Posts
I think that at this time, I am going to attempt to list things that I think are a wonder. It may seem random, but each in the list is really a part of the set of wondrous things. I am going to start with natural things. I will go on the assumption that what the Bible says about the relationship between God and nature is truth.
The result of that assumption is that where there is wonder on our part, it points to the one who understands it completely.
Often times, while riding my motorcycle home from the Oregon City way, when I reach the top of the hill just before the decline into Mulino, the sun will be setting. The display of light beams and colors of all sorts of hues of red, blue, green, orange and yellow are breathtaking. The wonder for me is that I have the capacity to appreciate it and almost loose my breath over the radiant display that is ever changing.
One day I see it and it is mostly orange and the clouds are gone so I can see the tops of the coastal mountains. Another day beams of yellow light fill the darkening and grey sky as the sun is lowered just below the clouds that cover us, but is still high enough to be seen over the mountains to the east. Another day, the lightly clouded sky is turned to strips of fire as the sun shines below the clouds to give me just a little bit more light for the day. The exhibit of light is so glorious that it seems to have a sound of trumpets signalling it's arrival.
I am riding on my motorcycle through the growing darkness of the trees that cover the path to that point from the city and my eyes see the glory and my ears hear the trumpet fanfare. That is amazing. I can see it because of my eyes, my location and the time that I have arrived there. Some may think that is accidental because other explanations might seem incredible. But, there are just too many variables throughout my life in relation to where I've been, who I've known, what I am doing now, my education or lack of it and the fact that I can ride a motorcycle all culminating in this one magnificent display of beauty at the end of the day as I am heading home from the labor of the day.
Art, I have enjoyed this series you've written. I agree wholeheartedly. If our theology is an attempt to construct a system of thought consistent at every point and able to explain everything that exists, then it is an act of imagination, more like the writing of a fantasy novel than anything else, and anyone who can point out an inconsistency can cause the whole system to come crashing down around our ears.
But if our theology is an attempt to acknowledge that which IS, that which already exists, and then ask good questions about it, it's inevitable that the answer to some of those good questions is going to be, "I don't know. And yet -- it is." Then it is less like imagination more like good science. I think any good scientist (or theologian) is a creature full of wonder and inquisition, more captivated by the questions than the answers.
The Enlightenment age (which I think we are just not coming out of) rightly rejected "blind" faith that refused to ask questions about articles of the faith. But they (we) made the mistake of rejecting/ignoring anything about which we could not find satisfactory answers to our questions. Now, I hope we are recovering a sense of wonder, recognizing not all questions about God and the universe can be answered by our pathetically small little brains, and accepting wonder and mystery as part of our faith once again.