Sunday Ponderings . . .

 

I grew up in a home with a mother who always prayed.  We did not pray together as a family, but when I was a child my mother taught me to say my bedtime prayers and I can honestly say, hand on heart, I have said bedtime prayers every day of my life. You could say I have always believed in God and in Jesus Christ and that would be true.  But why do I believe in them?  Is it because I was taught to believe in them or is there another reason . . . 

Well, I think that the first reason is partially true.  I first believed because I was taught to believe.  It was a family tradition and something we all took for granted.  God was always there.  God was good.  My father took me to church on the holidays with him and when I was old enough, I went to Sunday School every Sunday and Vacation Bible School in the summers.  Somewhere in this house I have a certificate which says I am enrolled in the Lawrencetown Bible Baby Club or some such.  I got a perfect attendance certificate every year for Sunday School and a pin to wear. 

  

This is a picture of me at Easter when I was four and a half years old.  It was taken outside my grandparents house in Lawrencetown, Nova Scotia.  I am holding a little white bible in my hands that my father had given me for Easter that year.  It meant a lot to me, that little white bible.  Partially because my father gave it to me and partially because it was a connection to God and Jesus Christ for me. 

 

I carried that bible when I got married the first time.  I had bought a pretty white lace cover for it and had a lovely spray of red roses on it.  That was my bouquet.  God was important enough and real enough to me that I included Him in my wedding in a tangible way. 

  

That bible went with me throughout most of my life, wherever I went, it was with me. Sadly it disappeared about 19 years ago.  I can't say for sure what happened to it, but I have an idea . . . 

But, yes, God has always been important to me and a part of that

is because of the traditions of my parents and

my upbringing.

...

But somewhere along the line I had decide for myself whether God was real or not, and whether or not to believe and trust in Him and in His son Jesus Christ.  And that is the larger part of and the reason why I believe. 

 

Everything around me and in the Universe points to a creator with a deliberate design. I know in my heart that this did not all happen by accident.  There was a purpose behind it. Its very complexity speaks to me of God.  The earth itself is amazing, its size, its distance from the sun, our  moon which directs the tides of our oceans . . . gravity. Water . . . we are 80% water and nothing can live without it, or oxygen for that matter and the earth has a perfect balance of both. Water in and of itself is complex . . . we are surrounded by complexity and beauty from the largest thing to the very smallest thing. 

  

Aerodynamically it should not be able to fly, and yet

it does, and it does so most 

beautifully.

...

 

We . . . are the most amazing creatures . . . an amazing creation. And the scriptures tell us that we were created in His image, both male and female . . . we are born the most helpless of all creations and yet from the second we come into this world, we are changing, growing, learning  . . . 

The human brain processes an amazing amount of information. It takes in all the colors and objects we see, the temperature around us, the pressure of our feet against the floor, the sounds around us, the dryness of our mouth, even the texture of our keyboard. Our brain holds and processes all of our emotions, thoughts and memories, and at the same time  keeps track of the ongoing functions of your body like your breathing pattern, eyelid movement, hunger and movement of the muscles in your hands.

The human brain processes more than a million messages a second, and then weighs the importance of all this data, filtering out the relatively unimportant. This screening function is what allows us to focus and operate effectively in our world. The brain functions differently than other organs. There is an intelligence to it, the ability to reason, to produce feelings, to dream and plan, to take action, and relate to other people.

And that is just our brain . . .  every single aspect of our creation is overwhelmingly beautiful, with purpose and function and design.  We are miraculous and amazing.

 

"When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,

 the moon and the stars, which You have set in place, 

what is man that You are mindful of him...". 

Psalm 8:3,4 

 

Scientists are convinced that our universe began with one enormous explosion of energy and light, which we now call the Big Bang. This was the singular start to everything that exists: the beginning of the universe, the start of space, and even the initial start of time itself.

Astrophysicist Robert Jastrow, a self-described agnostic, stated, "The seed of everything that has happened in the Universe was planted in that first instant; every star, every planet and every living creature in the Universe came into being as a result of events that were set in motion in the moment of the cosmic explosion...The Universe flashed into being, and we cannot find out what caused that to happen." 

Steven Weinberg, a Nobel laureate in Physics, said at the moment of this explosion, "the universe was about a hundred thousands million degrees Centigrade...and the universe was filled with light." 

The universe has not always existed.  It had a start. What caused that start . . . that Big Bang. Scientists have no explanation for it, and yet . . .  it happened.

We are here.

The Universe is here. 

 

There is a sense of constancy that is inexplicable and yet which exists. Life holds much uncertainty, and yet . . . the sun always comes up in the morning, and sets at night, replaced by the moon and the stars.  A cup of cocoa when heated and left, will always cool down to room temperature. The earth rotates in the same 24 hours and the speed of light never changes. Gravity remains constant. We live in a world filled with laws of nature that are absolute and unchanging. Why is the universe so orderly, so reliable? 

The greatest scientists have been struck by how strange this is. There is no logical necessity for a universe that obeys rules, let alone one that abides by the rules of mathematics. This astonishment springs from the recognition that the universe doesn't have to behave this way. It is easy to imagine a universe in which conditions change unpredictably from instant to instant, or even a universe in which things pop in and out of existence.

Richard Feynman, a Nobel Prize winner for quantum electrodynamics, said, "Why nature is mathematical is a mystery...The fact that there are rules at all is a kind of miracle." 

DNA

That is a biggie.

Just look at DNA. It is no accident.

Every living thing is composed of it, and it contains a code

which is totally unique

to every living 

thing

...

 

 Mostly though, I believe and I know because God has shown me through a multitude of miraculous ways and happenstances that He is there and that He cares about me, about us  . . . He has manifested Himself to me through a multitude of small and simple things that prove to me that I am important to Him and that I matter.  From simple and sometimes not so miraculously wonderful answers to my prayers, to small notes found in parking lots when I am feeling at my lowest that say quite simply . . .  "Be Happy."  Co-incidence?  I think not.  My life is filled with Divine signatures such as this . . .  small miracles . . . each one pointing only in one direction . . . God. 

And I don't know why I have been priviledged enough to have been born where I was born or to be living the life I am living . . .  there are many, many who are so much worse off.  I am very aware of the blessing that is mine in simply being where I am and doing what I do.  And I cannot tell you why some people live and others die, why some people are sick and others not, some poor and some rich, some abled and some disabled . . .  

But I do know with a certainty that were it not for those things . . .  those people  . . .  I would never know what it is to serve and to love and to give.  

 

 I believe because I can't not believe.  I am surrounded with 

things, feelings, life, etc.  which show me without

any doubt that God is real and that

He cares, about you

about me,

about

everyone.

And if HE is real  . . .  then Jesus Christ is real also.

And He is the way, and the truth, and the

light.

and that's enough for me.  

But don't take my word for any of this.  You need to find out for yourself. God wants to know you.  He's only waiting for you to invite Him into your life. I know that this is true because I have lived it, and I do live it.

"I am the light of the world, he who follows me will not walk in darkness, 

but will have the light of life."

 

In The English Kitchen today  . . .  Irish Honey Scones.  They are quite simply good. 

Whatever you do, think or say in the living of your day today, don't forget  . . . . 

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And I do too! 

 

PS - No need to comment.  I just like to keep my Sundays sacred and holy,  and a part of that is pondering things like this. Its just my way  . . . for today  . . .