God and the Universe

It is sad that our everyday experiences do not enrich our spirituality, much less our theology. We don’t look at the star-littered night sky and make theological assertions as much as we do on a Sunday morning service during ‘praise and worship’ (at least this is my experience). But, the psalmist could sing God’s praises when he looked at the night sky:

“ The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament his handiwork” (Ps 19:1)

When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; …O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!” (Psalm 8:3,9)

“He telleth [counts] the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.” (Psalm 147:4).

The grandeur and the complexity of the universe  evokes the sense of mystery and wonder. Are we losing our humanity? Hugh Ross contends, “Gazing at the night sky seems to raise profound questions not only about the Universe but also about ourselves”.

Why is it that we don’t get into a reflective mood when we gaze into the night sky? No wonder, our spirituality is shortsighted, dull and boring.

The bible affirms that, “ In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth [ Gen 1:1]. Why is that we have resigned the study of the universe to those with “ God-is-not-necessary-to-explain-anything” persuasions. Actually,  believers in God should be the first to engage in the study of astronomy because it tells us about God’s the grandeur of his creation.

George Roche contends, “ it really does matter and matter very much, how we think about the cosmos”.

Today we know a lot amore about the universe than we did a century back. Actually, we know that we don’t know much about the universe.

However, the discoveries in the last century have brought “God” into mainstream academic discussion. Astronomers are now talking a lot about God and new findings make for the case for a universe designed by God so compelling. In the book, Creator and Cosmos, Hugh Ross writes,” No other generation has witnessed so many discoveries about the universe…Not only can we measure certain aspects of the universe, but in these measurements we are discovering some of the characteristics of the one who fashioned it all”

The study of the universe informs our worldview – how we look at all of life, how we answer questions of origin, identity, meaning, morality, salvation, history and destiny and how we live and order our lives. Historically, anyone who accepted a particular cosmological model has had to re-orient his thoughts drastically in many areas.

We live in an age where the dominance of science is felt in every arena of life. Worse, their influence has spilled over into the entertainment arena. Atheistic scientists/filmmakers/storywriters are vocal in their “god-less” pronouncements about the universe. Our kids are watching their sci-fi films and serials, reading science fiction books, and reading other published material about the universe. It is time we  speak about “ the glory of God revealed through the cosmos”.

What better time than year 2009 – declared as the International Year of Astronomy

2009 – The International year of Astronomy

The International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009) has been launched by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) under the theme, “The Universe, yours to discover”. Thousands of IYA2009 events are described on the national websites, as well as on astronomy2009.org

A staggering 135 nations are collaborating to bring the Universe closer to Earth. Events and activities will take place over the coming 365 days and beyond, in a spectacle of cosmic proportions.

Now is the ideal time to learn more about the cosmos and our place within it. The International Year of Astronomy 2009 promises to make the Universe yours to discover, beginning on 1 January 2009.

Information from http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/pressreleases/detail/iya0805/

William Cowper

The rules for being human

Trailer: Why did I get Married?

Re:connection

A personal bible study prepared by Samuel Thambusamy

The woman (EVE) stared at the fruit. It looked beautiful and tasty. She wanted the wisdom that it would give her, and she ate some of the fruit. Her husband (ADAM) was there with her, so she gave some to him, and he ate it too. Right away they saw what they had done, and they realized they were naked. Then they sewed fig leaves together to make something to cover themselves. Late in the afternoon a breeze began to blow, and the man and woman heard the LORD God walking in the garden. They were frightened and hid behind some trees. The LORD called out to the man and asked, “Where are you?” The man answered, “I was naked, and when I heard you walking through the garden, I was frightened and hid!” “How did you know you were naked?” God asked. “Did you eat any fruit from that tree in the middle of the garden?” “It was the woman you put here with me,” the man said. “She gave me some of the fruit, and I ate it.” The LORD God then asked the woman, “What have you done?” “The snake tricked me,” she answered. “And I ate some of that fruit.”
(Gen 3:6-13 CEV)

Questions for Further discussion

1) What is this passage about?
2) Who are the characters mentioned in the passage? What do we know about them?
3) Who were involved in the conversation with God? Who began the conversation? What was the conversation all about?
4) Why did Adam and Eve build walls around themselves (hide behind the trees)? Were they feeling ’scared’ or ‘guilty’? Why is there is a discomfort when we think we are doing something wrong? Why are we able to get over this discomfort after some time?
5) The fruit represented ‘an image’(pleasing to the eye), “instinct” ( good for food) and “information (desirable for knowledge). Eve (and Adam?!) was attracted to it because of the image, instinct and information. What are the attractions for us in the contemporary world? In what way do we wilfully disobey God? How do we feel about this? What walls are people building today? Who (or what) do people blame for all the things they do?
6) Adam and Eve resorted to a blame-game? How does this affect conversations between each other and between God?  Has there been a breakdown of your relationship with God? How did you feel about it (guilty, disgusted or scared? What walls did you build around yourself? Did you have a conversation with God after that? How did it go? How did you resolve the breakdown in relationship?
7) What is God telling you through the passage? What conversations are you planning to have with God?

The Second Chance

You don’t throw away a whole life just ’cause it’s banged up a little – Tom Smith in Sea Biscuit (2003)

SEABISCUIT narrates a moving story of friendship and devotion in rehabilitating the main characters’ fractured lives, as it interweaves the interactions between horse, jockey, trainer and owner and their adoring fans. ( IMDb review by Dale Roloff)

God gives us second chance. He helps us to find new direction. He makes all this new.  There’s no need to give up. You don’t throw away a whole life just because its banged up a little.  The main characters Sea Biscuit (the horse),  Red Pollard (the Jockey), Tom Smith (Trainer) and Charles Howard find new purpose and direction in life. More importantly, each one helps the other to fix that which is broken in their lives. As Red Pollard contends,

You know everyone thinks we got this broken down horse and fixed him. But we didn’t. He fixed us. Every one of us. And I guess in a way, we fixed each other, too.

In finding new direction, we help fix the lives of those around us – our friends, family and acquaintances.  Go grab life! God offers a second chance…

We just need to become what we are meant to be.  Sea Biscuit learnt to become a horse…twice…

It became a symbol of hope… to the Nation…