The Greatest Story In the Universe
Ever since I was little I have always enjoyed listening to stories and now that I am older I still find myself being fascinated by tales of adventure discovery. Recently, however, I found myself being very suprised at myself by being interested with stories of different kinds. For this semester and the following semester I will be taking a couple of courses in geology for a science requirement and over the past couple of weeks I have been finding myself getting really excited about the content. Most of it has been about identifying minerals and rocks, but recently we have begun studying the forces that form volcanoes, valleys, mountains, and the landscape of the earth in general. I just find myself getting more and more intrigued by the content, because it almost feels like a huge story is being unfolded before me and I am getting to discover a story that has been and is being written for millions of years.
These feelings and ideas are actually not new to me. I actually began developing these thoughts over the past summer, when I spent about three months living in Yosemite National Park. Yosemite Valley and the surrounding terrain is a biological and geological wonderland and many elements of the surroundings can be very thought provoking. I remember one hike that I took deep into the Merced Lake Trail, a trail that follows the Merced river deep into the remote high country of the park, and as I walked along and saw the changing landscape, I had the feeling of almost reading a book with many chapters as the river bended and twisted and carved out the Merced Canyon, a trend that has been going on seemingly since the beginning of time. As pondered this, I was amazed by how much it felt like the story of the world was stretching out before me in profound and striking ways. As a history student, I am used to analyzing and deciphering the story of human progress and evolution, but it took on a very different context when contemplated the earth and the universe as well.
Too many times I think we try to describe the progress and passage of time within a strictly human point of view. Within that context, the insect world is considered incidental, any thing beyond our small solar system is unconsequential, and a million years sounds like an eternity. How would our perspective change if we started to understand the world and universe with a less earthly point of view, with our spiritual lives included. Perhaps we would stop seeing the work of God being centered solely around the salvation of human beings alone, but perhaps a plan for God save and perfect His creation as a whole, making everything have the ability to enjoy and desire Himself as he had intended it. With this point of view, perhaps we would see even the creation around us in a different way, more in touch with how God had originally planned it.
In everything around us, whether it is a complicated leaf, a tropical fish, a grinding iceberg, a towering mountain, a distant galaxy, or a fellow human, God is continuing to send us messages about Himself, His nature, and giving us a desire to continue to seek and know Him better in a strong and personal way, weaving together the greatest story in ever told. So, in one of thinking, through the eyes of Creator, the greatest story ever told in the universe is exactly that: the universe.
Friday, September 15, 2006
Monday, September 11, 2006
The Stale Life
Sometimes life gets stale. Sometimes it gets boring, mediocre, and generally uninteresting. But is this really how life should be? To paraphrase of C.S. Lewis, all christians are interested in being happy. They aren't christians because they want to do good deeds, want to be seen as good people, or out to be famous. Essentially, all christians know that the life that they lead will give them ultimate happiness and is a better life. It might not be easier, but it is better. God didn't necessarily want life to be easier for us but he does intend for us to live a joyful life of genually loving following Him and being in His prescence. But what happens when we don't feel that joy?
Shortly after a meeting with the leaders of the ODU Intervarsity Coordinating Team, one of my good friends commented, "Are any of you tired?...of being in this role at least...it seems like all we are doing is busy work." After some conversation, we all realized that we were all getting worn out and burned out from all the coordinating and desicion-making we had been doing. With that being revealed to us, we seemed very disheartened and even more discouraged, especially since we really didn't know what to do about it. After thinking about it further, however, I thought about my friends comment about us just doing busy work. I thought that maybe all we have been doing was busy work, and the one of the only ways for this to become busy work was if God was somehow being pushed out of the picture.
Through all of our planning and coordinating, perhaps we have lost sight of the core of why we are doing all this work. Without Christ, all of our efforts are fruitless and pointless. In the same way that it is meaningless for a professor to make assignments without intending to teach anything worth learning, perhaps all of our efforts are also pointless without Christ being the center and the reason for all the effort. Granted, Christ's will will still be done, but we will learn more, see more, and genuinely enjoy more of what we do and our time with our Creator when we are mindful of His will and His purpose. At the very core, that is the very reason why we want to spread the gospel to others, not because we want to boost numbers or gain fame for ourselves, but because we genuinely know that the life we are living through Christ is better than the life of being without. Without it, life is just busy work, with no rewards, no lessons, no joyful communion with the Creator.
Perhaps the C-Team doesn't need to change any of the things we are physically doing, but perhaps we need to find where we have pushed out God and tried to infuse ourselves into His place. At the very core of the matter, I believe God wants to make this year joyful and beautiful for us all on the C-Team and in all of IV, maybe not easier, but genuinely bringing us closer to Him and to His heart. The only way that can happen is through a life of repentance and life of keeping God in complete control. We are definately there yet, I pray that God gives us the knowledge, insight, and experiences to guide us on that road closer to His heart.
Sometimes life gets stale. Sometimes it gets boring, mediocre, and generally uninteresting. But is this really how life should be? To paraphrase of C.S. Lewis, all christians are interested in being happy. They aren't christians because they want to do good deeds, want to be seen as good people, or out to be famous. Essentially, all christians know that the life that they lead will give them ultimate happiness and is a better life. It might not be easier, but it is better. God didn't necessarily want life to be easier for us but he does intend for us to live a joyful life of genually loving following Him and being in His prescence. But what happens when we don't feel that joy?
Shortly after a meeting with the leaders of the ODU Intervarsity Coordinating Team, one of my good friends commented, "Are any of you tired?...of being in this role at least...it seems like all we are doing is busy work." After some conversation, we all realized that we were all getting worn out and burned out from all the coordinating and desicion-making we had been doing. With that being revealed to us, we seemed very disheartened and even more discouraged, especially since we really didn't know what to do about it. After thinking about it further, however, I thought about my friends comment about us just doing busy work. I thought that maybe all we have been doing was busy work, and the one of the only ways for this to become busy work was if God was somehow being pushed out of the picture.
Through all of our planning and coordinating, perhaps we have lost sight of the core of why we are doing all this work. Without Christ, all of our efforts are fruitless and pointless. In the same way that it is meaningless for a professor to make assignments without intending to teach anything worth learning, perhaps all of our efforts are also pointless without Christ being the center and the reason for all the effort. Granted, Christ's will will still be done, but we will learn more, see more, and genuinely enjoy more of what we do and our time with our Creator when we are mindful of His will and His purpose. At the very core, that is the very reason why we want to spread the gospel to others, not because we want to boost numbers or gain fame for ourselves, but because we genuinely know that the life we are living through Christ is better than the life of being without. Without it, life is just busy work, with no rewards, no lessons, no joyful communion with the Creator.
Perhaps the C-Team doesn't need to change any of the things we are physically doing, but perhaps we need to find where we have pushed out God and tried to infuse ourselves into His place. At the very core of the matter, I believe God wants to make this year joyful and beautiful for us all on the C-Team and in all of IV, maybe not easier, but genuinely bringing us closer to Him and to His heart. The only way that can happen is through a life of repentance and life of keeping God in complete control. We are definately there yet, I pray that God gives us the knowledge, insight, and experiences to guide us on that road closer to His heart.
Thursday, August 31, 2006
What a World of Difference a Worldview Makes
*Disclaimer* To the readers of this blog: Even though some of the ideas in this entry may seem somewhat animistic and religiously relativistic, I do believe in the Christ, the resurrection of the body, and being saved by and only by the grace of God. However, I think it would be wrong for us to completely and uncritically believe everything that has developed and evolved in Western Christianty and at the same time completely throw away and discard all the other ideas of other religions and belief systems.
This semester I will be taking a class on colonial and revolutionary American and I kind of came across a very interesting observation as I studied. As I read and studied the beginning of the textbook, I realized that the book took a very multi-cultural viewpoint and emphasized the importance of gaining a balanced view of the cultures and history around us. At first, I was a little surprised, considering that I was expecting to be learning about the founding fathers and the creators of our nation. As I thought about it further, I realized that most of the history is very centered on the people of our own ethnicity, with a few sprinkles of other nationalities spread throughout. It was hard for me to realize how much things change when not seen through the lens of our own culture, but it was really eye-opening when I took a different look at it.
It really is amazing when to think about how world history really has been changed by the different world views of cultures. It has caused conflicts and sometimes has prevented some people from understanding each other at all. As a historian, the writing of history will soon begin a huge revolution in how it writes and perceives the world. I was a little confused when I saw that I wasn't going to totally be studying the history that I though I would be, but later I realized that it is my duty to study the history of the world...through the eyes of every man, woman, and child.
With this in mind, it is very easy for me to become muddled in worldview interpretation and cultural relativism. So how can we know the complete and full truth? What if the truth is so complicated we can't even begin to wrap our minds around it? In light of these ideas, I believe that absolute truth is out there...if we only ask for it. Perhaps we can pick and choose what is real truth from our culture and other cultures we will see and grow closer to God...through the eyes of all his people. Perhaps the Tower of Babel was something bigger, not just a seperation of superficial language, but also a mixing of understanding, perception, and worldview. All this can only make God bigger in our eyes, thoughts and hearts.
Perhaps thinking this way may muddy the waters of an already complex issue, but in another way it brings me closer to worship of God, that we have an extremely big God who is using all of his children all over the world to reveal His glory.
*Disclaimer* To the readers of this blog: Even though some of the ideas in this entry may seem somewhat animistic and religiously relativistic, I do believe in the Christ, the resurrection of the body, and being saved by and only by the grace of God. However, I think it would be wrong for us to completely and uncritically believe everything that has developed and evolved in Western Christianty and at the same time completely throw away and discard all the other ideas of other religions and belief systems.
This semester I will be taking a class on colonial and revolutionary American and I kind of came across a very interesting observation as I studied. As I read and studied the beginning of the textbook, I realized that the book took a very multi-cultural viewpoint and emphasized the importance of gaining a balanced view of the cultures and history around us. At first, I was a little surprised, considering that I was expecting to be learning about the founding fathers and the creators of our nation. As I thought about it further, I realized that most of the history is very centered on the people of our own ethnicity, with a few sprinkles of other nationalities spread throughout. It was hard for me to realize how much things change when not seen through the lens of our own culture, but it was really eye-opening when I took a different look at it.
It really is amazing when to think about how world history really has been changed by the different world views of cultures. It has caused conflicts and sometimes has prevented some people from understanding each other at all. As a historian, the writing of history will soon begin a huge revolution in how it writes and perceives the world. I was a little confused when I saw that I wasn't going to totally be studying the history that I though I would be, but later I realized that it is my duty to study the history of the world...through the eyes of every man, woman, and child.
With this in mind, it is very easy for me to become muddled in worldview interpretation and cultural relativism. So how can we know the complete and full truth? What if the truth is so complicated we can't even begin to wrap our minds around it? In light of these ideas, I believe that absolute truth is out there...if we only ask for it. Perhaps we can pick and choose what is real truth from our culture and other cultures we will see and grow closer to God...through the eyes of all his people. Perhaps the Tower of Babel was something bigger, not just a seperation of superficial language, but also a mixing of understanding, perception, and worldview. All this can only make God bigger in our eyes, thoughts and hearts.
Perhaps thinking this way may muddy the waters of an already complex issue, but in another way it brings me closer to worship of God, that we have an extremely big God who is using all of his children all over the world to reveal His glory.
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