For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. [Romans 1:20 (NLT)]
We were discussing when and how we came to believe in the existence of God. Those who’d been brought up in families of faith said there never was a time they weren’t aware of God’s presence. Others spoke of believing in God because He is visible in His creation—in flowers, majestic mountains, birds, sunrises and sunsets, the vastness of space, or the miracle of birth. One came to believe in God while attending Vacation Bible School with a neighbor and another met God through a campus ministry. After apologizing in advance for “grossing” us out, one woman shared her experience while in medical school.
Not a believer at the time, she was sure science explained everything that needed explaining until she dissected a human brain. As she cut into the tissue and started labeling parts, she began to wonder. While slicing through the 100 billion neurons of a man’s brain, she questioned where she’d find the part that loved stroking his wife’s hair, knew the sound of his children’s laughter, taught his boys how to play football, or built a dollhouse for his daughter. She wondered which of those billions of neurons learned the alphabet and times tables, struggled to learn Spanish, loved his parents, knew how to play the guitar, told jokes to his friends, called blue his favorite color, or enjoyed both the Beetles and Bach? With each slice she asked things like, “Is this the part that knew sorrow at his child’s death or joy at his daughter’s wedding? Where is the memory of his first bicycle, first kiss, or honeymoon?”
She held the most fascinating and complex organ of the body in her hands and knew the name and function of every part of it but she couldn’t find the answers to her questions. Touching this man’s brain, she knew him more intimately than anyone. Nevertheless, she couldn’t uncover what made him who he was. When she couldn’t find his essence—his very soul—she realized that man is greater than the sum of his parts. Understanding that inside us all there is something unique that cannot be seen, cut into, labeled, or even explained was her “Aha!” moment. It was then that she recognized something or someone far greater is in charge. That moment she finally believed in God—the creator of heaven and earth and all things in between.
When she finished speaking, there was dead silence in the room and she started to apologize again for talking about cadavers and dissections. We reassured her there was no need for apology. Her compelling story had not turned our stomachs; rather, the beauty of it had taken away our breath! We sat in stunned silence as we each reflected on this great and marvelous Creator God who reveals Himself in such wonderful and unique ways.
Back in 1957 (long before PETA existed), Curt Richter, a professor at Johns Hopkins, conducted a series of cruel and inhumane experiments to demonstrate the power of hope and resilience in overcoming difficult situations. In this case, the difficult situation was rats being put in a bucket of water with no means of escape and timing how long it took them to drown. After two preliminary experiments, Richter hypothesized that introducing hope to the rats would increase their survival times.
Occasionally, I’ll spot a partially open moonflower (Ipomoea alba) during an early morning walk at the park. While the Moonflower’s cousin the Morning Glory opens wide to welcome the sunlight, the Moonflower prefers darkness. It’s only when the sun sets that it opens to a large trumpet-shaped bloom. Rather than competing during the day with brightly colored flowers for pollinators like bees and butterflies, Moonflowers enjoy pollinators like bats and moths at night. As the morning sun rises, the Moonflower again rejects the light and rolls up into itself.
Some of the lesser-known heroes of the Bible are found in the lists of David’s mightiest men. Among his warriors, David’s mighty Three had the most authority, influence, and leadership. Their leader was Jashobeam, a man who once used his spear to kill 800 warriors in a single battle. Next in rank was Eleazar who remained with David in battle when the rest of the troops fled. He killed Philistines until he no longer could lift his sword. The third of the Three was Shammah. After being attacked in a field by the Philistines, the troops fled. Shammah alone remained to defend it and bring victory to Israel. These three were so devoted to David that, when he expressed a desire for fresh water from Bethlehem, they risked their lives to break through enemy lines to get some for him. David’s Three were among the best of the best when it came to valor, courage, and allegiance.
The Resurrection story didn’t end on Easter with Jesus’ appearance to ten disciples, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and John, Salome, and Joanna, along with Cleopas and another believer who broke bread with Him in Emmaus. Appearing and disappearing at will, Jesus remained on earth for forty days. While He probably appeared other times, Scripture tells us He later appeared to Thomas and the ten others, to seven of the disciples beside the Sea of Galilee, to His half-brother James, to over 500 believers at one time, and to the disciples on his last day with them.
