God, the Great Explorer

A brief post to share a thought and to confirm I am not yet dead. My apologies for the long silence, I have just come out of a very busy window of time at work in which the time I had free to post was time in which I was too mentally tired to say anything interesting, now I have something interesting to say.

In the speech of those who wish to portray faith and science as opposing forces, the argument is usually framed from the perspective of how new knowledge in Science “Damages” knowledge obtained by faith, but I have been idly pondering an interesting idea of late, a way in which knowledge gained by faith may be used to inspire and enrich our research into science.

My idea, still a germ and certainly not formed well enough to truly defend or fully expound yet is simply this; IF God as we know him exists, then we have not only a hope but a surety that something within reality exists which from our present perspective allows faster than light travel. It may be that it does no such thing and relies upon as yet unknown properties of the so called “collapsed dimensions” or on a multiversal model in which taken as a whole faster than light travel simply does not happen, but for God to be everywhere, and to be aware of creation at all times means that his knowledge, the information of God, is able to manifest in all places at once, granting effective faster than light transmission of information. Who knows, maybe this property is unique to the divine, maybe this property is denied to crude clay and we will gain these same abilities only after our resurrection, but the simple implication is a hopeful one, our dreams of Science Fiction are not in vain, the stars are not hopelessly distant and unknowable.

Just a thought, floating free and waiting to be refined, remade, and more deeply probed, perhaps it will spark ideas of your own.

Advent Musings

Carl Sagan observed that “We are a way for the cosmos to know itself.” I have enjoyed that thought since I first heard it on Cosmos. I think it speaks in elegant simple terms to some of the biggest Why questions, and also affirms that awesome paradox that we can be at once insignificant specks in a vast universe, and a vital part of this creation. As we advance through Advent and contemplate on preparing for the coming of the Lord, I have found my mind wandering along a very different perspective on that duty, one which stretches back to the first man and forward to the last.

Reflecting on Church Disunity and Communion.

With the conflict between Bishop Murphy of the AMiA and the Synod of Rwanda being in the news, I find myself more focused on the Church Visible than I usually am. Please forgive me for a post more about church politics than the substance of faith. Early in Monty Python’s Life of Brian is a scene which hits me with a mixture of sadness and laughter every time I watch it. To join it in media res:

Reg: Listen. The only people we hate more than the Romans are the fucking Judean People's Front.

(Others): Yeah

Judith: Splitters.

Francis: And the Judean Popular People’s Front.

(Others): Oh yeah. Splitters.

Loretta: And the People’s Front of Judea.

(Others): Splitters.

Reg: What?

Loretta: The People’s Front of Judea. Splitters.

Reg: We're the People's Front of Judea.

Loretta: Oh. I thought we were the Popular Front.

Reg: People’s Front.

Francis: Whatever happened to the Popular Front, Reg?

Reg: He's over there.

The Right to Say No; Even to God.

Psalm 19 says, "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." This, and similar scripture lines are often used by Christian Fundamentalists when arguing that it is not reasonable to allow folks to believe in a view of creation other than theirs, or when refuting scientific discoveries and observations they feel conflict with what they “know” about the world. I think it will not surprise my readers to know that I do not hold to this view, and indeed strongly reject it. To me, one of God’s gifts, and a cornerstone of the human condition, is the fact that we have free will, and as such have the freedom to say No.

Politics and Religion, a Dinnertable Chat.

It struck me over the Thanksgiving weekend that there is something inherently theistic about democracy and something inherently undemocratic and indeed atheistic about modern American politics. Let me say before I go further that this is not a partisan opinion piece for a popular brand of religious politics in America, and that indeed I feel my realization and objections apply equally well to either major party in American politics today. For my readers outside of the United States, I apologize for my specifically American usages, and invite you to consider if similar truths apply to the politics of your home country.

Doubts and Worldviews

I have been struck this past week with a moment of profundity. I have tried more than once to capture this moment in words, but have found every effort to be inadequate. I have had a feeling much like Thomas Aquinas, next to what I have seen, all my efforts to express it are but dross. As such, I am stepping back a few paces. I do not know if what I have seen in inexpressible, but it is beyond my skills in the moment to express it, and I must let it abide. Therefore I chose now to express a smaller bit of thought and contemplation which has occurred to me to get my mind and hands back into the proper gear of sharing what I am capable of expressing.

The idea I want to share today is not unique to me, and indeed I think that the expression by Chesterton in Orthodoxy is in many ways superior to my own efforts. I would even say that these thoughts are a natural cousin to Hobson’s Dilemma, and thus even farther from being my own. Nevertheless, I will endeavor to share them in my own style and with my own interpretations, in the hope that they may enhance the body of thought on the subject, and perhaps allow someone stymied by the works of others a new chance to grasp the message.

To Know God Personally

Today I want to contemplate on an aspect of Christ’s ministry which involves looking at one of his best known activities through the lens of one of one of his other teachings. I also want to talk about abstract math and geometry, and the human capacity to identify and sort. As I have in other posts before, I will promise you now that this all comes together in the end, just come along for the journey.

Excess Ain't Rebellion

Living in modern America can sometimes make for a surreal experience, allowing us to worry about problems which many people in many times would simply not be able to fathom. “Do I want the Steak or the Seafood?” “Does this outfit flatter my figure?” “I’m not sure if I can afford that new video game after I’ve paid off my phone bill.” These problems are very much artifacts of modern consumer living, artifacts of a comfortable first world life. But we still think of them as problems, and they still impact the choices we make. Does the reality of living as a consumer in the modern West cause difficulty in living up to the standards Christ has set?