"God Told Me To Do It!"

By Tony Harriman  • 

On my back porch the temperature gauge is reading 77°.  I think this is the warmest Christmas Eve I ever remember enjoying in Alabama.  I'm sitting here in a short-sleeved T-shirt and a pair of lightweight sweat pants; any more than that would feel cumbersome.  The sky is blue with a handful of lazy clouds out for a drift in the gentle breeze that is caressing the leafless trees.  Way up high in the sky a crow is making its way to the horizon for a date with who knows what.  Though the grasses on the gentle hills around our home have put on their brown winter coats, they are allowing the green clover to show itself off probably for the last time this winter.  The solstice arrived a few days ago, ushering in an excellent opportunity for the doomsday preachers to find yet another date for the end of the world.

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Max, our beloved family dog, is lying close by my side looking like he's trying to decide whether to have one last squirrel chase before spring, or to just take a nap.  He never catches the squirrels; I don't know why he bothers.  All in all, things couldn't look further from the end of the world; they look more like the dawn of days of wine and roses.

The trouble with the landscape is that it can often be a deceiving backdrop for reality.  Because of the curve of the earth, at sea level a person can only see in a 15-mile radius from where they stand; beyond that, everything drops behind the horizon.  When you think about the size of the earth, 15 miles is not very far.  Fifteen miles yonder can lurk a line of tornadoes with enough power to carry your entire belongings, house included, to the sea, or a thunderstorm packing enough wattage to take out your power for a day or two.

There is so much peace cascading onto the canvas around here right now, that were it not for the "blessing" of the worldwide news agencies spilling into our living rooms and smart phones, we'd hardly know there was any trouble in the world at all.  Once we do become aware of how rough of a time many of the planet's inhabitants are having, it's hard to imagine how there can be any peace among the heavenly onlookers at all.  But then I guess that's why Jesus said He offered a peace that man cannot understand — we simply don't have the software installed between the ears to actually "get it."

Off in the distance a pileated woodpecker is sounding off and digging his wooden holes; I can't see him, but I know he's there.  I once took the time to identify to which bird that cry belongs, and his snapshot pops into my mind every time I hear him call.  There are lots of woodpeckers in the forest, but only one that sounds like that one.

In our society are people, thankfully, who make a career of studying the natural world and its inhabitants; they can tell us without a doubt what's out there.  If we're interested enough we can spend time with these people and learn how to identify the "voices" of nature for ourselves.  We can learn which sounds belong to which respective birds, insects and animals.  We can become educated by listening to recordings and watching videos, and eventually we may grow to be extremely proficient at identifying species.  In fact we can become so learned in the art, that some of us might one day teach classes and offer courses.  And all of that would be possible … never once having walked through the forest or even having gone outside our front door.  These days we can do just about anything through the use of the Internet.  By this basic process of education a person can learn a foreign language, and teach others that language, never once visiting the country where that language is native or even spending time around anyone else who speaks that language.

Though most of us can carry a tune, relatively few of us can actually read music.  And in a bizarre twist of things, a person may know very well what note or action is represented by this or that symbol on a sheet of music … but might never have the ability to actually play the music for themselves, perhaps because of some disability.  In a strange twist, Beethoven was in his forties when he began to lose his hearing, but continued to compose long after his ability to hear the notes had left him completely, relying totally on the memory of the tones produced by this or that instrument playing the various notes he wrote on the staff paper.

I was interested to learn once that Christopher Reeve (of Superman fame) once taught his son to ride a bike for the first time.  "So what?" you say, "Anyone can teach someone to ride a bike."  What made this story interesting for me was that Mr. Reeve taught his son to ride the bike AFTER Mr. Reeve had been paralyzed from the neck down.  His son relied totally on the instruction spoken to him … and he learned to ride.

So, I guess my point is that it's not necessary to have any useful "hands-on" experience with the knowledge floating around in your head or on your tongue, but if you do know a little bit about it, chances are you can teach that knowledge to someone else; and so on and on and on, till the world is full of people who know everything there is to know about the starry sky and all its wonders … without ever having once left the planet.

When it comes to things of the Spirit — things that cannot be handled, tasted or touched — the same rules seem to apply.  What do I mean by that?  Well, it's like this.  Let's say we want to study things that are holy.  First we have to decide what might be holy, then pursue that course.  For some, another language must be learned -- among many Christian people I know, the language of Heaven is that which was spoken in the 17th century and recorded in the King James Version of the Bible.  For others the holy words may be found in ancient languages spoken by Abraham and his kin, or by Moses and Aaron, maybe Daniel the Prophet.

Freddie, one of our favorite cats, just jumped up on my table looking for something to rub against.  He's been eyeing my mouse for a while, and I'm not sure if he understands it's not real.  Sorry for the distraction.  Oh, and here comes the neighbors' huge Great Pyrenees that has adopted us on a semi-full-time arrangement.  I don't think he cares about the mouse, he just wants to be petted; he's such a baby.

Let's talk for a moment about the Creator behind the creation we live amidst.  I suppose a person could take all kinds of classes about the Creator.  I imagine we can learn about what He made; how He made it; what He has to say about what He made and what He'd like us to do with it; how we might find Him, etc., etc.  We can read books, watch videos, and listen to recordings of what people think He might sound or look like, and what He means when He says this or that.  I suppose we can become quite good at identifying Him in the distance ... but never actually lay eyes on Him … or hear His voice for ourselves.  We might find that if we want to know what He's saying, we'll have to ask an "expert."  Given time, we might even become experts ourselves and grow to be quite proficient at telling others how to manage their lives according to what the Creator has outlined, based on what we're learning from this or that expert we're reading from at any given moment.

Many people will tell you that the Creator God speaks to them all the time.  When you ask them what His voice sounds like, they'll tell you that He generally speaks to them in their own voices, in their own language, and with intonation they would use themselves.  God usually tells these people which decision they should make, but only after they have given Him a handful of choices.  There is normally no new information offered by the voice of God in their heads; no winning lottery numbers; no new recipe for an unfamiliar food; no address on a Street called Straight where they might find someone waiting for their instruction.  The voice of God either shuns them away from, or reinforces, an opinion they are forming about a portion of Scripture.  Some people simply hear God's voice of reassurance telling them that He loves them or that He is watching out for them.  Some of these people are locked up behind a series of heavy-duty doors and windows, because one day the voice in their head told them to do something really strange, like set off a bomb in an abortion clinic, or drown their young children in the bathtub, take a sniper rifle and shoot at passing cars on the freeway, or fly an airplane into a building.  You might be surprised at how many institutions house more than their fair share of these kinds of people.  Many of them, when they are asked why they carried out this or that attack, calmly explain that, "God told me to do it."

Perhaps we shouldn't be too quick to judge this latter set of listeners, because throughout early Old Testament history, the Children of Israel were given similar bizarre instructions regarding the handling of humanity.  As they went through certain lands they were to leave no one alive, not even the livestock.  If their children disobeyed they were to be stoned to death.  The same for Sabbath-breakers, adulterers and witches.  Although the story had a happy ending, even Abraham was told BY GOD to take his son, Isaac, up the mountain and kill him as a sacrifice to the God of Heaven.  Abraham didn't have to complete the horrible task — but he would have, had an angel not stayed the knife in Abraham's hand.  If you or I heard that voice giving us those instructions today, we would likely cringe from the thought, thinking that we were crazy.  But why?  What makes you or me different from Abraham?  We're all human.  The Bible teaches that God doesn't change — the same yesterday, today and forever.  So how shall we decide which instruction is from Heaven, and which from our own inclination?  Many people explain their allegiance to certain Bible principles based upon reason: "If the instructions don't fit my picture of God, well, I just ignore them."  And what we wind up with is a movement of believers who obey all Ten Commandments … excepting one.  While another denomination might find that they obey all Ten Commandments … but nine.

When someone arises saying God told me to commit this or that atrocious act, how shall we judge according to the Spirit?  That's not just a rhetorical question — I'm being serious.  These people come out of the woodwork and "speak according to these words …" regarding stealing, adultery, homosexuality.  They want to take the lives of those not living according to their understanding of the Word of God.  The Middle east is presently full of this type of attitude.  Because these moralizers don't attend my particular brand of church does not seem a safe way to decide whether or not they are acting for God — does it?  And doesn't it seem strange to you that warriors on both sides of the battlefield, playing field and boxing ring are praying to the same God for victory.  What's up with this strange attitude?  It's no wonder that non-believers get sick and tired of the bizarre behavior of religious folk.

"Ha!" you say, "All that craziness is beyond my horizon; I don't have to be concerned about the whackos on the other side of the world, or across the country, or even across the state.  None of that affects me."  Hmmm, think again, Miss Swan; the next phone call with bad news could be coming to you sooner than you think.  If you are a person of prayer, now would be a good time to seek protection from those who only have the ability to protect you, and your children, and your spouses, and who only can protect those who every day are risking their mortal lives to protect you (you know who they are).

Well, forget all that.  The sun is shining; the breeze is wafting; the dogs and the cat are now lazily snoozing.  What could possibly be wrong with the world in which we live?  Eat, drink and be merry ….

And that's just my take on it ….


     

Evolution Is Possible — Right?

By Tony Harriman  • 

It seems reasonable to believe that, given enough time, a river can completely redirect its course, and that the sea can completely dissolve even the tallest and hardiest of cliff faces.  If we live a normal lifespan, we might see with our own eyes these changes take place before we depart.  Eventually, the ground and its foliage will stroll right across the abandoned roadway — anywhere in the world.  The Sahara Desert, if left to itself, would one day completely cover up the surrounding civilization.

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So what's the problem with Evolution Theory?  If the landscape can change over time, why can't we believe that living creatures can change, too?  Why is there such an argument raging about the origins of species and celestial bodies?  Well, part of the problem is that, upon whichever side of the argument a person may dwell, some people just have a hard time living with an opinion other than their own roaming the world.  On a more down-to-earth realistic level, you can sympathize with students from both sides of the debate — Creationist or Evolutionist — because neither side is able to prove one iota of their argument beyond the pages of academics.  The Creationist cannot cannot go back to the beginning and record the sea filling with life through the lens of his video camera, any more than the evolutionist can take a few snaps of the lizard turning into the bird.

To my mind it seems highly unlikely that Moses would have dreamed up the idea that God simply "spoke" things into being, and that He took only six days to cover the land around Eden with life sufficient to eventually populate the entire earth.  The idea is so absurd to some minds, that an alternative solution would have to be found — at any expense.

If a man were to be given the job of inventing a suitable beginning for life on earth, he would likely light upon the observation that everything comes from, and is made up of, something else; because that's the way a man gets things done — he builds houses, planes, cellphones, computers, pencils and bow-ties out of stuff that he already has at hand.  A man gets nothing out of thin air.  From the north of England comes an expression which reads like this: "You don't get owt for nowt."  The original spelling is a little different, but that's how it's spoken.  The idea, of course, is that if you want something, you have to give something.

That a man should be able to invent such a notion as stuff being "spoken" into being, not ever having been in some form or other to start with, does itself seem highly unlikely.  The idea that a Creator can get things done without the aid of a human being does not fit the job description of any of the gods that were on the schoolroom chalk board at any time close to the beginning of history.  Even many of the gods in the church paper today are reliant on humans for protection against bad-mouthers, as ridiculous as that sounds.

I once heard someone say that all this scientific knowledge we've gained in the past century or so hasn't done us a bit of good.  I would respectfully disagree; the things we've found out about the universe in which we live leave a person in awe of whoever put all this incredible math into one working machine.  It seems to me that ignorance is not a friend that we should keep too close.  Am I right in remembering the two creatures under the coat of Dickens' Ghost of Christmas Present as being "Ignorance" and "Want"?  And wasn't Scrooge admonished to beware these two, especially the first?  Make of that what you will, but I think you'll agree that there's some wisdom there.  Ignorance may be bliss, but sometimes it can also be very painful.

You've probably heard one or two analogies like these:

"The idea that the marvelous complexity of life on earth sprang from pond scum is as likely as Webster's Unabridged Dictionary being the result of an explosion in a factory producing Alphabet Soup."

Or:

"The chances of the incredible math at work in the universe being totally random are about as likely as a fully functioning Boeing 757 being the result of an explosion in a scrap yard."

You get the idea.  Of course, both of these unlikely scenarios above are "possible," given enough time — but not "probable."  Anyone who's ever had to prepare dinner (I don't mean just open a can and plunge in) will realize that a process is needed for each part of the meal.  It would make no sense to put whole eggs in the frying pan, cover them with oil, then turn on the heat and expect to produce a couple of fried sunny-side-ups.  If you've ever watched Hollandaise Sauce being prepared from scratch (not out of a packet), you will quickly see that there is no other way to do this — Hollandaise Sauce is never going to grow on trees.

Once or twice in my life I have made an attempt at figuring out the Rubik's Cube.  Frustration quickly settled on me, because I saw that the solution was possible: all the colors were neatly arranged when I had this infernal thing handed to me.  But, in spite of my best efforts, things got steadily worse.  I imagine that somewhere in more than half the homes around the world is a drawer containing at least one unfinished Rubik's Cube.  You've probably once or twice landed on a YouTube clip of this or that ten-year-old who can solve the problem in less than twenty seconds.  "Yay!" you say as you quickly move on to something more interesting.

The people who witness the completion of the Rubik's Cube could argue that, given time, anyone can learn to sort out the puzzle.  And I would have to agree.  But let's add this ingredient: try doing it in the dark.  It's possible that once every million years or so you'll get it right; but it's not probable.  And this is just the Rubik's Cube; try inventing the human genome without a mind to think it through.

Order requires intelligence for structure.  That order, or "Law" is what keeps the atom safely under control on the planet.  On the sun, where the conditions are different from those on earth, that atomic law is bypassed by another law (the name of which I forget for now); simply put, the atoms are completely dismantled by pressure — pressure provided quite adequately by gravity due to the enormous size of the sun.  The incredible heat from the sun is handed to us by the release of energy contained in the countless atoms that make up its mass.

I personally believe that the people who were the main proponents of Evolution Theory in the 1800s would never have supported the idea had they been given access to the information we have learned from our studies under modern microscopes.  Not all doctors have religious inclinations, but those who are able to see past the biological injustices at play in the world, are able to see a definite intelligent hand in the construction of the human frame.  The microscope is a lot like a detective, removing all the "What-ifs" and "Suppose-sos" from the investigation.  The microscope doesn't tell us everything, but it definitely reveals some very clear fingerprints; unless, of course, you don't happen to believe in fingerprints.

Some things are true whether you believe them or not.  On the other hand, some things are just plain incorrect, no matter how you feel about them.  I heard someone once say that whatever you believe, that's what's true for you.  To which I respond, you can believe all you want that our planet is the center of the universe, or that the earth is flat and supported by a bottomless pile of turtles.  But at the end of the day, your belief is not going to change the facts.  In the medical/psychological world we have a name for believing in things we have no proof for: Schizophrenia.  Some people would say we have another name for believing in things that we cannot see: Faith.  I'll leave it to you to decide if you should or should not be wearing a straight jacket.

I don't personally believe that God is very much concerned that you believe the human race evolved from monkeys, though he might take issue with you considering the image of God to be like unto a chimpanzee swinging from tree to tree.

It doesn't rock my boat to realize that someone has a view of origins which differs from mine in every regard; and I don't think you should lose sleep over it, either.  No matter how hard you believe it, Creation cannot be proven any more than can Evolution; that's why they are both called "Theories."  Be big enough to accept the fact that, for some things, you'll just have to wait and see.  I have a notion that all will one day be revealed; though I have another notion which suggests that at that time our attitude will likely be akin to, "Scarlett, I … really don't care."

Oh … that river … the one changing course, is not changing its chemistry; only its address.  The only random at play in the world is that of relocation.  Below the surface, the math, to the eye of appearance, is totally constant.  Though appearing in various forms (liquid, solid and gas), a water molecule is only ever composed of hydrogen and oxygen (H2O — 1 oxygen atom and 2 hydrogen atoms).  If you change that formula just onnnnne intsy little bit, you wind up with a completely different compound; it might still be liquid, but it would likely be unsafe to drink or swim around in.

As a closing thought, we should make a mention of another consideration on the kitchen table: that of what has become known as Intelligent Design (ID).  ID proposes that there does appear to be some random at play in the universe, but that there are also some other observations, such as animal physiology and biology, which cannot be reasonably explained by the processes put forth by Evolution Theory.  The proposal of ID is steadily gathering opponents from the scientific community, because modern science does not allow for supernatural explanations of observed phenomena.  ID proposes obvious involvement of a creator, but not necessarily one who is interested in anything religious, though most of the people involved with what has become known as the Discovery Institute believe the creator was the Christian Deity.

At the end of the day, a person will have to decide in which battle they wish to engage — or not.  Personally I don't think there is any point in trying to prove something which is unprovable in my lifetime.  If God doesn't seem too interested in proving Himself, why should I try to do it for Him?  God seems to just leave fingerprints all over everything we can see so that we can tell He was there.  But we have a dreadful time catching up with Him.

Let's say it again: Evolution is "possible," but not "probable."  Leave it there.

And that's just my take on it ….