i don’t know really anything about this science. i think it uses the word “quarks” quite a bit…but i may be wrong…maybe that was just something i picked up from the last sci-fi movie i saw.
but i was listening to a show about quantum physics and its impact on our lives…didn’t really understand much of it but one statement did stick with me.
fred alan wolf, ph.d in physics, ucla
“the trick to life is not to be in the know but be in the mystery”
don’t know his theology but i do know that he has enough humility to know that he doesn’t know.
i think that possibly the most arrogant belief one can hold is that they know god….isn’t following jesus the beginning of the understanding of just how ignorant we are?
i mean if quantum physics humbles dr. wolf shouldn’t we be more humbled by god? i scratch my head at those who claim the answers to this life and at the same time say they follow christ.
me? i’m firmly in the mystery still dale
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July 17, 2006 at 6:07 pm
onelouder
“i think that possibly the most arrogant belief one can hold is that they know god.”
very provacative statement, and i can see where you might be coming from by your context. but i do think that john 1:18 in addition to and in harmony with other verses would seem to suggest that we can know god BY following christ. there’s also the holy spirit - but holy cow, talk about mystery. pun intended.
that being said, i just said to a friend today something to the effect that the longer i go in my faith journey, the more i understand how people decide to be agnostic. each answer leads to another question.
July 17, 2006 at 6:35 pm
thoughtscrashing
onelouder…i agree w/ john 1:18. i think that identifies the method to acquiring “god-knowledge” or the path to it.
…but it is a very deep well and a very long path and i’m pretty sure (all opinion here) we never get much past beginning and finishing is probably unattainable when pursuing an eternal god…
…for me i have to get used to not knowing and always questioning but moving nonetheless….or i may just sit forever.
i’m with u when it comes to being overwhelmed at what i don’t know
the talmud says “teach thy tongue to say ‘i do not know’”
July 18, 2006 at 12:41 pm
jen
……i think the more i realize i don’t understand who god is, the closer i feel to him….just understanding how big he is and how i will never completely know him……
July 22, 2006 at 12:07 am
Josh
Hey bro. Just wanted to drop in and see how things were going. I was thinking about your statements about living in the mystery and….well, I keep coming back to “child-like faith”. I have a neice named Brooklyn who is just learning to talk….and I can almost guarantee you that she can’t tell you one thing about her mother…..except that her mother loves her and takes care of her. Where her mother was born, where she went to school, what she does at work, her favorite color….I doubt she knows those things. Yet, the ONE thing that makes her run to her mother when she’s hurt, scared, or happy…..is the fact that she KNOWS her mother loves her and she feels safe there.
And, as Brooklyn continues on her journey through life, she begin to learn more about her mother…..and one day, when she’s old enough, will stand before hundreds and tell them of how great her mother was.
I wonder if we are any different….just children on a journey of life, learning more and more about our Father.
Hope everything is going well with you. I’ll talk to you soon!
-Josh
July 23, 2006 at 11:08 pm
thoughtscrashing
hey josh
yeah that’s a good analogy…but can it go deeper? is it possible to come to places in your walk where the love is even shrouded in mystery? I think so…..and those times are scary. sometimes it makes u feel like u have no place to run for safety.
then u only have hope…that u aren’t alone…that things will get better…..sometime….that there is love.
makes u feel like a child
talk 2 u soon
dale
July 25, 2006 at 1:52 pm
rick
Hey Dale,
A couple of scriptures jumped to miind as I was reading this. First is Jeremiah 9:23-5:
Thus says the Lord, “let not a wise man boast in his wisdom, and let not the mighty man bboast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches: but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice, and rightouesness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord.
The second is 1 Cor. 2:12-13:
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the spirit, combining spiritual thought wisth spiritual words.
These lead me to ask this question. Isn’t growing in our relationship with God all about knowing Him? Isn’t that His desire? I am in no way claiming that I or anyone else has a complete knowledge of God, but I would maintain that I and we are getting to know Him. By the indwelling of the Spirit, we can know God and help others to know Him.
I sometimes feel that we tend to delight more in our ingnorance than we do in our learning. I don’t understand. The above analogy is good for now, but when Brooklyn’s wedding day arrives, I am sure her mother will delight in the knowledge that her daughter has learned from her how to be a woman. I’m thankful that God doesn’t leave us where we are, but continues to teach us. Hope is wonderful, even more so when it is founded in knowledge.
Teach me something, bro.
rick
July 25, 2006 at 2:19 pm
thoughtscrashing
Hey Rick,
Thx for visiting!
I do agree with the scriptures you have posted. The statement that resonates the most with me is “we are getting to know him”. And that is key.
Many people believe that when we get to heaven that we will know all there is about God…to me that is egocentric and disrespectful to God. I think it shows a marked lack of understanding about how incredibly awesome God is in scope, size, power, holiness, and love. Even with all eternity we would not be able to contain the data that would describe God fully.
That is why I am learning to assume the posture of a learner and not a knower.
I love Job’s respnse to God -Then Job replied to the LORD, “I am nothing–how could I ever find the answers? I will put my hand over my mouth in silence. I have said too much already. I have nothing more to say.”
In my life I have been in that position…to have to say to God “I have saiid too much!”
I have had to say with him “…I was talking about things I did not understand, things far too wonderful for me. I had heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes. I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.”
I am in awe of God….not because the bible says I have to be but because he is too wonderful for me to understand or comprehend.
That’s kinda where I am coming from.
dale
July 25, 2006 at 10:13 pm
Josh
Dale,
Its quite refreshing to hear such a HOLY perspective. Right on!
Josh