Friday 23 November 2012

God and Science

I don’t find it difficult to believe in God. As a scientist, I often have to exercise faith. Any time I do research, I have to exercise faith. Any time I do research, I have to believe that what I am exploring is real. It would be difficult to explore something that is unreal or only appears to be real. I don’t know all there is to know. But I can build on what I do know-that the natural world does exist. When I begin to explore something, to research it, I demonstrate my faith in that thing’s existence. Similarly, when I pray I show that I believe in God’s existence.
As a scientist, I also have to believe in the regularity of events in nature. I may have to wait until next year to find whether certain things will operate the same way as they did this year. But until I am shown differently, I go ahead with my research, believing that nature is unchanging.
Similarly, I can boldly believe the unchanging promises of God. God will care for me, God will be close beside me, and God will provide for me (sometimes, even bypassing the laws of nature!). God’s promises are unchanging because God is unchanging. In Him are wisdom, power, holiness, goodness, justice and truth. That will never change.
As a scientist, I explore nature, believing that it is understandable. There is no point in working hard if nature is not understandable. Then, as I continue exploring, I am able to unravel the mysteries of nature. Likewise, though God is infinite and I am finite, I believe that He is understandable to the extent that He reveals Himself through Christ and in His Word. So I can begin my exploration believing that I will at least in part, be able to understand God.
When I first began my work as a scientist, I had to study systematically, intelligently and diligently. I would start with the accumulated knowledge that others had discovered regarding my topic of study. I had to learn how they obtained proof and what methodology they adopted. As a person who wants to know God, I can use the same approach in studying the Scriptures, which contains a record of what others, by divine inspiration, have written about God.
I have carried out experiments, with the help of experienced scientists, to prove my personal convictions. I also have had to rely on the experiments conducted by others. Experiencing the living presence and abiding love of God in my life can be verified on an experimental basis. In fact, God is verifying Himself to us through various life experiences. There is a difference in understanding for persons who have experienced the living presence of God and those who have not yet experienced it.
To understand that difference, consider Matthew 5:8 “Happy are those whose hearts are pure, for they shall see God.” In science we wouldn’t say that only the pure in heart can see, say, a nuclear reactor. Anyone, pure or impure, can see a nuclear reactor. But in Scripture, things that are true and real to the pure in heart may not be true and real to the impure. Truth and reality take on new dimensions once you have experienced the living presence of God.
In science, we continue to carry on independent investigations to unravel greater mysteries of nature. As we gain more information, we publish it for the benefit of others. Similarly, when we have other kinds of experience-especially experiences of a spiritual nature-we should share what we learn for the benefit of others.        

Saturday 17 November 2012

What is the Purpose of Your Life?

What is the Purpose of Your Life?
Not long after my transformation, a man I respected very much asked me a question that I have never forgotten: “What is the purpose of your life?”
I answered that I would like to become a nuclear scientist who would find a cure for the effects of nuclear scientist who would find a cure for the effects of nuclear weapons.
Obviously, I knew little of nuclear weapons. But I had become determined to fulfill this goal when I read a newspaper report of the first detonation of a hydrogen bomb. I was only fourteen years old at that time. The newspaper reporter explained all the possible havoc that could result from nuclear explosions. I was determined in my young mind to develop a cure for the harmful effects of terrible destructive weapons.
Later, my interest as a budding research scientist was to invent some kind of tablet that one could take to nullify the effects of nuclear weapons. I thought, most sincerely, that people who took my preventive medicine would be able to walk through the radiation and fallout.
The man who had questioned me, considered my answer thoughtfully. Then he said, “George, the purpose of our life is to glorify God.” I looked at him in surprise as he explained that we should seek, above all, to glorify God by a life that is utterly devoted to serving Him.
I remember thinking, “I’m already doing that. I am praying regularly, worshipping God and glorifying Him.
This dear man then asked me questions about my work. I told him I was a student and that my work was studying. He then asked me whether I was glorifying God by my studies. I told him that I was scoring good marks for every test and remarked: “What more can one do for God’s glory?”
“Are you studying merely for good grades or studying for God?” he asked. I knew I was studying for good grades. I knew how to select the questions that were likely to be asked and then study their answers instead of learning the entire book. I got good grades using this method, but I didn’t realize that I was cheating myself and God. This man helped me to learn that I wasn’t glorifying God by my studies.
I have never forgotten that conversation. It became the turning point in my attitude toward work and studies.

Sunday 4 November 2012


THE ROOM OF GOLD!

Like most people who travel often, I usually allow myself plenty of time to get to the airport.

I also try to take special precautions when I check in for a full flight, to ensure I don’t lose my seat-and possibly the price of my ticket-if I happen to be late. When there are a lot of people travelling, it can be difficult to get a seat on subsequent flights. Moreover, taking a flight other than the one you originally booked can be both inconvenient and risky-luggage, connecting flights, meeting people, all of these factors become a cause for anxiety. So I do all I can do to prevent problems. However, “all I can do” sometimes isn’t good enough.

On one trip in India I sat next to a passenger who had been given the window seat. When the flight attendant came around with beverages, she poured tea for us. She had to lean over my tray table, as the passenger sitting in the window seat was reluctant to lift his cup for her to pour into it. During the process she spilled some tea on his tray table. Immediately I took my paper napkin and offered to wipe down the tray table, but he refused.

Instead, he began to spill more tea from his cup on the tray, then folded the tray so that the back of the seat in front of him got soaked with tea! He also made sure that the materials in the seat pocket in front of him got wet before the attendant returned with paper napkins. I began to wonder if I would be his next target!

In due course the flight attendant collected the tray and cup, apologizing for the spill. As she walked away I glanced at my seatmate, wondering why in the world he was behaving so strangely.

“I think we’re on time today,” I said, trying to break the ice.

“What’s the use?” he responded.

“Are you going to be late for your next appointment, sir?” I asked politely.

“I was supposed to leave yesterday,” he said with a coarse, angry voice. “But those wretched airline people gave my seat to someone else.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that!” I said with sympathy, and he went on to tell me that because his car had broken down on the way to the airport, he hadn’t arrived in time for check in. Since there were a lot of passengers on the waiting list, his seat had been given away after his name had been announced repeatedly over the public address system- which, of course, he could not hear because he was stranded on the highway! When he finally made it to the airport, his flight was closed and all the passengers had passed through the security area.

“I pleaded for my seat”, he told me in a pathetic tone, “but they said I couldn’t go”. It seems he argued for a long time with the agents at the check-in counter and exchanged quite a few angry words. He was still angry at the airline staff.

“Did you sleep well last night, sir?”, I inquired. He replied, “They promised me a seat on the flight the following day, but I had to pay for a room in a hotel to spend the night”.

“All night, I was thinking of the behavior of the airline staff”, he explained “They were very rude to me. They could have given me my seat”.

I enquired about his occupation and was surprised to learn that he was a qualified surgeon and a member of the Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons (F.R.C.S). Why would such a man react as he had? After all, flight delays and sudden flight cancellations are not uncommon in India. I wondered how he would respond when something went wrong in the operating theater. It was frightening to think of his holding the surgical knife while behaving as he did in the airplane. Sometimes even highly educated people behave like beasts, especially when they are angry about unpredictable happenings.

I smiled at him and said, “Things that are out of our control are on the increase, aren’t they?” I told him how, when tap water became available in my home village, we all buried our wells and depend entirely on tap water. If something goes wrong with the water works department, including electrical failure, we don’t have water from the tap. In the past, water had been under our direct control. Now, thanks to modern technology, it wasn’t!

“Although I am not in control, my great big, wonderful God is”, I continued. “For instance, I may be about to solve some pressing problems when another heap of problems suddenly come up.” He looked at me and encouraged me to continue. “But my great big, wonderful God is much, much bigger than all my problems put together!” As I talked to the man, he began to share his personal problems in response. I went on to tell him that though we know that our God is sovereign and in full control, we often try to make our problems bigger and our God smaller. This is foolishness, plain and simple. I explained how one can find rest and peace in God’s power and care.

“These concepts will help me in my work,” he responded. He did not have much difficulty in accepting God and the spiritual reality and the methods and procedure based on faith.

The surgeon I met on the plane subjected his new found beliefs to the test of experience. His practice is going wonderfully now, and he reports he is a different person. He does not become so upset over unexpected crises. He has discovered, as we all can discover, that if Christ is living in us, we are being transformed every day.

Is it necessary to get upset and worried? Not at all! God is in control. This is not a mere assumption on our part. Day by day, we experience God’s control on us.