|
I was a research scientist for many years,
formulating ideas, conducting experiments, writing papers, reviewing the
research of others. Surprisingly, that work proved to be good religious
training.
When doing research, I found that little truths
would reveal themselves as we did experiments, read, discussed, and tried
to reason through what we saw.
Scientific method helped us focus on one
particular aspect of something. It helped us stay on track, and it helped
prevent us from fooling ourselves into thinking we knew something when we
didn't.
Learning about God has been a similar
process for me, noticing the small truths that are shown and incorporating
them into the way I view the world.
Our part in the search for God is to want to know, to
withhold judgment, to listen, and to receive what's given.
Although we can and should reason about what we
learn—reason being one of God's gifts to man—our reason can't encompass all
that there is. The truth is bigger, whether it's the truth about God or
scientific truth.
Like good scientific methodology, good
religion helps keep us on track.
It helps keep us from fooling ourselves into believing that
we know something, when we don't.
Good religion helps keep us from making up ideas and
persuading ourselves that they're true when they aren't.
In science, if you focus on one idea that
you think you're sure of, you'll miss the bigger truth—and we all have
favorite ideas that we're determined to hold onto.
The same is true of the search for God.
The more certain we are that we understand, the
less receptive we will be to what God is actually showing us about himself.
If a person reads the Bible knowing what he
will find—whether its a Christian reader, a person of another faith, or an
atheist—then he won't get anything real at all.
He's closed his mind to God's voice, preferring
the sound of his own.
For many years, I was sure that
conventional Christianity was simply wrong: God could not and would not
come to earth as a man.
God was too ethereal and too abstract for that.
God becoming a man—living and dying—was far too crude, too earthy for me.
I wanted Platonic ideals or something with that
superior sort of sense to it. Something that was pleasing to the mind and
not disturbing to my sense of my own excellence.
In time, however, my accomplishments
proved to be unrewarding. Success brought less joy, less peace, less
reality. Something was missing. Something was deeply wrong in my life.
In my discontentment and personal sense of
failure, God began to work.
He led my husband and me to church. He led me
to take communion, as I found myself agreeing that Jesus was the Son of
God, without even understanding what that meant or why I was agreeing to
it.
There was no coercion involved, just
something in me responding to the mystery of God.
It wasn't an emotional moment, and no choir of
angels sang. But from that moment, my life slowly began to change. God was
drawing me to Him in tangible ways.
That was more than 15 years ago. Who would I
now say that God is? God is the God who reveals Himself to us.
God has revealed Himself to mankind in
many ways throughout the centuries, but I believe that He came particularly
in Jesus Christ.
I've learned much that has been helpful to my
walk with God from both Christian and non-Christian books. God's truth is
scattered all over the place. But I believe that the root, the essential
connection, is Jesus Christ himself, as given to us through the Bible,
church teaching, and the sacraments of the church.
I believe that He is the way that God provided
for us to know Him, to be connected to Him as we were intended to be from
the beginning.
How do I know that I am connected to God?
Because I sense His presence with me. He gives
me insight, love, and freedom within myself that I don't have on my own.
The more I spend time in prayer and study, the
more I exhibit the qualities that I want to exhibit: kindness, patience,
love, self-sacrifice. When I get too busy with other things to spend time
with God, I see those positive qualities diminish in me. The relationship
is very clear and very consistent.
As I read about the experiences and
understanding of other Christians over the centuries, I find them giving
voice to my experiences and understanding.
There is a deep commonality that exists among Christians,
even across vastly different times and circumstances.
I believe that this commonality is the truth of God. I
believe it is Christ. That's what I believe; it's who I believe.
I welcome your thoughtful, serious
questions about and comments on what I've written here and elsewhere in  .
email: Running E
|
