Atheists

It's interesting that Christians (or people of any religion) are accused by atheists and agnostics of being ignorant because our faith is based on an unseen reality.  We are told that since it is unseen that it must be subjective at best, and a complete fantasy at worst.  The idea is that no amount of evidence which might support our beliefs is credible because the core, or foundation, itself is not something that can be physically experienced.  This thought process goes back to philosophers such as Nietzsche, Kant, and Descartes who, of course, based their ideas on those expressed before them. The truth is that this is in no way a new idea.  There will always be people who don't believe in anything that can't be measured.

This really makes sense, at first glance.  Anything that is within our experience must be in some way measurable, right?  We can measure distance, sound, various forces, as well as many other things within our universe.  If there is no way to measure a thing, then the thing must not exist...right?  If I follow this line of thought all the way out I must come to the logical conclusion that spiritual entities such as God, angels or demons couldn't possibly be real.  Only the physical, measurable universe would exist.

How sad would such a world be.  A world without love, a world without beauty, a world without hope.  A place with no fear, or excitement, or pleasure, because none of these things can truly be quantified.  No truth.  No justice.  These are all subject to our whims and opinions with no foundation in reality.  Even reality has no measuring rod to determine its substance (how real is it?).  Everything that makes life what it is would cease to be in a world of no spirit.

The truth is that much of what we go through as humans is experienced in the spirit realm, a place we don't "go to", yet we are there anyway.  I won't try to tell you "what" or "where" it is because far more brilliant men than I have been unable to do so, but it is there.  It's there in the beauty of a spring day and the playing of our children, as well as the loss of a loved one.  It's the place where the intangible becomes tangible.

When a person denies the existence of God, they are denying that there is a spiritual part of our world.  Likewise, when one says that there is no spirit realm, they are saying, "there is no God".  Both approaches seem a very sad way to live.

God's Love Is Bigger Than I Think

I've become convinced that my understanding of God's love is like that of a man who stands on the shore, waves lapping at his toes, and thinks he knows the ocean.  He can obviously recognize that it is the ocean.  He may even know something of the ocean; its depths, tides, and temperature could all be know by a man who stands on the shore.  In the end, sadly, he still hasn't experienced the ocean in its fullness.  We can never really understand the power of the tide until we are in over our heads, rolling in the waves.  The depths are incomprehensible until we realize that the bottom is out of reach and the safety of the shore is too far away for our tired bodies to swim.  That is when a person can experience the enormity of the ocean; just beyond the edge of control.

That's when I know God; just beyond the edge of control.  As long as I have control He doesn't.  Whenever I am manipulating the situation and arranging life according to my will I am not allowing the omnipresent love of my creator to guide me.  My prideful arrogance says, "I can handle my own life.  I can make my own rules".  But God says, "only as long as you stand on the shore".  If I truly want to know (that is, experience) the depth and power of God's love, I must jump in...over my head...and swim very far from the safety of shore.  A place where the only thing saving me is the buoyancy of the very thing I fear.  Only then can I understand what it is like for God to control my life.  When I give up control.