I am in total awe of the images revealed this week by the amazing new space telescope, Webb. Actually, to be more accurate, I am in total awe of the God who gave us the ability to create and launch it….all with astounding success!
“Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” Gen 1:26
For those of you who read scripture, have you ever wondered who God was with? “Let us….”? Who is the “us” in this scripture?
The Trinity. One in Three. God is the Master Craftsman. God is also the Word made flesh: Jesus, and God is also the Holy Spirit. Three distinct forms of the one God. Kind of like water: rain, fog and ice. All contain the same essence. Together in beginning….. at least this is my simpleton’s way of trying to understand that which can’t be understood by our limited and finite minds.
We also have three distinct aspects to our being. We have a mind which gives us the ability to create; the mind of God. We also have a body; God incarnate as Jesus- the Word made flesh. And we have a soul which is where our spirit dwells; the Holy Spirit.
So here we are now at this point in time, with the ability to see photos of our universe which, by the way, took only 13 billion light years to travel for us to see. What?? Incomprehensible to this little spec of a humanoid.
“It does not compute, Will Robinson!”
So to get back to us: how is it that the more we discover, the less we believe? We forget that we did not create the world, the universe or ourselves. We did not create the brain that allows us to achieve these phenomenal accomplishments. Sadly, we forget our humble beginnings and begin to believe we are gods. A dangerous thing to believe when we lack the love needed to be responsible creators. Dangerous for all of the life on this planet. And beyond.
The following is a loose quote by someone who was very instrumental in my journey to belief- Francis Collins, geneticist and former director of the National Institute for Health.*
“If God gave us this amazing ability to create, to explore and discover the world and how it works, should we not use that ability and in the process of carrying out scientific discoveries, become more in awe– not less, of the One who has endowed us with this incredible gift?”
But we humans have an astonishing capacity to forget- ask any alcoholic who has repeated “the experiment” of controlled drinking only to find him/her self drunk once again. Complete with all the horrendous consequences; over and over and over. I, myself, have repeated this experiment far too many times to enumerate. The moment we begin to feel better can signal the beginning of a period of extreme danger. Proceed with caution.
Pray for humility.
Just a morning rambling from a grateful sober human.
Thanks be to God.
*Francis Sellers Collins is an American physician-geneticist who discovered the genes associated with a number of diseases and led the Human Genome Project. He is the former director of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, from 17 August 2009 to 19 December 2021, serving under three presidents, and for over thirteen years.