kept pretty much to himself".<br />
<br />
"He sure was deep", Jerry said.<br />
<br />
"Yah, I guess so. I really didn't find out until I read his writings, after he died. I remember he once tried to talk to me about things, but I didn't listen much", Jonathan continued. He was embarrassed that he had not known his father better, when he was alive. He would have loved to talk to him now.<br />
<br />
Jonathan read the writings again at Jerry's request and they discussed all the aspects and implications in a very intimate fashion. Jerry's interest intensified the more they got into the fashion his dad had interwoven religion and science. He shared with Jonathan his skepticism of religion, but said he was still open and ready if he could get beyond doubts. It was the greatest of time they shared together, for they both shared their beliefs and feelings. They began to know each other for the first time.<br />
<br />
"You know, some of the others may be interested in your father's writings. Would you be willing to let them hear it"? Jerry asked after a time.<br />
<br />
"Yah, but it's a little awkward. You set it up and tell them beforehand what their getting themselves into so they can say no easily, okay”? Jonathan cautiously responded. The dice were thrown.<br />
<br />
The group of classmates got together, rather eagerly, to Jonathan's surprise. Jerry had spread the word quickly to their friends about a discussion to take place in the library's conference room. The topic: "A Theory of Creation" by Raymond Lockwood.<br />
<br />
Jonathan was taken aback by the proceedings. He had supposed an informal discussion with his friends, much like the great talk he and Jerry had shared. Instead it was more like a presentation, with his friends and a few others he didn't really know. His friends had brought friends, and others had heard and were interested. Still, in his shyness, Jonathan was intent on making sure this did not get blown out of proportion.<br />
<br />
"I'm sorry, Jon", said Jerry, knowing Jonathan did not want this much response. "I only told a few, informally, and I didn't expect this either".<br />
<br />
"I guess its too late now", Jonathan said with resignation. "Could you make some copies of this paper for whoever asks"?<br />
<br />
The discussion started. About 15 of them. Most were close friends, but the others were intimidating to Jonathan. He wanted just a friendly discussion of opinions, not argument, and certainly, not judgement. After he had read his fathers's writings the first time, it was apparent he was going to get more than opinions, arguments and judgments. He found that tampering with a person's basic beliefs was a very intimate and emotional experience, and emotions ran high that day.<br />
<br />
"I thought this was going to be about creation, not God", said one of Jonathan's friends. "A lot of us here don't believe, or don't know much about religion. This stuff isn't science, it's theology". Jonathan recognized him as one of the top students in many of his classes.<br />
<br />
"But it is about creation", argued another classmate. "The modern concepts of creation are an integral part of the paper, but God is acknowledged as the creator. I think it's pretty neat the way the two are integrated into a somewhat coherent theory".<br />
<br />
"But it doesn't fit in with the pure scientific views on creation by adding the element of God, nor does it fit in with the biblical accounts of creation by adding current scientific facts", said somebody.<br />
<br />
"It's not coherent, it's against the concepts of creation by God, as I've always believed them. I think his theories are nonsense".<br />
<br />
"I've always tried to believe the bible, but things like evolution and the new discoveries about the universe and it's creation have always confused me. A lot of these ideas make more sense".<br />
<br />
"I think this is about a man who tried to make sense out of science and religion".<br />
<br />
"I think this may be about a man who is just adding confusion and controversy to an already confusing issue in the bible".<br />
<br />
"But it is an attempt to try to understand Man and God’s creation on an intellectual, scientific basis. Some of it seems kind of way out, but at least someone tried. The author seems very religious and scientifically knowledgeable”.<br />
<br />
"No, no, no, this is heresy"! the shout stilled the quickly building dialog.<br />
<br />
Jonathan was disturbed by the controversy his dad's writings had caused. He wanted to discuss the theories not argue the topic of science and religion. He had been naive to expect reasoned intellectual dialog. He was getting an unwanted, ever progressive, heated argument. He tried to slow things down He tried to keep things in perspective.<br />
<br />
"Hold on, listen. My dad was a very religious and intellectual man. He studied a lot about science and other things. I don't think he ever meant his writings to be shared, but were probably just a way he tried to explain things for himself. Remember, he wrote them as theories", Jonathan spoke up, much louder than he usually spoke. This was startling to those who knew him better.<br />
<br />
It didn't work. The conversation again rose to heated comments with emotions and frustrations elevating. Ideas and opinions were in abundant supply. The group tore into the writings and into each other with reckless disregard. In the mist of this chaotic atmosphere, were a small minority of 3 or 4 who said nothing, but just listened. Among these few were the seeds of blowing this small meeting to proportions not imagined by any in the group.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
THE SEEDS<br />
<br />
"It was five years ago", Jonathan stated. "It was shortly after my dad died, my brothers and I talked to a few people about his writings. There was some controversy, but it seemed to have died down. After my brothers and I talked, we decided to drop the matter".<br />
<br />
"Didn't you know that the matter wasn't dropped"? the reporter persisted. "Your dad's writings were passed on. How did that happen"? The reporter was from a small liberal paper and had been assigned the task of looking into the origins of the "Spiritual Intellectualism" movement. He had traced Lockwood's paper to his son.<br />
<br />
"I think I did it", said Jonathan, realizing that he had given copies of his dad's paper to a few who had attended his discussion. He didn't give the matter much thought at the time. He briefly explained to the reporter about the responses he and his brothers had got.<br />
<br />
"A few people asked for copies of my dad's paper after we had discussed it in a small meeting with a group of my friends. A few people I didn't know were also there", Jonathan continued. "I didn't think it mattered much".<br />
<br />
"Was a Jenny Richards there"? the reported asked. "She seems to have talked to others and passed on copies of the paper. From there, someone printed it on the internet. That's all it took for the word to spread. Didn't you know this"?<br />
<br />
"No, I was busy with college and had put the matter on hold. I remember my brothers and I had felt pretty intimidated by the discussions we had about my dad's writings and we decided to keep things to ourselves from then on", Jonathan said.<br />
<br />
"Probably smart", the reporter quickly responded. "But nevertheless, they did get exposed and in a big way. Many people picked up on the writings and responded. Over the years, dialog about your dad's theories have created quite a stir, not only in religious circles, but in the scientific community as well".<br />
<br />
"An organization called "Spiritual Intellectualism" or "SI" for short got started. They were immediately confronted by other organizations, mainly religious groups, but also a few outspoken scientific organizations and even politicians. The situations starting to get pretty ugly now", the reporter explained. He could tell that Jonathan didn't have a clue about what was going on.<br />
<br />
"You've got to be kidding", Jonathan interceded. "I have studied my dad's writings and I know he just wanted to somehow try to make sense out of the facts he knew about science and the beliefs he had about God. I know he wouldn't have wanted people to take his ideas and turn them into controversies, or especially have them get out of hand. This is ridiculous"!<br />
<br />
"Regardless", the reporter responded. "That is exactly what seems to be happening".<br />
<br />
Jonathan had heard enough. He dismissed the reporter and called his brothers.<br />
<br />
Jonathan and his brothers had all gone on to college. They had grown closer through their fathers writings, but did not keep close touch with each other. Jason had gone into the ministry and now had a small church in a small suburban community, not far from home. Paul had graduated and taken courses in physical therapy. He was married with a small son, the only nephew, and worked in the medical center near their mother's home.<br />
<br />
Jonathan was the one who shared his father's interest in science. He had gone on to graduate in genetics and was specializing in behavioral genetics. The intimacy of the profound revelations in his field of study drew him closer to realization of the implications of his dad's theories. As he had read and studied about his father's search for answers, he was also caught up in the same questions and mysteries, and had formed a bond with him that kept his father very much alive in his mind.<br />
<br />
Jonathan was like his father in other ways. As he studied his father's writings and came to know him better, he formed a deep respect and admiration for the man he had not known, while he was alive. In his writings, his father had written about principles and he had incorporated them into his life. In his writings, his father had written about character and had worked to form his character along the lines he reasoned as beautiful. In his writings, his father had defined a way of life, patterned after the concepts of righteousness and his religious beliefs and had actively pursued that life. The recorded struggles, frustrations, and failures only made his dad more real and his accomplishment more astounding. Jonathan took his father's writings to heart and modeled his life after him, as best he could.<br />
<br />
"Jason, call Paul and come to my place. We need to talk." Jonathan solemnly said. His tone was an instant alert to Jason.<br />
<br />
"What's up, Jon", responded Jason. "You sound serious, is something wrong?"<br />
<br />
"Yah, I just talked with this reporter and he said that dad's writings about creation are causing problems. We need to talk. Come over as quickly as possible", Jonathan stated, not hiding his rising anxiety.<br />
<br />
When his brothers came to talk, Jonathan described his conversation with the reporter. He could not hide the anxious premonitions he felt. The brothers responded with the same contagious alarm that Jonathan conveyed. Jason had heard the term "spiritual intellectualism" before, but had not related it to his dad's writings, or given it much thought. Paul was like Jonathan and was surprised that the innocent inquiries of their past were still around and had gained any attention. He also had misgivings about what they may have started, but it was Jason who showed the most reaction.<br />
<br />
"Did he say what religious organizations"? Jason asked. He had suppressed his personal thoughts of his dad's theories all through his college seminary classes, but well knew the religious history of mankind and the malicious forces of tampering with beliefs.<br />
<br />
"No, I didn't ask", responded Jonathan. "I just wanted to talk with you guys after I had heard what was happening. I instinctively didn't want to discuss things with a reporter".<br />
<br />
"What do think is going to happen", asked Paul. He had also suppressed his father's writings in his life. His interest had focused on work and family, and he, like the others was forming a growing picture of apprehension and concern. His thoughts were on the preservation of his world.<br />
<br />
"We know dad wrote his stuff for himself", answered Jason. "He certainly didn't want this kind of thing to take place, and neither did we. There must be a way to try to keep this in perspective".<br />
<br />
"I told that to the reporter", responded Jonathan. "But I don't think it's in his or our hands. We better see how far this as gotten, fast. You guys need to know that I was the one who pasted out the copies of dad's writings, I'm sorry".<br />
<br />
The brother's alarm was soon justified when they found out what was happening behind their backs. The internet had a complete copy of Ray Lockwood's "Theories of Creation", available to anyone. The group of "Spiritual Intellectualism" had sprung from the "talk rooms" and dialog generated on the internet, from which the term was coined. The "SI" groups had evolved, initally in colleges, but was gaining momentum in other intellectual circles. The movement was strongly criticized and condemned by many religious organizations, initially the "creationist" and eventually into the more conventional religious groups. The seed they had planted was germinating<br />
.<br />
The brothers were appalled at the reactions, but could not have been ready for what was to happen when the media took over.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
THE CONFLICT<br />
<br />
The cool, still night was disturbed by the muffled whispers of men, dressed in dark clothes, quietly moving in the darkness of the moonless sky. Each carried a deadly bottle, filled with gasoline and soaked rags. On a signal, they ignited and threw their bottles through windows of the small house before them and ran to the waiting car. The quiet of the night was shattered, the darkness lit by the flames, scourging rapidly throughout the house.<br />
<br />
The crash of shattered glass woke the elderly lady. Startled by the noise, she lay still, immobilized by the quickness of events. Her senses immediately alerted her to the sounds and smell of fire. As she moved to the bedroom door, she was met by the sickening heat of the fire that raged throughout her small house. Flames and such intense smoke and heat reached out to her. She collapsed to be further fuel for the liquid fire.<br />
<br />
The war had begun. The innocence and naivety of Jonathan and his brothers were completely shattered with the death of their mother. They had tried hard to stay out of the controversies and arguments that raged around them. They had learned their lesson well when the reporter that Jonathan had spoken to wrote of the Lockwood's involvement with their dad's writings and exposed them to the world. The small article was picked up and spread throughout the media network. The small news of a relatively small group became big news and "Theories of Creation" was public and exploited. The Lockwood family was forced to resist the inquisitive hoards. At first, it was impossible to hide from the media hounds. The family's only defense was that they really were not a part of the SI group, or a part of the theories of their dad, at all. After a while, the news lost interest in them, because they were not interesting, and life became easier.<br />
The shocking death of their mother drove a spike into the hearts of the Lockwood brothers. They had become victims and were forced to respond and survive. Their naive innocence had destroyed their lives and they were force to hide their identity within the vastness of the world. The brothers and their families each scattered to protect themselves and their families, vowing to never lose each other, or to mention their father, or his writings, to others.<br />
<br />
However, the worldwide exposure was rapidly turning the issues into a war. Sides were being drawn, even for those who had no real opinion. To remain neutral, or open, was not acceptable by many. Factions within the religious community defended their beliefs by being intolerant to any stand on spiritual intellectualism, except total rejection. Scientists, who were only concerned with pure science and not religion, were faced with the same condemnations as the SI groups. If you were not outspoken against the "theories," you were against them. If you were open to any aspect of the writings, you were against them. If you defended the writings, or were connected with the SI in any way, you were the enemy.<br />
<br />
The pressurized political community and the consolidated religious community quickly squashed the "SI" movement. The organized strength of the opposition met no groups of resistance. None could or would defend "theories" against the outrage of the strong resolve of the religious leaders and the compliant public servants, the politicians. Even the "free" media could not withstand the concerned public pressures to keep the issue open and reasonable. The assassination of the one lone member of the Lockwood family was a symbol of the ultimate repercussion of resistance, and none would dare realistically seek out vindication for its injustice. The Spiritual Intellectualism movement soon disappeared from public notice and was soon lost to the continuous trauma of world events.<br />
<br />
In time, the Lockwood family rejoined the world. They were not the same.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
JONATHAN<br />
For years, Jonathan was besides himself about the death of his mom. He blamed himself and could not resolve the issue of his guilt. His brothers were concerned, but were unable to reason or convince Jonathan of his innocence or lack of responsibility for the malicious acts of a few. In some ways the total responsibility Jonathan took, and the arguments they used to try to placate Jonathan, helped them come to terms with their own issues. However, they could not reach Jonathan and he, ultimately, needed to come to grips with his problems on his own. Time became the great healer. It was a band-aid not a cure. The effects of the incident were to form his life.<br />
<br />
Jonathan resembled his father. He was tall and lanky and, like his father, had strongly chiseled features of character and experience on his face. More significantly, he was like his father in other ways also. His experience with his father's writings had molded his persona. He had incorporated into his character the same inquisitiveness and philosophies that he had learned from his father's many writings. He shared his father's love of science and exploration into the issues of human mysteries and the same passions as his father had, stirred within him. His need for justification of the fate of his mother spurred him to even greater, more energetic resolve to seek out some kind of understanding of the issues that he had exposed to the world.<br />
<br />
Jonathan grew to understand his father. He recognized the beauty of his father's quest for answers and developed a deep respect for the time and efforts his father made to try to find some kind of resolution to the mystery of humanity's value and purpose. The collections of facts and concepts of both science and religions had led to the writing of the "theories of creation". Jonathan now understood what his father was attempting to do. He was using his reason to try to come up with a viable explanation for the nature of Man and his relationship to God. His father was a man of deep faith, but believed that the foundations of that faith incorporated, rather than negated, the use of reason and evidence. The open-minded attitudes of the inquisitive scientist could not be accepted by the narrow-minded, ritualistic, dogmatic theologian. Likewise, the magnificent, scientific breakthroughs in theories and discoveries of the scientist could not invalidate the beauty of spirituality and righteousness found in theological tradition. His father had created a "theory" for himself. It was the beginning of his way to understand God as he learned more about Man and the magnificence of the creation around us. It was a theory that would grow and change as his father learned more. Always new wonders of discovery lead to more enlightenment into the nature of God and his creation. The least reasonable thing he could do was to let his intellect and reason lead him further from God. The utter complexity of science explained the divinity of creation.<br />
<br />
The writings laid a foundation for Jonathan's own growth. He was forced to look deeply into his own philosophies and motives for living. He was not about to run away from his father's ideas and insights into living with purpose and pursuing knowledge as an adjunct to faith. The mysteries of existence drew him into a whirlpool of questions and quiet mental introspection. The extraordinary task his father had pursued became a part of him. It was a truth he could not ignore. It was a path he was compelled to follow. Jonathan labored and found the serenity of character his father had always displayed. He, like his father, struggled and failed, and struggled again and again, to be who he wanted to be, and to live his life to a higher set of ideas, the abstract principles over the practical reality. And like his father, he also became a very solitary person, always seemingly outside of world events and social conformity. It seemed the price to pay for spending so much time in thought and contemplation. It created a beauty within him, but also left an emptiness, felt by the need to share and to quench the loneliness he felt. That painless, intrusive ache was always amplified by his remembrance of the time his father had tried to share his thoughts with him. Jonathan resolved not to let opportunity escape him again. He honed his ability for perception and sensitivity, so as to, not miss the importance of a moment. In his current life style Jonathan had plenty of time to himself. He took time to think, to be sensitive to the people and events around him, and to pursuer answers to the questions his father and he had made their life's purpose. Jonathan no longer had just the same physical carriage of his father, he also was like his father in character. The realization of this likeness was a source of great pride to Jonathan.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
JENNY<br />
"Man has a strong tool for survival", Jonathan stood before a huge assembly of his peers addressing them with the confident manner of a seasoned speaker<br />
. <br />
"We possess intellect and the ability to reason, but we squander away this gift on our petty vanities, our consistent need for conformity and social acceptance, and a displaced sense of self survival. Our genetic heritage gives us the intelligence and the free-will to create our own identity, unique to ourselves, and use our ability to process and discover, and even to believe, so humanity can grow and succeed as a species. Perhaps, that unique genetically designed heritage of intellect will help us find our place in the history of the world, and allow us to be part of the destiny of the universe. Thank you".<br />
<br />
Jonathan had given the audience the key to all his philosophy. It was presented to his audience as his father had at one time given him the opportunity to share his thoughts with him. An opportunity he had lost due to his lack of focus on a message too subtle and masked for him to realize it's importance. He gave a brief, daring message. Now Jonathan knew as his father probably did, that nobody could hear his masked plea to share his innermost thoughts. He too had sent a message nobody could hear.<br />
<br />
Jenny sat in the back. She had come to hear this man who was in some way a part of her life. She had come to hear Jonathan Lockwood, the son of Raymond Lockwood.<br />
<br />
She did not understand most of Jonathan's presentation. He had talked of the affects of certain biochemicals on brain function and had inferred that the gene that expressed those proteins was unique to the human genetic map. He was deeply engrossed in the relationship of certain types of human behavior, unique to Man, that was now defined to be genetically linked. The larger implication of his presentation was that Man's ability for some of the higher ideas, like kindness, generosity and, maybe even love, were linked to the biochemistry of the brain and to specific sites of the human gene. In the process of the strict scientific protocol of data and evidence, much of that implication was lost in a sea of complicated scientific nomenclature. Nevertheless, Jenny found herself both excited and intensified by Jonathan's data.<br />
<br />
The manner in which Jonathan ended his presentation was not missed by Jenny. He had struck her with a warm feeling of enlightenment, much like the first time, when she had heard him read his father's writing on the "Theory of Creation", so many years ago. It was a recognition of the father, in the son. He had confirmed a hope she had held onto with the tenuous belief that their was more to Jonathan's father's writings then she had known. It was an affirmation to the struggles she had endured to maintain the integrity of her beliefs against the ridicule and logic of the masses, against the social and legal pressures she faced, against the arguments and censor of her friends and family, and against the persecution by the religious community. She had fought her battles with the dignity and resolve that she had always had. She was her own person and gave nobody the rights to her thoughts.<br />
<br />
Jenny could barely still the rush of emotions she felt pounding in her breast. She knew Jonathan was like his father. Her mind cried out, "he is like his father, he is like his father, he is like his father". It was a wonderment she could not contain. A single tear, an outward sign of the emotions raging inside her, escaped, symbolizing the years of frustrations and quiet perseverance she had endured. This was more important because it was beyond Jenny's nature to make an outer display of her inner self. A tear that represented a joy she felt, gathering like a balloon, ready to burst. She was frozen to her seat.<br />
<br />
The crowd was dispersing, slowly, with noisy, undefinable, non-communications in the distance. Jonathan gathered his papers, lingered behind. He moved methodically, with a posture of non- recognition of himself, or of his place of former prominence. He approached Jenny without a glance.<br />
<br />
There are moments that define a life, capturing time, and making the memories of the moment a spectacle in a lifetime of banality. There are moments of such richness that it's fullness will be a standard throughout a life. Such was the moment when Jonathan looked up and saw Jenny.<br />
<br />
"Dr. Lockwood, could I speak to you", Jenny stammered. She had seen him coming, ambling nonchalantly down the aisle, moving to her. The necessity to have the opportunity to talk with him created an unexpected anxiety and urgency in her that was out of proportion for the moment and caused of an out of character panic to her. She knew how to stop him.<br />
<br />
"Dr. Lockwood, I knew your father and was hoping you could spare some time to talk to me about him"? she quickly lied.<br />
<br />
Jonathan's gaze moved to Jenny. He was startled by the mention of his father. He stared at the face of Jenny, immediately captivated by her eyes. Her eyes captured the importance of the moment, revealing an undisguised plea for recognition, but also betraying the boldness and challenge in her request. His mind raced with questions. "My father? my father?, who could possibly know my father in this setting?, she could hardly know my father at her age? who is she?, what connection could she have with my father"? Jonathan was intrigued and helplessly replied, "Of course, what do you know of my father"?<br />
<br />
"Could we find someplace to talk"? Jenny responded, ignoring his question.<br />
<br />
"My name is Jennifer Conners, I heard your presentation. It was excellent.", Jenny continued, having hooked him and was now reeling him in.<br />
<br />
"There's some quiet places near the lobby where we could talk", Jonathan responded. He knew he was being held in check and could hardly wait to question this girl, but knew he would find out about her in time, his patience strained. He quickly and silently led the way.<br />
<br />
The prevalence of commonplace events compel a modifying of intensity of emotions to preserve energy and sanity. Jonathan was good at modification, however, all possibility of just another discussion of his expertise in behavioral genetics was lost by Jenny's mention of his father. Jonathan was thrown on alert and his honed senses were activated. He could not ignore the intensity of the moment. He saw Jenny.<br />
<br />
Jenny, too, was caught up in the intensity of the moment. Her mind racing to figure out her next move. She was sweep up by the melodramatic turn of events. Her life had focused on her need to know and understand things about existence and meaning. She had been deeply affected by the writings of Jonathan's father, which validated the freedom of reason she had given herself, but was unable to expose. His writings had become a focal point for her to explore and freely expand her own realm of reason and reasonableness. The boldness of the writings gave her license for bold speculations, requiring only reasonableness, not proofs or confirmities. She had been held in check by the mass hysteria that followed publication of the "theories", but, though beaten down, was not out. This coming moment was her attempt to negate the loss of freedom, and the feelings of isolation and loneliness she felt, and to recapture the sense of validation and definition for her life. The moment meant everything.<br />
<br />
They sat in a pair of comfortable chairs near the lobby, oblivious to their busy surroundings.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
MOMENTS<br />
<br />
Now face to face, the importance of the moment captured them in a progression of events that was essentially beyond their control, but they both somehow knew would define the rest of their lives. Jonathan was caught in an ambiguous maze of thoughts of his deep, intimate relationship with his father, and his writings, and the guilt associated with the tragedy of his mother. Jenny was filled with both apprehension and hopeful anticipation that she could find out more about Jonathan's father, and the connection between them, and maybe make sense out the profound affect the writings of Raymond Lockwood had on her life. Neither could mask the torrent of emotions inside them.<br />
<br />
Jenny, quickly assessing the situation and Jonathan. She knew it was no time to play around with fancy manipulation of words. The penetrating stare of Jonathan was not intimidating to her, but was flattering in it's intimacy and amplitude. Their was no denying his interest and investment in the moment, his eyes betrayed a racing, alert, inquisitive mind, body poised and confident, but also, tense and ready.<br />
<br />
"Dr. Lockwood, I know of your father and your family", she said.<br />
<br />
Jonathan saw Jenny and could easily interpret the hopefulness and neediness she conveyed in her aggressive, direct behavior. Her face was brilliant with admiration, and Jonathan felt an immodest sense of pride in the unsolicited acknowledgment. He was startled by the lack of inhibition in his own response, that was very out character to him. He had a sense of the immensity of the moment because of the unique affect everything this girl said had on him. There was an instant connection to each other and he found himself extremely alive to her.<br />
<br />
"Ms. Conners, did you really know my father?", asked Jonathan, knowing that she certainly could not have known him.<br />
<br />
Jenny had never met anyone like Jonathan. He listened with such intensity, and even more intriguing, was the bold way he stared, seemingly taking in every aspect of her, engulfing her. His communication was at a level she had never experienced, and it created an intensity and intimacy that was both flattering and alarming. Who was this man? His confidence and gentleness in his eyes gave her a sense of comfort, and made it okay for her to express herself with a truth and depth she seldom let escape her. He had a sincerity that seemed to say to her, "talk to me, I'm listening, I care what you say, I'm investing myself in your words".<br />
<br />
"Dr. Lockwood, I know of your father through his writings, and I know what affect his writings had for you and your family. I'm so sorry about the way things turned out.", Jenny cautiously replied.<br />
<br />
Jonathan expanded his perception, which was a technique he had practiced and developed over many years. He knew from experience the effort and extension of himself he would have to expend to consciously maintain focus and awareness. He had learned he could walk into a room and by force of mind take in all aspects of the environment, people, and events occurring around him. It was an extremely powerful tool, which gave him a sort of one-up-man-ship on the rest of, what he thought of as, unconscious people around him. His father had worked on developing sensitivity to others. Jonathan had taken it a step further and had worked on developing his ability to perceive his environment through an extreme conscious effort, using his perceptions as a means to understand the reality he "saw". The problem was he saw too much. Too much was always happening and he could not respond to all the real and petty incidences, emotions, and needs he perceived. The world was too full of sadness and trauma, too full of shortsightedness and insensitivity, too needy for someone to take the time to give a hand, or even understanding, to silent cries for help. And so, Jonathan was forced to turn off and overlook the pains he "saw". The intensity of mind required was like speed reading, a tool that required too much energy to use with consistency. The reality of knowing too much about a person through this developed ability of perception was like Jesus in a colony of lepers being overwhelmed by frustration, regret, and helplessness. In his need to survive, he used his talent sparingly, as when he had a compelling sense of need to capture the moment, like now.<br />
<br />
Jonathan could see the apprehension in Jenny. She had expressed both knowledge and regret in her comments about his father and family, but he could also sense the feeling of her connection to Jonathan in regards to his tragedy. The persistent message he received from her, as seen in the bold frankness of her comments, inferences of commonality, and subtle looks of excitement, anticipation, inquisitiveness, and hopefulness, was that she needed to know of his father. She had some kind of connection with him that was not simplistic and incidental, but was intense and important to her.<br />
<br />
"Thanks, it was such a long time ago, I appreciate your feelings.", Jonathan replied softly. "Ms. Conners, nobody really relates me to my father, how did you know?", Jonathan continued. "I really thought with so much time passed and my distance from my father's writings, nobody could make the connection."<br />
<br />
"I didn't know for sure if you were related to Raymond Lockwood, I just came hoping for the connection. I was at your college when you first spoke of his theories of creation, but as you know, that was so long ago and you and your family disappeared for a time. I thought it was you when I saw you but wasn't sure until hearing your last statement in your presentation", Jenny replied, again cautiously and extremely aware of the microscope she was put under.<br />
<br />
The intensity of his presence was startling. Jonathan focused on the words and expressions, both the verbal and non-verbal communication. He could get inside her head and almost replay the thought processes occurring with every choice of word and pause. "Nobody can listen like this", thought Jenny, "I am like an open book to this man. He reads my thoughts as easy as he hears my words".<br />
<br />
This was the effect Jonathan knew his ability of perception caused. He could not read her thoughts, or even second guess her, but he could catch the magnitude of her expressions. She was intimidated and flattered, and showed no fear or lack of confidence in the apparent exposure of herself. On the contrary, it was like a magnet had drawn them together creating an intimacy neither had ever felt before. The amazement to Jonathan was, as he watched her, she looked back at him.<br />
<br />
She did not talk about his father as he had expected, but about herself, with a boldness and frankness suited to the moment they had created together. The special effect of the moment was not in the few words they had spoken, but in the unspoken recognition and awareness of the importance and impact of the moment and the respectful latitude they both knew they had. They had developed trust in a magical manner.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
A DAY AND A NIGHT<br />
<br />
"Dr. Lockwood, I am a person who has spent her life trying to understand and figure out what life is all about. I always asked "why?" to everything when I was young and drove my dad nuts. When I was young I was interested in astronomy and studied it in college. Everything I learn seems to open up new mysteries to me, and for some reason I am driven to want to know as much as possible. This obsession, or drive, or compulsion, or whatever you call it, has always been a part of me, and has made me feel very different and alone in the world. The time I heard your fathers' writings I felt a strange sense of companionship with him. Until then, none of my friends, family or the world around me seemed to care about the things I constantly thought about". The sense of comfort that Jonathan and her had created had given Jenny license to open her soul to him.<br />
<br />
"She is like my dad", thought Jonathan. "I have created this drive in me, but she, like my father, had always had it"<br />
.<br />
"My dad was very much like you, I guess that it was the basis for him writing his theories in the first place", Jonathan responded. "Where did your curiosity and thoughts lead you"? asked Jonathan, wanting to get to know this girl better and avoid talking about his father for now.<br />
<br />
"I guess I am strange", replied Jenny. "Girls are supposed to play with dolls and worry about boyfriends and later, husbands. I was a weird child and woman. I was too introspective and analyzed everything. I wanted intellectual conversation, not frivolous girl talk and everyday discussion of practicalities. I hungered for deep, meaningful conversation about life and the meaning of life, about religions, about the significance of science to understanding the nature of creation. I never really ever found interest by others, and so, keep to myself. I got some pretty weird responses from others."<br />
<br />
Jonathan remembered his response to his father. He certainly understood her frustration. She spoke with the unspoken hope that Jonathan could hear and understand her words. The humble magnificence of this plea touched Jonathan and he would not lose this opportunity as he had with his dad. "Listen, Ms. Conners, I understand that yearning and hope for someone to talk with. My dad was like you, and I will not let you down", Jonathan said.<br />
<br />
The directness and insight Jonathan gave Jenny caused a stir in her breathe, like a sigh of relief. She was excited and exhilarated by his words. "Dr. Lockwood, what was your relationship to your father"? she questioned, really needing to know to find out exactly what Jonathan had meant when he said "not letting her down".<br />
<br />
The directness of Jenny's question both surprised and pleased Jonathan. Their conversation had started where most never get to. The necessary intimacy of his exposure to her was not lost to him and he carefully answered. "I was not like my father, I became like my father. He once tried to discuss things to me and I was not ready or open to him then. Now I would give my right arm to have the opportunity to talk with him. I am extremely proud to be my father's son", Jonathan confessed.<br />
<br />
"Your father must have been something special to write what he did", replied Jenny. "He was extremely bold in his "theories" and, to me, they expressed the courage of an independent man trying to make sense of his ideas of God and creation. I loved his reasoning and willingness to make speculations and conclusions".<br />
<br />
Jonathan was astonished by Jenny's assessment of his father. She had linked his mind to his character and revealed her knowledge and insight into his writing. "What would she think if she could read all the things his father had wrote:?, he thought.<br />
<br />
"Ms. Conners, were you part of the SI movement"? Jonathan asked, a little astonished by the directness of the question, but wanting her to confirm the obvious.<br />
<br />
"Dr. Lockwood, I was very much a part, and to some extent still am. I'm sorry because I know what that means to you and your family, but your father's "theories of creation" had more impact on me than I could probably explain to you. I was part of a cell and was also victim to the mass hysteria that occurred at the time, many year ago. I was arrested, expelled from college, and watched for many years by so-called, higher authorities. I felt like I was on the run for many years, but never sold myself out to social, religious, and even legal pressures. Even after all these years, I am still very intimidated by what happened".<br />
<br />
"Thank you for your openness and your trust. I think I'm also intimidated by what happened, but am putting it behind me, as much as possible. I would like to know more about you, and will tell you more about my dad. Would you be able to go to lunch with me so we could talk more"? Jonathan responded.<br />
<br />
Jonathan and Jenny talked, through lunch, and then through dinner, and then through a long night; both mesmerized by the ease in which they revealed themselves to each other. A process neither had experienced with anyone before. The magic and intensity continued, and both talked of themselves and their lives with a freedom and closeness born of mutual respect, and listened to each other with intensity and eager interest.<br />
<br />
The majority of life is isolation. This can even occur in a crowded room or in the mist of noisy activity, indeed, many are lost in a mass of company. Likewise, a person is left alone with his innermost thoughts and seldom has opportunity, or makes effort to share; having felt the sting of indifference and insensitivity that encompasses a cold world. Jonathan and Jenny experienced a sensitization to each other and a magical time of mutual trust. This was a time when they could empty their souls in revelations about themselves, their intimate experiences and the emotional mix that came with them. The openness and freedom they gave to themselves was a contagion, that warmly grew to engulf them both.<br />
<br />
Jenny talked of her life, her sad broken marriage, her frustrations with a search for someone to share her ideas and philosophies with, her pain from the sense of injustice she felt from the narrow-mindedness she encountered, and her loneliness after her experiences with SI. She spoke in terms of her feelings, and about the nature of the relationships in her life, and about the things important to her; never really aware that she had never really talked about herself to anyone.<br />
<br />
Jonathan also was able to reveal himself in the comfort of the serenity of the time-space they had created. He told her of his relationships with his brothers and parents, revealing his opportunities lost to youth. He surprised himself by revealing his inability to create a meaningful relationship with any of the girls he dated and explained the feelings he felt about, what he termed, the deficit of "enough". He was always left feeling a void, or missing element, even in the girls he found interesting and attractive. Jonathan also told Jenny of his struggles to define his life, about the quest for a life of principle, and the failures wrought by practicalities. He spoke of religion, and character, and about the things that were important to him, never really aware that he never talked about himself to anyone.<br />
<br />
The stillness of late night pervaded their lives. The timelessness of their fascination with each other was broken by the sudden awareness of their surrounding environment. Neither knew of time, but the awkwardness of intimacy shared in a vacated hotel lobby brought them back to the reality of the rest of the world.<br />
<br />
"Jonathan, can I see you before I leave for home tomorrow? Maybe breakfast?, asked Jenny. "I have something I need to tell you".<br />
<br />
"I'm leaving tomorrow also, how about the hotel restaurant at 8", answered Jonathan. "I can't tell you how much I enjoyed our talk".<br />
<br />
"Me too, I'll see you then, thanks", replied Jenny, now for the first time without words.<br />
<br />
They both walked away, carrying with them the fullness of their experience and a sense of the wonder of it all.<br />
<br />
<br />
BEAUTY<br />
<br />
The night was short for Jonathan and Jenny. Both were so alert and alive in mind, they lay awake and contemplated the conversations and impact they each felt, before succumbing to mental exhaustion. It was in the quiet solitude of their darkened rooms that they first recognized the beauty of their experience. They had shared a unique revealing of their inner selves, and had found a refreshing respite from their long tortured minds.<br />
<br />
Beauty is a relative term, easily defined visually, by art and nature lovers, and by the commercialized physical definitions defined by society. Beauty is not so easily applied to events or the evaluation of a person's character. Beauty seen beyond sight as a perception of a sense of the values in a person and righteousness is possible by closely looking for it. The measure of quality in beauty is the discovery of a beauty that overwhelms and encompasses your senses, and is a rare and precious commodity. This was the beauty Jonathan and Jenny saw in their experience with each other. The awareness of the beauty each saw grew as they realized the nature of the person each had experienced. Jonathan and Jenny had been given freedom from the walls they had never allowed anyone to cross before. They had come to know each other intimately. This had planted seeds within their consciousness which grew to an appreciation and respect for each other. These thoughts took place for each of them, alone in the night.<br />
<br />
"Good mornings, Jonathan", said Jenny to Jonathan, who had a pot of coffee for her.<br />
<br />
"Good morning, Jenny", said Jonathan, trying to hide the emotional rush her presence caused him.<br />
<br />
There were moments of awkwardness, because each knew what had transpired between them and wondered if that reality would turn to fantasy in the morning light. Now things were different inside them. Though unspoken or acted upon, they were very attracted to each other, and neither could overcome the shyness and inexperience that were part of their character. The bond they had created rescued them from themselves.<br />
<br />
"Jenny, I think I have to tell you how amazing last night was to me. I couldn't stop thinking about it last night and I would not have believed such a night possible for me. You are truly a very special person and I'm glad we met", Jonathan said, disturbed that he was so awkward at words that really expressed his feelings.<br />
<br />
"It was like that for me too. I am so used to keeping my thoughts to myself. I never would have imagined anyone could hear me and share with me like you did", replied Jenny, feeling like she could never fully tell him the impact their time together had on her.<br />
<br />
She was quite surprised by the new emotions inside her and way she felt drawn to Jonathan. It was new ground for her and she wondered if the moment was past and they would never see each other again. The thought was intensified by the things she had to tell Jonathan in the brief moments left before the returned to their separate lives.<br />
<br />
"Jonathan, I need to tell you something before we both leave. I owe the truth to you and hope you will understand", Jenny said, flushed with the fearful anticipation that she would destroy all the wonder and magic of the night before.<br />
<br />
"My maiden name is Jennifer Richards, and I was the one who first put your dad's writing on the Internet", Jenny quickly retorted. "I also am still a part of a SI group that has sort of gone underground."<br />
<br />
Jonathan remembered the name as the name mentioned by the reporter, who had alerted him to the SI, long ago. He was trying to evaluate his feelings about her disclosures, but was lost instead, in his feelings for Jenny. He was admiring the honesty and the courage it took for her to reveal her secrets. He had turned his feelings from himself to her and realized the depth of the bond he shared with Jenny. His guilt had been to himself, and over time, he had come to terms with it. He had never blamed the SI groups or the person who started the movement. It was the reality of the media's unconscionable exploitation to create sensationalism by controversy, and the narrow-mindedness of individuals that an unreasoning society creates and reinforces, that Jonathan felt was the real cause of his family's tragedy. He realized that it didn't matter and he desperately needed Jenny to know this.<br />
<br />
"Jenny, listen carefully", Jonathan softly answered, after a brief time.<br />
<br />
"My mothers' death was the result of religious fanatics, not you or myself. I had to learn that and I hope you don't feel any guilt about what happened. My mother died because my father wrote his ideas, and my brothers and I read them, and showed them to others. The media exposed them to the world and the world rejected and condemned them. It was a zealous few who took action. To me it is a tribute you pay to my father with your interest and risk for the sake of his ideas."<br />
<br />
Jenny was mesmerized by Jonathan. He had gently spoken to her and removed a burden from her, only he was capable of doing. She had needed his forgiveness, instead she was given the gift of sensitivity and understanding. Jonathan seemingly knew her mind and fears and seemed intent on soothing and comforting her. He had not shown even the slightest hesitation or doubts in his vindication of her. To the contrary, he was more intent on making her world okay, and being sure she was relieved of her burden. The beauty of Jonathan brought a tear to Jenny's eye.<br />
<br />
Jonathan interpreted the tear he saw as one of relief. He was so glad she understood and would not carry the burdensome guilt, as he had for so long a time.. He saw Jenny as such a remarkable young woman and had never met anyone who had captured him like she had. She looked at him now, and through misty eyes, he caught the sense of her appreciation. He gently reached out to brush away her tear, his hand instead, softly brushing her cheek, and down to trembling lips, lightly touched by his fingertips.<br />
<br />
Jenny was stunned. It was as if she had waited a lifetime for such a touch. The coldness of the world dissolved in the warmth of Jonathan's touch. She had judged Jonathan as a kind, quiet, gentle man but the feel of his hand on her face was of a man of passion and sensitivity. Her body was awakened to that passion and quivered with desires she thought she had long ago relinquished as foolish fantasy. It was just a touch, but to Jenny it was everything.<br />
<br />
Jonathan saw her shiver. He had reached out to her, an impulse, a necessity, to display the affection and sweet emotions boiling inside him. All his life he had lived isolated inside himself, and never reaching out to others. His feelings were always internalized and safely out of view of inspection. His touch was beyond his conservative nature, a tear he never allowed himself to release, a cry for help, unspoken. The beauty of Jenny released him. It was just a touch, but to Jonathan it was the voice inside him, crying to be heard, pleading recognition, needing response.<br />
<br />
Silence can sometimes be a source of communication more profound then the loudest sounds. In the quiet interlude of a touch, love was born.<br />
<br />
"Jenny, I have always been, pretty much of a loner", Jonathan spoke softly. "I have kept my thoughts and ideas to myself, never feeling secure or safe enough to share with anyone. Or maybe never trying to share with anyone. You, somehow, have changed all that and I don't want to intimidate you, but I would really like to see you again. I have to leave soon, but could I call you sometime"?<br />
<br />
Jenny also had to leave soon, but also was very aware of how special what had happened between the two of them was. She responded eagerly, "I would like that very much. You have given me so much in the short time we had together and I would very much like to see you again". Jenny was aware of the feeling of "need" that remained unspoken by her, but she retained the dignity of composure, while an emotional storm rage inside her.<br />
<br />
The awkwardness of their departure was a reflection of their internalization and usual non- display of emotions. It was a natural part of their character and soon the necessities of the real world closed in on them. However, both knew this was not the end, but the beginning.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
UNION<br />
<br />
One plus one equals two, however, the union of Jenny and Jonathan added to much more. Both became much more than they were alone because of the other. The respect they gave each other created a validation, producing the freedom and courage to face themselves and life, and find a quiet peace and confidence within themselves that was a sanctuary from the loneliness and insecurities they had harbored all their lives. Their union melted the feelings of frustration and futility that had plagued their single existence and gave them the resources to grow and to become more than either ever would, or could have, alone. It was maturity, born of a bond and a growing love, that now nurtured and sustained them.<br />
<br />
In his arms, Jenny felt safe.<br />
<br />
"I would not have believed I could find something like this", Jenny spoke, secure and serene in the moments Jonathan and her created together. "I think that most people sell themselves short and never will find what we have".<br />
<br />
"Maybe what we feel is not even close to a normal relationship", Jonathan responded. "I have always seen a shallowness and restlessness in the relationships that I know of".<br />
<br />
"Me too", Jenny replied, thinking of all the people she knew and not able to come up with many good relationships, much less, great ones.<br />
<br />
Jonathan had not been able to get the meeting of Jenny from his mind and had actively sought her out. They had met again, rekindled the rapport that had captured them at the conference, and had continued down a path that led to their predictable commitment to each other. It was the first time Jonathan had ever been so aggressive and assured of his path. It was also the first time Jenny had ever been so sure of anyone and had opened up and let herself be so vulnerable. They had met when both had felt alone and sure that nobody would ever understand or be capable of sharing the things that were important to them. Jonathan was resolved to continue the explorations of the mysteries his father had written about, and Jenny was sure nobody could share her passion for explanations to questions that had plagued her all her life. To each, the existence of the other was a wonder beyond their hopes and expectations. The bond of mind was a key to unlocking their hearts, and the resulting attraction and passion that grew between them was, at once, a miracle and a divine gift they both recognized. Without question, without doubt, Jonathan and Jenny had found each other, and the world they previously faced alone, with insecurity, they faced together, with conviction and anticipation.<br />
<br />
"You know, people really face life alone. Nobody can feel what you feel, or experience the things that happen to you. Your thoughts and ideas are mostly just kept inside, and you really only live with yourself. My dad was pretty close to my mom, but everything he was into was only his. My mom and all of us, his sons, never really knew him at all. I, also, was following that path and was resolved to that loneliness and isolation in my life. I didn't even have a person like my mom to share with. You, Jenny, are something I could not have imagined happening to me. Nothing in my experience, even the books I read or the people and experiences I know of, could have prepared me for our relationship. I think there is something truly unique about us", Jonathan spoke, with a softness and depth that Jenny had come to love and expect.<br />
<br />
"I don't think I doubt the uniqueness of what we have, Jonathan", Jenny replied, slowly and thoughtfully, measuring words and reason. "People are protective, like I was, and even when shields are down, they still lack the trust necessary to open up and really relate or communicate at extremely meaningful levels. I'm also think some things are always too personal to share and people can't jeopardize those personal things to others, because they fear nobody could understand them. I think your father was a very private person, and your mother was not like him at all. He had nobody to talk with so he wrote down his thoughts. Your father didn't have what we have, maybe not many do".<br />
<br />
"I wish my father had had me, but he didn't", Jonathan said, immediately drawn into melancholy memories<br />
.<br />
"You still picked up his legacy, Jonathan. I'm sure he is very pleased about that", Jenny responded.<br />
<br />
When they had met, Jonathan and Jenny each saw an important part of each other and had surrendered a protected, private part of themselves to create the initial moments they shared together. Now they knew each other better and the richness of their character drew them even closer.<br />
<br />
Jonathan saw the courage and honesty in the way Jenny faced life. She had stood alone in her search for answers, not compromising the persistent drive inside her to learn, to understand, to seek knowledge, to strive. It had come at high cost; her lost childhood, her marriage, her education, even her very freedom, for a time, were losses she endured without wavering from the truth of her identity, indeed, she was an exception in perseverance and strength. Her mind was a wonder of inquisitiveness, never succumbing to hopelessness and pessimism, but always joyously aware, like on a profound journey. Her insights and perceptions were brilliant and reflective of the way she gathered information and processed life. Jonathan loved the way she thought. She had so much to offer an unreasonable world, but to Jonathan she was in the image of his father, and he had the privilege of her.<br />
<br />
Jenny saw the miracle of integrity in Jonathan. She saw the beauty of a person that is lost in a cold and insensitive world. Jonathan had willfully and effectively honed his character to reflect the principles and abstract ideas that are the foundations of righteousness. The quiet and simple manner in which he gave kindness and respect were astounding to Jenny, the observer. As she had noticed when they first met, and now even more so, Jonathan's sensitivities were always to the other person, in complete disregard of self or consequences. He was devoid of maliciousness and his views were often unrealistically generous and forgiving. The most endearing quality that sweep Jenny off her feet was Jonathan's gentleness. It was so much a part of him that everything about him was characterized by the gentle way he approached life. People were fragile flowers to be treated with care, never with lack of sensitivity or kindness. Actions were reflections of character and demanded accountability and reasonableness, never thoughtlessness or overreaction. She had never been around anyone like Jonathan before and was always appreciative of his presence in her life.<br />
<br />
There could be no shallowness, lack of gratitude, or taking for granted in Jonathan's and Jenny's relationship. Love and intimacy was validated and reinforced by the consistency of effort and watchfulness they each gave to the well-being of the other. Their interest in each other broadened the already strong bond of friendship they shared. Diversity and differences of opinions were pleasant challenges to spark lively conversations. Jonathan and Jenny were not a normal relationship and their union was a spark that would grow to a blazing fire.<br />
<br />
<br />
GROWTH<br />
<br />
Life isn't suitable for human reason. It is so complicated with the events of everyday existence that little time or energy is left for contemplation and speculation. The mundane tasks of survival taxes life and the mind is always distracted from efforts to process the meanings and purpose of life, toward the necessity to react to the stresses of life. This is the reason that the world has so few philosophers and men of vision. In the brief span of a human life, very few have the focus, perseverance, or the opportunity for intense, abstract thoughts. Jonathan and Jenny each had focus and perseverance, and their union afforded them opportunity to share and explore the mind of the other. The depth and scope of their dialogue was wondrous.<br />
<br />
"Creation on the scale of the universe is beyond imagination", Jenny once related. "The state of our knowledge is so advanced now that I cannot grasp how Man can ignore the wonder and grandeur of creation. I can look out at night and see the stars and wonder at the mysteries my eyes see from my limited vision. To know what is beyond, the billions of stars of our galaxy, and the millions of distant galaxies, I am painted a picture of an unimaginable magnitude in addition to my sight. This creation is what bonds me to the magnificence of God".<br />
<br />
"I know what you mean, Jenny", responded Jonathan. "I too see God in my vision of the stars. I also am caught up in some of the mysteries that are closer to home, like the creation of life, and of Man. One of the most wondrous concepts to me, is that we are made up of stardust. All the elements on earth, and within us, are created from the nuclear fusion that occurs with the death of some stars, the super nova. To think that all life on earth is from the elements that makeup the building blocks of the molecules in the genetic code is staggering when you consider the source of those elements being from the stars. The complexity and order of life is my bond to the magnificence of God".<br />
<br />
"I know", Jenny replied, now caught up in the process that always set her mind alive and excited. "It always astounded me that we see so much order in the mist of the chaos in the heavens. Our science is only the discovery and utility of laws of order, and our mysteries can be defined as the natural laws we haven't discovered yet".<br />
<br />
"You know, I've studied the field of genetics and found that the human genome is so complex that it seems beyond the grasp of humans to ever understanding even the simplest functions that the genes control. Then to realize that human functions are controlled by an even more complexity of structure in the proteins, that the genes express, adds an even higher level of complexity to the equation. It is such a challenge to human intellect, that it really humbles Man, and shows us the ineptitude of our minds. In this sense, it seems clear that we may not ever be capable of ever understanding most things", Jonathan added.<br />
<br />
"But we still try", responded Jenny. "Maybe as we understand more, or at least find out how little we know, we can find the place of Mankind"?<br />
<br />
"You know trying is the purity of science. It is one of the things that I see as a high credit to humanity, that we explore and discover for the sake of curiosity. ", Jonathan stated, at the same time realizing how much of science is corrupted by commercialism.<br />
<br />
"We also search for ways to improve life and health through science", added Jenny. "Although a lot of the initiative is for profitability". Seemingly reading Jonathan's mind.<br />
<br />
"Jenny, you also are one of the wonders in my universe. I don't really know if we were destined to be together, but I think that the way we both spent time thinking about the same things, sort of driven in a sense, and now finding each other, means something", Jonathan said in a tone that was somehow romantic, intimate, and profound.<br />
<br />
Jenny responded with a familiar like-mindedness.<br />
<br />
"I know it means something Jonathan", she replied. "I've felt such a sense of destiny in our relationship, and now, even more so, knowing how you think and what you believe". "You have filled a void inside me and rescued me from my own isolation in mind and spirit. I live in eager anticipation of what will become of us".<br />
<br />
"You know, my father planted the seeds that are a part of my whole career and the way I think, and he played a part in your life also. It was also him that brought us together. That's quite amazing when you think about it. My dad lived his whole life looking for answers. It was his legacy to me. Maybe that is part of our destiny?", Jonathan responded thoughtfully.<br />
<br />
"Jonathan, I always sought answers, which I kept to myself. I did this because I had to, and wanted to. I never thought the intensity of my search, or my life's quest could be shared. I sensed, and now know, your father was like me. If this is something we can share together, I think it could really be something", though spoken softly, these words of Jenny's screamed out to Jonathan.<br />
<br />
And so, began the journey of Jonathan and Jenny together.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
THE SEARCH<br />
<br />
Enthusiasm is a spark that ignites action. That flame of action takes fueling and maintenance, like any fire. Together Jonathan and Jenny labored and kept their fire alive, each being sustained and feeding upon the enthusiasm of the other. Their life was now driven toward the collection of data, turning the progress of science into an explanation of the wonders of creation. As they found more and more facts, they discussed and examined their implications into the reality of the existence of a creator. It was not long before they discovered that the questions were not of the existence of God, but were beginning to focus on the nature of God. It was strange to the two highly analytical minds to find themselves more and more driven to looking at their faith and beliefs. Here lie the strange mysteries of spiritualism and salvation. This was the parts of Jonathan's fathers' more speculative theories. It became a realization to both Jonathan and Jenny that the mysteries of Man's relationship to God are beyond the proofs of science, and that, science is just the beginning toward understanding a meaning and purpose to life. This was startling to both of them.<br />
<br />
"You know, it has become so easy to see that something created the universe and life on earth. I wonder if everybody looked at the facts science has discovered, why it isn't obvious to everyone?<br />
If everyone believed in God, wouldn't that make a difference”? Jonathan said one day.<br />
<br />
"But everyone doesn't know the facts, or even cares to look, and even if they did, there could never be enough proof for the hardcore skeptics. We have spent a lot of time and effort collecting facts and data, and even with our strong predispositions of belief, we still required more and more proofs to validate our beliefs. While it really should be enough to see the stars and nature, we wanted more. And we're a bit more driven than most, wouldn't you say”? responded Jenny.<br />
<br />
"A lot of the proofs that are more definitive are pretty new, even within the last few years. And we seem to know more and more at a very fast pace. Maybe the general public has no way of really knowing? Science communicates very slowly, or not at all. Would if all people knew that the universe is about 18 billion years old and the, essentially scientifically accepted theory of the big bang means that there was a definite beginning, and that the complexity of the initial makeup of matter, and even the force of the big bang itself, had to be just right to form the stars and galaxies. Would if people knew that the mathematical probabilities of complex circumstances to form things like the earth, and even more amazing, like life, are essentially impossible, especially within the time frame of the age of the earth. Would if the so-called skeptics were forced to look at the vast mass of data and proofs in science that show that there must have been some plan, and therefore, planner of the creation of the universe, the earth, life and Man. Don't you think we already know enough to placate even the most hardcore skeptic, atheist and agnostic”? Jonathan said.<br />
<br />
"I would think so", responded Jenny, quickly and also feeling Jonathan's sense of frustration. "But some very knowledgeable, smart people still don't believe. And I'm not sure the general public will ever take the time, show the interest, or exert the effort to find out. It's just not important to them, in the realm of their daily existence. With us it's different, probably because we're different".<br />
<br />
Jonathan and Jenny often discussed their ideas and thoughts from the vast pools of data they accumulated. They read everything they could that seemed related to discovery of the wonders of creation. It was not long before it was obvious to both of them that the significance of their studies led them deeper and deeper into areas beyond their own expertise. Cosmology and genetics were just parts of the mystery surrounding creation. The relationship of understanding the way the human body works in health and fails in disease, the theories of evolution and extinction of species, the balances of nature involved in the development and survival of life and of the supporting and sustaining ecosystems, the studies on brain function and intellect, and even the history of Man, all added substance to the support of the order involved in God's creation. It was a wonderful journey to both of them, for they shared the evidential insight to the existence of God and the wonder of his creation. It was much more than the wonders of the heavens and earth that their ancestors saw and believed. Their evidence was much more than they preconceived would be convincing, for they were left without doubt. Science had confirmed to both of them that all of existence, including the existence of Homo sapiens was by Divine plan.<br />
<br />
"It isn't enough, is it?", said Jonathan one day. "It was so exciting to discover how science has become so technologically advanced and sophisticated that it reveals the purposefulness and the intricate details of how everything was formed. Even with many mysteries still in existence, it is impossible for me to not easily see the Divine intervention that make us possible. But I think now that the reason my dad turned from the analytical processes of science to the mystical theories of spiritualism is because science doesn't explain why we exist, only that we exist and are creations of God".<br />
<br />
"I know what you mean, Jonathan", responded Jenny, as always in tune with Jonathan's thoughts.<br />
"It helps to know we are products of God, but a large void is left. What are humans to God? What are we here for? And why are we here? That's why your father turned his thoughts to spiritualism and his own faith. But don't forget that he still proposed theories that were somehow related to a rational scientific process. Didn't he relate the existence of evil to genetic mutation? And he also proposed a link to the existence of the spirit somehow tied to our genetic inheritance. His willingness to speculate on such controversial and unprovable ideas was a large part of what I admired most about him".<br />
<br />
"Speculative is certainly the defining word", replied Jonathan. "I always wondered if dad wasn't going too far out with his thoughts. I do know that he was always thinking and trying to put ideas together. I think he wanted to form explanations that would give answers with some satisfaction to himself. If he had not written them down they would have been lost. Other than his theories and his other writings, my father really was very much to himself. He didn't have a Jenny to share with, did he?"<br />
<br />
"No he didn't", responded Jenny, warmed by the sudden intimacy.<br />
<br />
"You know my father wrote about integrity and character, and ability of the human mind to reason, and about the nature of love, and about God and Jesus. I loved the way he thought things out and seemed to incorporate his principles into his life. To him, all these things were related to discovery of meaning and purpose to life. In the end, I believe his thoughts were all geared toward validation of his faith. Maybe that is the way all our studies and data should evolve into. It certainly is a challenge", said Jonathan.<br />
<br />
"You know we know a lot more than your dad did. There have been amazing breakthroughs in the scope of scientific discovery since your dad died. We have not focused on our beliefs and faith much in our analytical approach to discovery. It sure could be interesting and ,for sure, challenging, to study in terms of our religion and destiny in relationship to God. I'm ready", responded Jenny, enthusiastically.<br />
<br />
The journey of Jonathan and Jenny had turned in a significant direction. In the backs of their minds lie the memories of the consequences to Jonathan's mother and to Jenny from the publication of the "Theories of Creation- by Raymond Lockhart".<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
CHALLENGE<br />
<br />
The analytical mind set of a scientist is not well suited for acceptance of data not collaborated by concrete proofs and evidence. It becomes a problem to accept non-conclusive, unprovable concepts and rely on such a nebulous system of beliefs to establish faith. Unanswered questions, ill-defined explanations, and lack of objectiveness are the vehicles to a persuasive doubt, that invade the honest attempts of rational men to try to believe the unbelievable. The shrouds of mysticism, cultural ritualism, and ambiguous terminology cloud the reason of rational thought. Jonathan and Jenny had each been brought up in a Christian home and had faced their own private skepticism and doubts that jeopardized their own independent thought. Surprisingly, they had both ran and returned to a personal acceptance of God, and even more profoundly the salvation through Christ. They found they had somewhat similar views; they shared a strong dislike for the dogmatic moral and ethical rules of religions, an embarrassment for the diversity of theological interpretations among the various sects of religions, and a feeling of disgust at the history of the atrocities done in the name of God. Their mental independence had brought both of them to a very liberal, non-denominational commitment to their faith. With these similarities lay the foundation to their like-mindedness in their quest for their study of man's purpose in relationship to God's creation. Their dialogues were very direct and honest.<br />
<br />
"It is such a mystery in the way Man has searched for answers about creation", noted Jenny. "All the different religions are filled with attempts to intellectually explain our existence. It seems that very few were based on sound rationality, but rather, seemingly fanatically believed, unprovable stories and explanations for observable nature. How do these religions have so much power and control over thinking humans"?<br />
<br />
"I know", responded Jonathan, in the same mood and frame of mind as Jenny. "We have uncovered so much data about the way religion has controlled, distorted, corrupted and been the cause of so many lives lost, that it is so hard to understand that their claims and actions are done in the name of God. It certainly points out one disturbing fact, that is, the power of belief. Many of Man's wars, the persecutions, the human sacrifices, and the subjugation of free-will are inflections religions have made on Man. Their limits are boundless".<br />
<br />
"What happened to the SI, and your mother would certainly attest to that", retorted Jenny, lost in a vast pool of thoughts about the sufferings of Man.<br />
<br />
"Yah, we're certainly part of the victims", said Jonathan, lost in melancholy.<br />
<br />
"Why do the various religions feel they have to be right? Why are they so dogmatic and seemingly narrow-minded? It seems to me that the religious communities always fight new ideas, and, even scientific facts, to maintain their so-called domain. Why can't ideas grow with new discovery and the human rational mind accept controversy and grow from it”? added Jenny quickly, sensing Jonathan's digression into memories she would rather not think about.<br />
<br />
"I think the thing we have to face is that most humans don't think for themselves. We are social animals and are drawn into groups becoming communities of like-mindedness. I wonder what the various religious fractions in the world would think if we called them all cults? The Buddhist cult, the Muslim cult, the Christian cult", the inflictions of Jonathan's voice rose as he conveyed his anger.<br />
<br />
"They sold out their individuality, they sold out their reason, they sold out their free-will, they sell out their own moral standards to become part of a group”, Jonathan continued, seemingly drawing strength from his anger. “I really wonder if we are not all so conditioned that independent thought doesn’t really exist. We are products of our culture, of our social environment, of our religious exposure, of our parental upbringing, and even of our human genetic makeup. We are already defined, molded, and packaged for our place in society. Does it really matter what we think, Jenny”?<br />
<br />
I think it does”, replied Jenny, with the softness and gentleness that immediately stopped Jonathan in his tracks. “I haven’t changed. I still have so much I want to, at least, try to understand about myself and about God’s plan for us. To seek answers was a part of your father, and it’s a part of me, and I think you too. What we have done so far has really been exciting to me. We pooled daata, and searched out facts, and really could see our belief in a Creator, or God, grow from concept to fact. I know neither of us doubts the facts of creation. But this new thing, this idea to try to understand our relationship to God, that really hits home. To try to understand my beliefs with an intellectual process, using reason. That’s a real challenge.”<br />
<br />
“I know”, replied Jonathan.<br />
<br />
<br />
BELIEF<br />
<br />
<br />
Throughout the history of Man there have been many beliefs. Man has always tried to explain nature and events through beliefs. His search for answers to impossible questions is the breeding ground for solutions by creation of beliefs. It is the nature of Man that when he cannot know, he believes. He can circumvent the need for evidence by theological interpretations and abstract reasoning. It is a wonder and a tragedy that this vain use of Man's intellect has been empowered to cost so many lives and has the ability to subjugate his freedom and free-will. Regardless of the cost, it is an inherent part of the nature of Man that he strives for answers through beliefs. This is because he finds "Hope" in his beliefs, and the power of this Hope is demonstrated by the way tradition and fear have eliminated facts that have interfered with his beliefs. The belief is preserved, the evidence, all but eliminated. Any weakness in belief is noted as a weakness of a person's faith, a heretic severely dealt with. Hence, beliefs sustain themselves and thrive within the community of the faithful. The ancient problem is that there are so many beliefs, and they all can't be right. This was the ambiguous arena of conflict that Jonathan and Jenny had taken up as their challenge.<br />
<br />
"You know, we both have no doubt about the existence of a creator of the heavens, earth and life. And we both have a belief in the Christian religion. I don't think either of us is of a predisposition to believe blindly in things, so let's see what our intellect and reason can discover about our belief system", replied Jonathan one day.<br />
<br />
"I don't think many accept the existence of God like we do, Jonathan, and so, maybe we are a step ahead of the many others who just "believe" in God. I also think that our willingness to explore our beliefs in the light of new discovery is unique and significant", answered Jenny.<br />
<br />
"I think that the fact that we will expend the energy and effort into trying to understand our beliefs is also very significant", added Jonathan, remembering that his dad had spent so much of his life thinking about the meaning and purpose of life.<br />
<br />
"You know, I think a good place for us to start with is going back over some of my dad's writings", continued Jonathan. "He wrote about so much, but somehow they all seemed related. It would be interesting to me to know what you thought of them".<br />
<br />
Jonathan and Jenny had not read Raymond's writing for quite some time. When they started reading they were surprised by the complexity in the way Jonathan's father processed things. His writings spanned periods from his youth to his final days, but they were very repetitive in the way they always focused on certain major themes. It was apparent that he wrote for himself, to organize his thoughts, and as a means to process and discover where his reason would take him. In his writings was freedom; the freedom to speculate and come to reasoned conclusions, unharnessed by social convention and protocol, the freedom to look at realities without making excuses or rationalizations; and the freedom to use his intellect and imagination without censor or limits. Raymond was a man, searching for truths about himself, his God, and the world all around him. The amount of effort, energy, and the amazing perseverance he showed in sticking with his writings throughout his life, were a reflection of his character. Jonathan and Jenny got to know him well through their examinations of his writings.<br />
<br />
"There's one thing that's fairly clear from your dad's writings" said Jenny on one of the many nights they discussed their ideas. "He faced the fact that he would probably never really know the answers to a lot of the questions he wondered about, but he never gave up and always believed that the purpose of intellect was to seek and discover as much as possible".<br />
<br />
"It was a mission for him", added Jonathan. "He wrote about so many things, trying to process, through reason, a way of life. I think it's very interesting that he integrated his beliefs with science and never saw a disparity between them. What he seemed to be trying to do was use the foundations of scientific data to support and lead the way to validation of his beliefs".<br />
<br />
"And his "Theories" were an attempt to explain unanswerable questions with reason", replied Jenny, getting excited about her and Jonathan's similar quest. You know, we know more scientifically than your father knew in his day, do think we could continue his work"?<br />
<br />
Jonathan and Jenny pursued their task with renewed enthusiasm, sparked by Raymond's writings. Together they possessed a deep pool of information, the outcome of their lifetime of inquisitiveness and gathering trivial facts. To draw on science to support and create ideas about the nature and possibilities of their beliefs was both enlightening and intriguing to them. It also created the same wall Jonathan's father came to and wrote about. The answers were not supportable by scientific evidences, and, therefore, could at best be mere speculation. Regardless, like Raymond, Jonathan and Jenny trod on.<br />
<br />
"It's a paradox", said Jonathan one day in frustration. "A belief is a matter of free-will, not evidence. There are many that know more about the bible and don't believe, and others that know next to nothing that have an unshakable belief. Ultimately, it is a commitment, made from hope and faith, not fact and evidence. From this viewpoint it may be frivolous to collect supportive evidence. It's like saying, I won't believe until I am convinced by evidence".<br />
<br />
"But belief should not be blind", countered Jenny. "Our belief in the creation of the universe and life was validated to us by the evidences of science we collected. We don't have any doubts about a creator because we know his creation. Our reason, supported by scientific facts, strengthened our faith in God, the creator. We no longer contemplate that, or fight bouts of doubt because we have used our intellect to come to the conclusion of God's creation. I know we may not understand God's plan, or our spirituality, or immortality, but that is the challenge and task we have taken on. It is our inherited intellect that will help us conceptualize and maybe discover who we are and why we are here"?<br />
<br />
"You know it is so easy to get caught up in the semantics of religions. It's like what happened when my brothers and I showed others my dad's writings. They related everything to what they were taught or narrowly believed. They were unable to use new discovery and thoughts to redefine their "stood the test of time" beliefs. I know now my dad did not try to present new ideas as being divine inspirations, but was just presenting ideas that incorporated modern science into how God may have worked. Would if the bible had said, "on the 10th billion year, God created DNA, upon which all life was formed". If the bible had been written today, maybe it would have said something like that", responded Jonathan, soothed again by Jenny's impeccable logic.<br />
<br />
"And would if the bible had said, "on the first day God said, let there be a big bang", and the universe was created", added Jenny, in tune to the mood.<br />
<br />
"Seriously", interjected Jonathan, his mind reeling with creative imaginings. "There is so much we know about ourselves and life now. The mapping of the entire human genome, all 30-40,000 genes, was a milestone to understanding how we work. But we also mapped the entire gene sequence of the fruit fly and even a mustard seed. As different as we are to these, about 10% of our genes are similar to the fruit fly and even 100 genes of our genes are homologous to the mustard seed. All life is related. And all life on earth is based on DNA. Dad wrote about genetics in his writings and inferred that our character is a creation of God, imaged with love. Evil was a mutation. Our work with behavioral genetics and the biochemistry of emotions certainly add dimension to his theories. I think you're right Jenny. Our intellect and science can help us conceptualize who and maybe why we exist".<br />
<br />
"The big bang theory was not as well accepted in your dad's time and discovery in the field of genetics has really exploded also. One thing that's clear to me is when God said "let there be light" and there was, it is entirely explained by the big bang. Light could not exist in the singularity. It would be like one gigantic black hole, with unimaginable gravitational forces that would easily exclude the existence of light", added Jenny.<br />
<br />
"You know, we are doing what dad did", exclaimed Jonathan, now sparked with enthusiasm. "He tried to define his beliefs with scientific data. He was always excited and enthusiastic about new discovery and to him it opened up new and exciting possibilities for understanding and conceptualizing his beliefs in God. He was not the skeptical scientist, nor the narrowly defined theologian. He was free to think for himself and utilize his intellect to reason out his concepts of the relationship of Man and God".<br />
<br />
"It was the freedom and courage he took to form new ideas that first overwhelmed me", said Jenny, now as usual, perfectly in sync with the conversation. "That and the fact he was responding to questions I always had and kept to myself. He made a marriage of science and his faith".<br />
<br />
"There are a couple of big differences between us and my dad", said Jonathan, trying to grasp the profound quest of his father. "He was alone in his thoughts and kept to himself. We share each other in purpose and support. I wonder if my focus and enthusiasm could sustain itself alone. I think you could have, but not me. You were more like him in curiosity and drive. I was inspired by him, after his death, and later by you".<br />
<br />
"I don't know?, responded Jenny. "I had pretty much given up in despair after the SI thing until I met you. We are each others inspiration", Jenny responded, suddenly gaily.<br />
<br />
BIRTH<br />
<br />
History is a compilation of human events, without the excuse of mundane diversions of life events factored in. Hence, human achievements seldom have regard for the facts of life, like health, poverty, wars, or politics. For Jonathan and Jenny, their diversion was in the nature of the birth of their son, Raymond Jr. The peace and continuity of their profound discourses were broken by distractions from little Raymond. Parenthood was a reward of love, but had a price.<br />
<br />
"You know, we just don't talk together as much", lamented Jenny after a time.<br />
<br />
"We will", assured Jonathan, with a sigh, while watching cartoons with his son.<br />
<br />
And they did. But not with the same intensity and vigor they previously shared. The process was broken, but not the desire. Each spent what time they could on thought and data, but not together as much, and not with the same mutual integration of understanding. It was troubling, but each recognized the unilateral priority. And both knew it was just for a time.<br />
<br />
Raymond Jr. was recipient of the profound intimacy of his parents. They shared a life.<br />
<br />
"Jenny, I want Raymond to know my father and what we are doing", said Jonathan. "I missed the opportunity when I was younger. I don't want him to".<br />
.<br />
"You didn't fail your father, Jonathan. Don't forget you have carried on your father's legacy. Raymond will not miss out, if he's interested. I'll make sure of that", responded Jenny, knowing full well that this was her great wish also.<br />
<br />
And so, Raymond Jr. was brought up with the mission of his parents in mind. His curiosity was nurtured and his every question created an excitement and opportunity for his parents. As he grew up he learned that his questions drew attention and soon it was a significant part of his nature. Eventually, he was included in their discussions. He struggled to grasp their words and was given long, patient explanations of everything by them so he could understand. His childhood was spent with many long nights gazing at the stars with his mother, and playing with his chemistry sets and microscopes with his father. He was brought up with the toys of science.<br />
<br />
Raymond Jr.'s education was also in religion. At first his exposure to religion was traditional. The children's books, videos, and Sunday School attendance were early initiations into Christianity. He readily learned the stories and sang the songs along with the others. He learned before he could question, and established an identity with Christianity at an early age. That this would play out as it will as he grew up was not what his parents had in mind. Their mission was to provide Raymond Jr. with the tools of theology to broaden his education of religions, and to teach him a concept of Creation, that they had labored to learn and understand. When Raymond Jr. asked questions, as had become his nature, they spent the same time on long, patient explanations to help him understand.<br />
<br />
Their unique influences produced a unique child, an inquisitive teen, and a person, like unto themselves, a person with a drive to know and understand. Raymond Jr.was like his grandfather.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Postscript 4-16-2016<br />
<br />
<br />
I hope the non-literary aspect, misspelling, multiple English errors, and poor sentence structures of this story did not distract you too much. It is after all a non-commercial endeavor.<br />
<br />
Raymond Jr. was to be my masterpiece of intellect, fusing science and religion with reasoned, rational thought. My abstract goal to finish this story succumbed to the practical fact of not having the resources of time and energy to write in the face of the challenge of surviving the realities of daily life. Does the practical always defeat the beauty of the abstract? In any case, my story ended at what was supposed to be the beginning. <br />
<br />
Now everything is as “it should be”, and my age and energy bend to the will of God. My great testimony in life is the path that God gave me to find His plan of salvation. My life no longer searches for the evidence and proof of insights into meaning and purpose, but dwells on the Hope that is sustained by my Faith. I am forever thankful that science helped me “see” the glory of God and helped assure me of the revelation of His grace through his son, Jesus Christ. As I spent my life seeking, so was I found.<br />
<br />
My idle life of retirement gives me more time to research and write, but now I find I write very repetitiously and the spark of originality and boldness may be gone. I have posted some of my writings on a blog named, “scienceofgodscreation.com” and have a few in “authorsden.com” under my name Gordon Hisayasu. If energy allows I will continually type some of my old and newer writings on my blog. The fate of this story is still not resolved.<br />
<br />
Now known as “Gramps” (with no Raymond Jr.) <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Who is Raymond? 5-6-16<br />
<br />
The ideas of Raymond cry out for explanation. He is too bold and renegade with the freedom he uses to try to make some sense out of the bible and science together. Simply put, he is just making up ideas that might explain how science could be used to explain some of the unanswered questions they poise to religion. It definitely freely uses the concept that science “could be” used to understand some concepts in the bible. It is a modern attempt to use discoveries of science to try to bring some sense to concepts like evil, the soul, and death, etc. It is like looking for WIMPS.<br />
<br />
Raymond is a man who is using his intellect and reason to help find answers. Not the answer, but ideas that help explain or provide a rational basis for his understanding of life and God. He found out early and definitively that science does not have absolute answers, but it does provide insight into existence and creation. Religion provides choices that can give comfort to understanding the mysteries of existence, especially adding meaning and purpose, which are areas science seldom explores or enlightens. I believe in God because I see the incredible creation around me, made more immense with scientific discovery. The sense that the complexity and intellect of creation is divine becomes clarified by the act of faith and hope in a creator. A man of science cannot help but be impressed with the beauty of design in our cosmos, our world, and our life. Every aspect of science I study becomes more and more complex, mysterious, and wondrous. The God I worship is matchless.<br />
<br />
So how does a man try to explain things, at least to himself? I will not ever desert my faith and belief (even in Jesus). I know that science can cause confusion and be contradictory, but if viewed as a positive reality of God’s creation, science can be inspirational. Now unanswered questions can be approached from an attempt at reasonable, rational, intellectual, knowledgeable, thoughts and theories. That is what Raymond attempted.<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;">H</span>e separated the worldly laws of nature from the spiritual laws of God, clearly understanding. God created both.<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;">H</span>e saw the same genius that created life from the inanimate in the existence of our identity in his design of genetics. <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;">H</span>e speculated that the principles of religion regarding good and evil of humans was a part of the behavioral characteristics of man, inherited and designed by the ingenious design of human genetics.<br />
<br />
He speculated that a spiritual world beyond the finite carnal existence of man exist by God’s purpose and design to reside in man. The spirit of Man and it’s retention is the mechanism of immortality.<br />
<br />
The sovereignty of God controls the purpose, meaning, and fate of creation. Science and discovery expose parts of this if we have the eyes to "see".<br />
<br />
Raymond’s thoughts were safe when kept within himself. The fear of exposure to criticism by science and religion was strengthened and supported by the hope of guidance by God’s Spirit. The growth of science should be a tool for us to understand God better. The gift of intellect can be a vehicle for inspiration and the glorification of a God who created a world our ancestor could not have imagined existed. On bent knee we can say “God is Great”.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Gordon Hisayasuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12217944472609485438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8684512444354188290.post-20250314921592320192015-11-06T15:32:00.000-08:002015-11-06T16:23:05.278-08:00THE ORDER OF READING THIS BLOG IS FROM BOTTOM TO TOP ENTRIES. <br />
1. VISION OF CREATION<br />
2. SO LARGE, SO MAJESTIC<br />
3. LIFE: GOD’S PERFECT DESIGN<br />
4. A MIND OF MY OWN<br />
5. AMONGST THE CHOSEN<br />
<br />
<br />
AMONGST THE CHOSEN<br />
<br />
A heart hardened to understanding the truth of God.<br />
<br />
Ears that cannot “hear” the call of God or the words of Jesus, the son of God.<br />
<br />
Eyes that cannot “see” God in the beauty of nature or the wonders of creation that proclaim God’s glory.<br />
<br />
“For many are called, but few are chosen” Matt. 22: 14<br />
<br />
Man has tried so hard to disclaim the existence of God. The miraculous “just right” circumstances for a universe, or life to exist is explained by “maybe” parallel or multiple universes exist, or “possibly” this is the missing link, or the ever growing “un-provable” discovery of new forces of nature. To offset the creation of life by God, it is speculated to be from space. This is true for life’s carbon-based makeup, exemplified by DNA is made of the “dust of Earth” which is formed from the stardust of supernova. Believe it or not, if you were going to make a man you would need a universe. Evolution is partially explained by DNA, the mechanism for life’s diversity through mutation. Evolution is also explained by the environmental mass extinctions and pressures of, perhaps, “survival of the fittest”. These things do not negate God, but display the awesome creativity and intellect of God. Darwin on the other hand, gets very confusing when trying to explain the vast diversity of species and the many missing links. Why is the quickly emerging scope of human knowledge so unable to explain so many of the mysteries of creation and so quick to provide speculations disproving the existence of God?<br />
<br />
Initially, for me, science was the excitement of searching for knowledge to explain the mysteries of existence. Like the mountain climber, such an endeavor was a necessary part of my quest, inquisitive nature. Now, science reveals to me a creative God of unimaginable intellect. A creator so complex and masterful that creation can only be the product of Divinity. Today God is more than a personification ( like Father, King, Lord,or Master), but is truly the indescribable, in unapproachable light, all powerful, great, “ I AM”.<br />
<br />
The message of damnation at judgement for those who reject God and Jesus as the Son of God is clear in the Bible. As with the rich man, it is hard for the skeptical intellect to enter the kingdom of God. The compelling nature of worldly intellectualism and pressures make responding to the “call” of God hard to accept. “But with God everything is possible” Matt.19:26.Gordon Hisayasuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12217944472609485438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8684512444354188290.post-20731982646390856452011-10-02T16:21:00.000-07:002011-10-02T16:53:11.389-07:00A Mind Of My Own<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYwesRLViCXApPfgJ7XSuB5fzBSep_ZbcqPOHQwXdpBeKvC1NWflOQ93YS5y-wJ0OCZ8g9dWwHTiB4d81jw6pgp_fDYixa17G4CEVdAcHJHcXIS05RmQVp3EGldobhnvt9cJAzXOJ942PW/s1600/Gordonsart033.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYwesRLViCXApPfgJ7XSuB5fzBSep_ZbcqPOHQwXdpBeKvC1NWflOQ93YS5y-wJ0OCZ8g9dWwHTiB4d81jw6pgp_fDYixa17G4CEVdAcHJHcXIS05RmQVp3EGldobhnvt9cJAzXOJ942PW/s320/Gordonsart033.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><em><strong>Consciousness drifting in a sea of revelations. </strong></em></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><em><strong> Treasures of wondrous discovery, shrouded in mystery. </strong></em></span><em><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: small;"><strong>Pride and arrogance hide my heart from understanding and death beckons. <br />
Let wisdom from God reveal truth, so I may find life.</strong></span> </span></em></div><br />
<br />
The mind struggles to discern the truth from fantasy. Knowledge is ambiguous. Theories, hypothesis, beliefs, and philosophies are subjective. Facts and evidence lack objectivity due to controversial interpretations. We decide our truth from our own choices, which are often unduly influenced by social, cultural and authoritarian issues. Seeking truth requires gathering knowledge with an open mind, avoiding biased opinions and letting my own reasoning be my major guide to my conclusions. In contemplating creation, believing in God as creator is a decisive act that immediately put me at odds with the non-believing scientist. Believing in God is a major influence in my life and I believe that the truth and reality of this is worth exploring. <br />
<div><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">There is a need to boldly proclaim my reasoning for belief in God as creator. It is not from fear, or brain-washing, or a need for conformity, but rather a honest attempt at seeking the truth. I realistically see God’s hand in creation. I find evidence of creation by God clear and indisputable. How in the face of such a controversial topic do I presume insight over the many scholarly unbelieving minds? There are many reasons that I can not deny my beliefs. Most of these involve the discoveries of design in creation.</span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">The intelligence of the design in creation is so visible and apparent that it is hard for me to imagine the resistant (hardened) mind that can't acknowledge this. Everything I studied led to more complexity and mysteries, and even more implication of intellect and purpose in design. Science was led down an unfathomable path as the universe became vaster and the theory of the big bang, the nucleosynthesis of elementary particles, black holes, dark energy and matter created additional unsolved puzzles. The complexity of life exploded with new discoveries in the physiology of the body and brain and the Human Gnome Project (HGP). I have given some substance to my belief in God in my articles on the relationship of the photon to the eye (Visions of Creation), the science of cosmology (So Large, so Majestic), and life (Life: God’s Perfect Design), but the reality of my belief in God lies is in the finer details. Here are a few of the more significant and decisive details:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">The search for a beginning of the universe became very complex. The accelerating expansion of the universe and cosmic background radiation (CBR), and discoveries from 'eyes', like the Hubble telescope, illuminated the big bang theory of the initial creation of everything (which really does infer a causER of the effect) . To speculate that creation is mindlessly developed is foolish in view of the fact our brilliant mind can't even come close to figuring out how things initially started from nothing. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><div>The fact that almost all elements are made from the stardust of supernovae is amazing. All life needs these elements. The excessive energy for nuclear fusion to create the heavier elements was problematic and the explosion of a star was a miraculous solution. Lucky for man that when we created a car we didn’t have to wait for steel, glass, rubber and refined fuel to randomly and spontaneously appear. <br />
<br />
</div></span><span style="font-size: small;">The genetic mapping of Man (Human Genome Project) and other life is revolutionizing our understanding of genes. A new world of discovery into how genes function in health and disease has changed the language of genetics with terms like: PCR, Microarrays, Genomics, Proteomics, Pharmacogenetics, etc.. I believe that the creation of DNA, as the ONLY template for life, implies there is only ONE powerful, creative God. No scientific explanations even come close to understanding how such complexity developed from the chaos of elements and we are only on the frontier of how they work.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">My brain controls who I am. Nothing matches the ingenuity and complexity of the brain of Man. A new age of neurobiology is exploding with studies of the biochemistry of the brain, mapping brain functions, cognitive studies, and behavioral genetics. A neural network in the brain surpasses the complex network of galaxies found in the cosmos. The gift of intellect is a path to believing in God. This capacity to believe is rational and reasonable. I do not believe in blind faith.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Perhaps the most significant factors of belief in God lies in what we don't know. The questions and gaps in human knowledge are numerous and leave blank spaces that for now are best explained by divine creation. Science may have answers to some of these but they will be like DNA, which explained the mechanism for hereditary, but left a bigger hole to explain DNA. Here are a few:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><em>Where is the evidence for “strings” and “membranes’, parallel and multiverses, other dimensions, the sparticles of supersymmetry, the Higgs-boson, the MACHO’s?<br />
Where are all the missing links of evolutionary theory?<br />
Where do the laws of physics come from?<br />
What is gravity, time, photons, neutrinos, dark energy and matter, a singularity ?</em> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
I believe that God exists and is my Creator. I believe that the knowledge of God comes with the understanding, received in my heart, from the evidences I have seen and heard. Science has extended my sight and broadened my knowledge of the scope and wonder of creation and is material to my belief in God. While the vision of creation assures me of the reality of God, it is the Bible that leads me to the identity of God. Here I "Lean not on my own understanding" Proverbs 3:5, but rely on God to give me wisdom. </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">- </span><br />
<br />
<div></div>Gordon Hisayasuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12217944472609485438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8684512444354188290.post-36952751756661072602011-09-21T19:02:00.000-07:002011-09-22T11:42:01.530-07:00LIFE: God's Perfect Design . . .<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU2IXGTpWxHUw7HKKfol7XxuwvF-PnXLdjmfrddYiBt7FIgSd6vnxdp3DCi6wD1IvLW5l78RqHgfWfhPRaA5oC9JyvLhyuotlJ_XCdKUk7QHSkDjF3hwY_jUjijej6JjPUBQhCvRYWbzCy/s1600/park127xx.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU2IXGTpWxHUw7HKKfol7XxuwvF-PnXLdjmfrddYiBt7FIgSd6vnxdp3DCi6wD1IvLW5l78RqHgfWfhPRaA5oC9JyvLhyuotlJ_XCdKUk7QHSkDjF3hwY_jUjijej6JjPUBQhCvRYWbzCy/s320/park127xx.jpg" width="226" /></a></div><em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">From nothing, God created a beginning of all things and made me a home.<br />
Formed from the dust of the Earth, I am given the breath of life.<br />
Consciousness floating in a universe of mystery, with a brief lifetime to grasp the nature of existence, <br />
A mind processes the wonder and magnificence of God’s creation.</span></em></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> <br />
</span><div><em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">I am given a vulnerable, finite, physical life on Earth.<br />
With belief, I am rewarded an eternal spiritual life in Heaven.</span></em></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> <br />
</span><div><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> <span style="font-size: small;">The comprehension of God as creator comes with realizing the omnipotence and intellect of His creative design for life and how it came to exist. The divinity of the chef is seen with the realization that He started from nothing and planned all the factors involved to make us happen. It starts with a plan for the creation of life that, admittedly oversimplified, requires ingredients, a pot, and a recipe.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span><strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium;">Ingredients-</span></strong><br />
<br />
<div><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The fundamental elements of life need to be made. From nothing, comes a ‘big bang’ creating a primordial soup of building blocks to matter. Given the proper energy, temperature, relative abundances (like a little more matter, than anti-matter) and gravity, things like quarks, gluons and leptons coalesce to form things like protons and neutrons, which eventually cool, condense, and recombine to form simple atoms, like helium and hydrogen. Given the proper time and gravity, clumps of matter start forming into stars. To get elements like carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen, some of these stars have to explode as supernovae, and the heavier elements are the product of nuclear fusion from that extreme explosion. Their stardust forms nebulae which in time coalesced to form new stars and planets, this time with the ingredients of life in them. Our planet Earth is lucky enough to have them all. Pass the salt please.</span><br />
<br />
</span><div><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><strong><span style="font-size: medium;">The Pot-</span></strong> </span><br />
<br />
</span><div><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">It takes some doing to make Earth a pot. For life to develop we need a stable, long-term, right sized Sun. Our planet needs to be at the proper distance from the Sun to provide the optimum temperatures and environment (water, atmosphere, etc.), with a concentric orbit (for milder, livable seasons), and a magnetic field (to eliminate harmful rays). A large moon (to stabilize our axis and provide tides) and large neighboring planets (to divert asteroids) will certainly help. Now at the proper time (age) in the dynamic and ever-changing geological history of Earth, we have a place to add our ingredients. Hopefully, our pot can provide a long term, stable environment to let our soup mix and simmer. </span></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> <br />
</span><div><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong><span style="font-size: medium;">The Recipe-</span></strong><br />
<br />
</span><div><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> <span style="font-size: small;">The ingredients formed from stardust will need additional conditions for the proper chemical reactions to occur and form the needed molecules for life. They need to be added in a proper sequence, at sufficient quantities and relative ratios, with catalysts (pH, heat, pressures, water, etc.), and no interfering substances (like oxidizing agents). Prebiotic (before life) ingredients and conditions have never been found on earth, but we are here so something must have worked, so let’s make life.</span></span></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> <br />
</span><div><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">One idea (one God) to create life is to use carbon, hydrogen and oxygen to make four nucleic acid bases (guanine, cytosine, adenine and thymine). These amino acids are the building blocks to make DNA and RNA, which provides the mechanisms for all the bioactivity of life. In fact, this is the only idea that seems to work for Earth. These four amino acids must now be paired up, and the pairs lined up to form long chains. The next steps are to shape the chains into double stranded helical shapes with specific lengths (chromosomes), and toss them into an environment that allows them to function (the nucleus of an organic cell). In this cell must be the parts to facilitate replication of DNA and utilize nutrients for energy to live. The chains have very specific sequences of nucleic acid bases called ‘genes’ that code the information necessary for the manufacture of many types of proteins, structures, functions and characteristics of an organism. If you look at the complex biochemical structure of the amino acids and the complex problems of making DNA and RNA, and the problems in designing functional gene sequences of DNA, it is inconceivable to imagine how these occurred randomly. Additionally, no good evidence or explanations about how these biochemicals are animated to life is given. However, life based on DNA exist on earth and now we have a living cell.</span></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> <br />
</span><div><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">Multicellular organisms need the living cells to specialize, join together, and function together to setup a living system with complex survival abilities. The abundance and diversity of species on Earth is a testimony to the versatility, durability, adaptability, and creative power of DNA. Mutations in species caused by DNA and the fact that all life utilizes DNA, lead scientists to believe DNA is the mechanism for evolution. My personal perspective views mutation and the similarities of species as indication to how genius God’s design of DNA is, and that evolutionary theory, if true , doesn’t exclude God as creator. The Theory of Evolution has real problems with assumptions not supported by real evidence, however, the theory is not unproven, and so, remains an open issue. The immensity and grandeur of the universe is overwhelming, and the durability and diversity of all life is a masterpiece in design, but it is man that is the pinnacle of God’s creation. </span></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> <br />
</span><div><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">Man has about 25,000 genes (a similar number as in a mustard seed) spread out on 23 pairs of chromosomes, each gene averaging 28,000 base pairs. To make man, the functions of DNA and RNA must go into overdrive. With extreme coordination and ingenuity the DNA creates an incredible human body with a superior brain that separates us dramatically from all other life forms. The brain gives us more intricate motor and communication skills, freedom from most animal instinctual behavior, and the innate ability to reason. Given the intellect to comprehend a God, believing that our unexplainable existence originates without divine input is a case of outsmarting ourselves.</span></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> <br />
</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">Science doesn’t disprove the existence of God. The improbability and ‘fine tuning’ of astrophysics and quantum physics that are necessary for the formation of the ‘ingredients’ are unreasonable without God. The impossible ‘just right’ environmental conditions necessary for the ‘pot’ to start and maintain life is unreasonable without God. In addition, the complex, statistically impossible chemistries and biology necessary for the ‘recipe’ to work are unreasonable without God. If these were not perfected by our master chef, life wouldn’t be on the menu. The rapidly increasing body of knowledge of science reveals an existence of unfathomable complexity and mystery, and leaves me with little option but to acknowledge that creation requires God. Without God there would be no universe, no earth, no life, and no man.</span></div></span>Gordon Hisayasuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12217944472609485438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8684512444354188290.post-48577515715311745442011-09-11T11:47:00.000-07:002011-09-14T09:22:52.004-07:00So Large, So Majestic<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3ndZ9o9R6Mrbim_wOKqSnkFecNNZFY9CBY7NLmT3LmbtrO-P9zmdmvwawR9FiP1nMj7oWdvaBblX5u4f76KcZBkP2mxBSupUlzKIzJdQe8hjVfIyHrW2gKCGi6E6UkyNoTMOzSakGkX3J/s1600/hubble_newold07a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3ndZ9o9R6Mrbim_wOKqSnkFecNNZFY9CBY7NLmT3LmbtrO-P9zmdmvwawR9FiP1nMj7oWdvaBblX5u4f76KcZBkP2mxBSupUlzKIzJdQe8hjVfIyHrW2gKCGi6E6UkyNoTMOzSakGkX3J/s320/hubble_newold07a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Estrangelo Edessa; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Estrangelo Edessa; font-size: large;">As I studied, every aspect of my exploration led to God. For me rational thought demanded the recognition of God’s hand in creation. The large values of numerical constants necessary in cosmology and quantum physics for the universe to exist, and the many factors that help sustain life on earth are very persuasive. Simply put, the ‘just rights’ and the ‘fine tuning’ are obvious and undeniable products of design. Everything seems to fit for our life on the planet Earth. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Estrangelo Edessa; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Estrangelo Edessa; font-size: large;"><dir><dir><dir><dir><i>For life, all the world is a garden of Eden.<br />
We exist because we can . . .<br />
Our world was designed for us. <br />
</i> </dir> </dir> </dir> </dir>I am captured by specific topics of science that deal with creation and stirred my interest and imagination throughout my life. These topics laid the foundations for my belief in God. I was a medical technologist by profession, but my heart loved all sciences, first and especially, cosmology. <br />
<dir> <dir> <dir> <dir> <i>We see through a window in our galaxy.<br />
The hidden universe is exposed and we find our thoughts were too restricted.<br />
Suddenly, things are larger and we are smaller.<br />
Is this our lesson from God? <br />
</i> </dir> </dir> </dir> </dir>In my generation, modern science exposed a universe much different from what we previously thought. Visions of galaxies, supernovae, nebulae, the cosmic background radiation, etc. increased our knowledge by giant steps. The accumulated knowledge of Man accelerated and expanded like the universe. The view of our universe changed, from trillions of stars to trillions of galaxies, from a finite steady state to an expanding universe created from a ‘big bang,’ from the Theory of Relativity to the theories of everything, and from the mysteries of the sun and planets to the mysteries of black holes, dark matter and energy. Primitive man looked to the heavens and a panorama of lights filled his mind with wonder. We look to the heavens and see more. The wonder remains but is more wondrous than before. The grandeur of the universe displays the creation by a wonderful and omnipotent God. <br />
<dir> <dir> <i>We drift insignificantly in space and wonder why the neighborhood is so large? <br />
Maybe we really are significant and our landlord really cares? </i></dir><dir><i>The specialness of our home makes it seem so!!</i><br />
<i></i></dir></dir></span><dir><dir></dir></dir></span><dir><dir></dir></dir>Gordon Hisayasuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12217944472609485438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8684512444354188290.post-33411991239862513392011-09-08T15:36:00.000-07:002011-09-26T11:59:39.867-07:00Vision Of Creation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjusbXVbx2reEeR5dFPWDwq-ruYSgMRs6mn_5ZaUvtsbSbMu6L76WAbUbC6spf_r4HL5T775pUZvTqJfQRxePShd8Rqmy_zKrAi3RPpGQUAJNJ2qiFpPeUdKKVAHkb0p5weDKBe1eK62wBa/s1600/picture.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjusbXVbx2reEeR5dFPWDwq-ruYSgMRs6mn_5ZaUvtsbSbMu6L76WAbUbC6spf_r4HL5T775pUZvTqJfQRxePShd8Rqmy_zKrAi3RPpGQUAJNJ2qiFpPeUdKKVAHkb0p5weDKBe1eK62wBa/s320/picture.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><strong>"Seeing you will see and not perceive" Matthew 13:14</strong><br />
<br />
The unexplained mysteries of the universe cry out for the intellect of Man to find answers. The more we know the more complex the mystery, and many times we revise what we think we knew. The world of absolute truths is invisible to the mind searching for concrete, conclusive evidence. We are forced to rely on theories and beliefs to find peace with our ignorance. In my attempts to find meaning in my life, I have searched the world of science and religion. My intellectual journey has brought me to a strong belief in God as my creator, and with my study of the Word of God, I have found a faith in Jesus Christ as my savior. I have found that when you believe in God, it is a precursor to the need to seek out the purpose of His creation. The foundation of reasonably accepting God’s role in creation was a mind process to me. It starts with the beginning.<br />
<i></i><br />
<i>In an instant, with a burst of energy, the newly formed masses accelerated outwards at incredible speed. The clock was started as creation marched forward through space. Soon the universe lit up as photons of light illuminated the darkness. The spectacle of God’s creation was on display, awaiting the eyes of Man to see.</i> <br />
The mysterious photon is of little significance without the creation of eyes. The photon lifts us from a blind species living in darkness, isolated from much of our environment that surrounds us. Even as it is hard to reconcile the existence of a photon, except to provide light to see, it is equally as hard for me to understand the complex creation of the eye, except for the purpose to see the wonder of God’s creation. The visions of the wonders of God’s creation are not the only revelation of the eyes, but many of the wonders of scientific discovery are revealed by our sight and the enhanced "eyes" we have developed. These are most apparent by the very large of cosmology and the telescope, and the very small of the microscopic world in biology and tools of quantum physics. The scientific process of observation is the foundation of much of our theories in physics and other sciences. Suffice it to say that without our sight much of our observable discoveries would not exist and we would be left "in the dark".<br />
<br />
The belief of non-believers of God is that creation occurred by random, spontaneous means, from natural forces, and exist without a divine purpose. With so much of our life dependent on sight, it is hard to believe the formation of the photons (light) as having no purpose and are another lucky, accidental coincidence for the eyes of Man. The concept of purpose of the photon in relationship with the other fundamental forces (electromagnetism, weak and strong interactions, gravity) and particles (the Standard Model) of quantum physics is mysterious and confusing, but by it’s very complexity infers a strong purpose as part of creation. Also, the idea of the speed of light ( c ) as a constant in our universe and a purposeful tool of astrophysics (Einstein’s Theory of Relativity- E=mc2), and the photon as a controversial wave or particle phenomenum with no mass, adds to the mystery and the concept of purpose of the photon. The creation of light ("Let there be Light") certainly does not seem arbitrary and with no purpose. Perhaps even harder to explain without purpose is the eye. It is easy to know which came first, the chicken or the egg, but why light would exist without eyesight, especially eyesight backed by a reasoning mind, defies explanation. To me this represents a special relationship between light and vision that gives purpose to each. The animal and even the plant kingdom have photo-sensing abilities. Indeed, many types of eyes exist in the animal kingdom. Man has not explained or revealed good explanations or evidence for the evolution of the eye. To me it rationally goes like this. How do you create the genetic code for the components in the brain to interpret sight without having simultaneous genetic codes for all the physical components of an eye? Show me the steps, and also the evidence of these steps. Have them occur randomly and without purpose (survival?) and let me decide rationally of your possibility as compared to the belief of a purposeful creation by God so we can "see" the wonder of His creation. Of course this is a simplification of the problems in explaining the evolution of the eye (note: I am not necessarily an opponent of evolution). The anatomical and mental structures involved in sight are as complex as the physics of the photon. Putting these together is one of the factors that led to my belief in God’s role in creation.Gordon Hisayasuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12217944472609485438noreply@blogger.com0