Your God is Too Small

Recently I read (again!) about some senator railing against evolution as being “Straight from the pits of hell.” Because the Bible says the world was created in seven days, any evidence to the contrary must apparently have satanic influences... or something.

You know, I’m really tired of some very small-minded Christians who think they know what is best and right. Honestly, they have no idea.

Not that I know either, which is entirely the point. None of us know. None of us can know. None of us know exactly how the universe was created. None of us know if God created it, or if, as Stephen Hawking says “God is not necessary to explain the creation of the universe.”

But look up in the sky some night. And maybe even read a little. You’ll find that this seven-day created world is just a tiny corner of a much larger universe. Our planet travels around the sun, which is just one of about 300 billion stars in our galaxy, which is just one galaxy of at least 100 billion more... you get the idea. God’s universe is a whole lot bigger than this tiny seven-day creation.

So what does this say about God? Well of course that depends on how you look at it. Knowing the scope of the universe, it would be easy to point to the Bible and to feel that God is just not enough to explain all of it. I mean, if we have that many stars, then we probably have more than just ONE species of life, at least one would think. So what does that say about man’s being God’s creation, made “in his image?” The more we see ourselves as just a small part of the universe, then, one could argue, the less likely that our god is THE God. And I will admit, there are times when that argument makes a lot of sense to me.

But that’s not how I normally look at it. As the universe gets bigger, as I see it, that makes God that much bigger. The idea of God being the god of a universe that consists of one sentient species on one planet in one solar system is neat and tidy, but to me it now seems so old-fashioned, so quaint. And so inadequate. Instead, my God is the creator of a universe that has trillions of planets and possibly thousands or millions of different sentient species. For God to have created all that, and to be in control of it, that makes God very big.

But if the universe is so big, and God is Lord of it all, where does that leave me? How can this God of All Creation have time to care about me? To even know about me? To listen to my prayers? And sometimes even answer them? It makes sense to say that He can’t, and the idea of a God just doesn’t stand up under this kind of universe. But to me, it just makes God that much bigger. And that much more unexplainable. And that much cooler.

As long as we try to fit science and the world into our idea of what we think God is, we’re going to continue to get it wrong. Because no matter how we try, our idea of God is just too small.

But I know my God is big. Bigger than I can imagine. And that’s pretty awesome.

A Father's Love

Last week, two young men committed a very heinous deed, setting off multiple bombs killing and maiming hundreds of innocent people, whose only crime apparently was that they happened to be in Boston celebrating one of America’s best traditions, the Boston Marathon. In the days since then, we have all been transfixed by the ongoing saga: the bombing, the aftermath, the chase, the gunfight, the manhunt, and finally the capture.

We have all wondered what could bring someone to commit such senseless slaughter. What kind of monsters would do something like this? We have seen the pictures and read the stories of the victims. We were all moved by the picture of the eight year old victim Martin Richard, holding up the sign that said “No more hurting people - Peace.” The tremendous sadness coming from that image was difficult for any parent to bear. I know I tried to put myself in the place of his father, and I quickly moved my mind away from that image. It was too hard to endure
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But today, I saw the father of the bombers. Those two young men did horrible things, deeds which for many will be unforgivable. But to that man, they weren't monsters, they weren't bombers, they weren't terrorists; they were his sons, his children. How could a parent deal with something like this, to know your own boys did these horrible things?

Some of their words were very hard to listen to. He told his son: "Tell police everything. Everything. Just be honest. Give up. Give up. You have a bright future ahead of you. Come home to Russia.” Earlier, before their capture, they had told him, "Everything is good, Daddy. Everything is very good."

Then I saw him being questioned live on the news. It was obviously hard for him to process these events. He ranged between anger, defiance, denial, regret, and intense sadness. As I’m sure we all would.

This whole situation has been horrible for all involved, and it is hard to feel bad for the bombers. I know some will ridicule the father, and criticize him. They will want him to face reality. They will want his remaining son to endure untold punishment and retribution, and I certainly understand that. But a father’s love is absolute. It does not judge, it does not keep score, it does not criticize. “It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.*” A father’s little boys will always be his little boys, no matter what they have done.

And that is exactly as it should be.

* 1 Corinthians 13:7

33

33...

Days, that is, until I retire. I told myself I wasn't going to count the days, yet somehow I did.

It's been 35 years. Sure, I could have gone longer. After all most people in real jobs go more than 35. But I figure a career is something like a race (as in running). No matter how long it is, you brace for it. When I run a 5 mile race, it seems to take forever to get to 4 miles. But when I run a marathon, 12 miles goes by before I know it. So it’s all relative.

And approaching retirement is like approaching the finish line. A few hundred yards in the middle of a race goes by lickety-split, but I've been in races when I was just 200 yards from the finish, and I didn't know if I was going to make it. It’s like that in my job as well. I only have 33 days, but it seems like an eternity.

Not that I hate teaching. On the contrary, it’s been a great 35 years. I couldn't imagine having done anything else. I still enjoy doing it, once I drag myself out of bed and actually get there, anyway.  Yet just like a race, if somebody moved the finish line during the event, it would be devastating. If I were running a marathon, and  at 25 miles someone told me that I would have to run 28.2 miles rather than 26.2, I would not be pleased. Yeah, that would be tough.

So I’m definitely not complaining about having to work for 35 years. After all, I’m retiring at 57, and most people don’t get that luxury. Still, I don’t want to add a few more years onto it, any more than I’d want to run a few extra miles in a marathon.

Yes, I've really enjoyed this career. But it is definitely time to move on. To what, I'm not exactly sure, which is both exciting and terrifying. But for now, even though I’m ready to leave, I wonder what I’ll miss about it. Because teaching wasn't something I did, it was what I was. And that’s a huge difference.

In 33 days, I’ll no longer be a teacher, or a coach. It will be odd. May 31 will be a joyful day. But I think it will be a little sad as well.  It will be difficult not to say “I’m a teacher.” I've always been secretly proud of saying that.  Somehow, I've always felt that it was a special calling. I still feel that way. And I’m leaving it.

But it’s time. Thirty-three more school days.

Unless we get a fog day!

Prayer in our Schools?

I recently received an email asking me to sign a petition to “Put prayer back in schools.” The text of the email went like this: 

“Believers should sign to let the lawmakers and the so called powers that be know we should be allowed to openly pray, and let God back into our schools. We live in the land of the free, and we should freely be able to allow God to come back in.”

For anyone who has read many of these posts, you’ll know that I’m a Christian. Yet, this petition troubled me. While I know the person who sent this to me was well meaning, I can’t sign this. Even though in many ways, I agree with her sentiments. So I figured I’d explain why.

Let me start by citing the very first words of the very first amendment to the US Constitution. It states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Keeping that in mind…

I’m not sure what this petition is asking. If it’s asking us to allow students to pray, then the petition is unneeded. I don’t know of any law that prohibits that. First of all, it would violate the first amendment by “prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” Besides, really, how would it be enforced? If a student is in a silent prayer, how could he be punished for that? I’ve had students carry Bibles with them, and of course, there’s no law against that. I’ve had students pray during class, and once again, that is completely acceptable. There is no law that prohibits that, and it would be impossible to enforce, even if there were.

Or maybe they are asking for me, as a teacher, to be allowed to lead a prayer. I admit that sounds nice, and part of me wishes that was allowed. But let me point out that the separation of church and state is not some liberal idea, it’s the first amendment.  And because of this, it means that I can’t lead a prayer. As a public school teacher, I am part of the government. By me leading a Christian prayer, that would definitely be “establishing a religion.” I’m not sure how that can be interpreted any other way.

Or maybe they mean that a student should be able to lead a prayer. Well, I suppose that’s not against the constitution. However, I have a Muslim student. Would it be OK then for her to lead a prayer as well? How about a Buddhist? Or maybe a Wiccan? If we are not establishing a religion, then I would think we’d have to allow all religions their turn.

You can say that America was founded as a Christian nation, and I would believe that. But the First Amendment certainly disallows any plan to force that religion on others. And although we may not like it, it’s the constitution. With all the allegiance paid recently to the second amendment, I find it odd that we seem to have forgotten the first.

Now, if you argue that God is being removed from our society, I can definitely honor that argument. However, to blame the government or the schools is really shifting the blame. If more and more Americans are becoming disenfranchised with religion, then shame on the churches and other religious organizations for not responding to that. Jesus didn't just offer more of the same. He was a radical, with a completely new approach to religion. It was NOT what they had always done. And of course, what he did made all the difference. He made religion relevant to the people. If we don’t do that, then yes, religion is in trouble. Of course that concerns me. But that’s for an entirely different post.

While I believe we definitely need more God in our society, it has nothing to do with leading a prayer in school.

Respects

Recently I attended a viewing at the local funeral home. The deceased had been a neighbor of mine, and while I wouldn't say we were good friends, we definitely knew each other. We would talk when we were outside, and although she was old, she could be pretty interesting. In the winter we used to shovel her walk and driveway whenever the snow came. For that we were routinely rewarded with various baked goods, which were always great. But she had been in a nursing home for the better part of a year, and so I hadn’t seen her. Still when word came of her death, it of course saddened me. And I thought I should go to the funeral home just to pay my respects to the family.

When we arrived at the funeral home, there were, of course, family members there. I didn't really know any of them, but I did see one person that I slightly knew. He waved at me, and I didn't find out till later that he was a grandson. But as we moved to where the woman was lying, there was nobody at the casket. We walked up to it, and mumbled a few things to each other about the woman. We looked at the pictures, admired the flowers, signed the guest book, gave a memorial, and walked out.

Yet nobody came up to talk to us. Nobody asked us who we were. Nobody said “It’s nice of you to be here, how did you know my mother?” Nobody talked to us at all. This woman was a mother and a grandmother, and I know they loved and cared for her, and I’m not trying to imply anything different. But I know that when my parents died, a lot of people that I didn't know said some very nice things about them. I wanted to hear that, and those people wanted to say it. Yet, this time, that didn't happen. I wanted to tell them about the snow and the baked goods, I wanted to tell them about the redbud tree she gave us. I wanted to tell them some nice things about their mother. Because I knew they would want to hear it. But I didn't say it, and they didn't hear it. Still, I'm sure there were plenty of others who did.

I know after long hours at a funeral home, sometimes people can slip in and out, and I completely understand that. And I'm not suggesting the family did anything wrong. But I couldn't help projecting forward to my funeral. While it’s not necessary that my loved ones stand by my casket with a constant flow of tears, I hope that at least someone is there to greet anyone who happens to stop by. Because those people will, (hopefully) want to say some nice things about me.

And (hopefully) my loved ones will want to hear it.

What Would It Hurt?

The topic of gun control is everywhere now. And depending on who you listen to, apparently we need fewer guns, or maybe just a whole lot more of them. Honestly, I don’t know what the best policy is.

It seems logical to me that if we have fewer guns, we’d have fewer gun crimes, but I’m told that’s naive, and maybe it is. It would also seem to me that, while the second amendment says we are allowed to carry firearms, it doesn’t necessarily say we get to have assault rifles and high capacity clips. A lot of people think it does though. But if the second amendment says there can be no limits of any kind on firearms, then can I own a tank as well? How about Cruise Missiles? Even nuclear ones, I suppose.

And I’ve read tons of reasons why limiting assault rifles and high capacity clips wouldn’t solve anything anyway. Such as:

• If someone wants a weapon bad enough, he’s always going to be able to get it. In other words, the criminals will always have them, and a ban will just hurt us good guys.
• If the shooters didn’t have these apparent weapons of choice, they could just strap multiple handguns on themselves, and that would serve just as well.
• It’s possible to kill people just as easily with hammers and knives, so what’s the point.

Maybe these reasons are valid. Maybe banning these things wouldn’t solve anything. I honestly don’t know.

But my question is, what would it hurt? I mean, if we're talking about hunting or self defense, we can probably get by with lesser weapons, couldn't we? Now I know that a lot of people want to have these weapons. But I hate stopping at red lights. I want to cruise right through them. Really I do, I hate stopping all the time. But I do stop. Because I figure I can make that sacrifice for the public safety. Doesn’t that apply here?

I’m not saying they should take your guns. Really, I'm not. I’m not even saying to ban assault rifles. I honestly don’t know the answer. I just wonder “What possibly could it hurt?”