The Universe

This is really cool!

It's an interactive display of The Scale of the Universe. It starts at the left end with a planck length (theoretically the shortest length that can have any meaning) and scrolls all the way to the projected size of the universe.

When I think about this stuff, I find it both humbling and awe-inspiring. It amazes me to think of the vastness of creation and how small we and out planet are in the scope of things. At the same time, it amazes me how we are made up of such small things, cells, molecules, atoms, quarks, prions. Almost inconceivably tiny things come together in intricate ways to create all that we can see.

It amazes me to think of someone I know and imagine that every part of them, even every thought and feeling, can be described at some level as the interactions of tiny forces and particles.

I've been asked whether I am a creationist, and I don't have a simple answer. I do believe that God created the world but I am very aware that the complexity of things is not anything like scientific proof of God's existence. In other words, I believe in God, but I have no faith in "Scientific Creationism" which seems to me to misrepresent scientific method for it's own purposes.

When I contemplate the universe, one of the things that strikes me is how little I really know. We human beings have learned an amazing amount about the universe but the more we learn the more questions are revealed.

But what we do know paints such an intricate and beautiful picture that it fills us with the most religious of all feelings, a sense of wonder and awe.

That doesn't make for a very hard-headed and practical blog entry, I know, but I think that hard headed and practical might be missing the point here. Explanations and proof shift the focus back to us and our limited understanding. While I hope that science never stops seeking to understand things better, I also hope that faith never stops seeing the wonder of all we cannot know.

My All Time Favorite Benediction

This is from the Franciscans and I love the way it finds blessings in four such unlikely sources. I think really captures what my faith is all about.



The guy on the video is Gene Robinson, the first openly-gay bishop in the Anglican church and someone whose faith, wisdom, and courage I admire a great deal.

Unspeakable

Pope Benedict was in the news this weekend. While on a visit to Great Britain, the Pope expressed his grief and shame about the continuing scandal of pedophile priests. I'm glad to hear the apology and hope that it is part of a sincere reassessment of the Catholic Church in dealing with this crisis. I have never been a fan of this particular pontiff, but I'd like to believe that these words contain sincere repentance and a commitment to bring about change.

One thing that the Pope said really struck me. He referred to the actions of the abusers as "unspeakable crimes."

That's a very apt phrase and it sums up what, in my mind, is a great deal of the problem. When a child is abused we don't talk about it. There's so much shame involved that everyone, the child, the family, the community all get quiet and act as if it never happened.

That's what most of the protests have been about. The abuse is terrible, but the attitude that the incident then needs to be hushed up, makes things even worse. Without honesty there is no accountability. Without victims able to tell their stories there is no justice.

That's why I am happy to see Benedict's words. Even if, as some critics say, this is more a political gesture, at lease the unspeakable is finally being spoken, and that's something that needs to happen. No matter how ugly reality is, we can never hope to change a situation until we face it.

Pakistan Floods

I was listening to an NPR report on this the other day and both the scope of the disaster and the lack of international response are staggering. The flooding still covers an area the size of Italy and roughly the same number of people as the entire population of Canada are affected.



As the video says, there has been international support, but not at the levels seen in the Haitii earthquake or the tsunami. Some people interviewed have expressed a concern that the money will go to the Taliban but that is NOT the case.

My church, the offers United Church of Christ offers assistance in partnership through Church World Service which has an outstanding record of getting aid to the people who need it.

Phoenix Affirmations #12

The last of the Affirmations is...

12. Acting on the faith that we born with a purpose, a vocation that serves to strengthen God's Kingdom and extend God's love.

Sometimes we have the idea that there are a few gifted, heroic folks out there who really make a difference, but that most of us are ordinary slobs who don't really matter.

Nothing could be further from what our faith teaches. Everyone--every single person who has ever lived or ever will live--is important, everyone has amazing potential, and everyone can do something that will make the world better.

Some may be able to advocate for greater justice for all people, or find ways to deal more effectively with disease, poverty, and hunger. Some may be peace-makers, helping people to set aside old hates. Many will have less dramatic, but still vital roles to play in modelling kindness, honesty, integrity, and mercy. To paraphrase Mother Teresa, we cannot always do something great, but we can do something small with great love.

The bottom line is that you are important, so celebrate that. And remember, with that importance comes the power to make a difference, and the responsibility to use that power wisely and compassionately.

Phoenix Affirmations #11

It's been a while since I posted one of these so here's the catch-up.

The Phoenix Affirmations are a set of ideas meant to define Progressive Christianity. They are not meant to be a series of iron-clad doctrines that believers are required to hold. Rather they are a description of what is out there in this huge, but often misunderstood, branch of Christianity.

The Affirmations are broken into three sections, reminding us of Jesus teaching to "love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself." The first section has 4 points about what it means to love God, the second has 4 points about loving your neighbor, and the last, 4 points about loving yourself.

The last 4 can be a little controversial because "loving yourself" can sound like the narcissism, or self-indulgence. As I hope you will see, it's neither of those things.

For 1-10, see the archives of this blog.

#11.Realizing the benefits of prayer, worship, recreation, and healthiness in addition to work.

Modern people, and especially Americans, have a tendancy to think that work is the highest possible good. To be a worthwhile person you have to put in long hours at the job, even if that means neglecting things like personal health and time with your family. We value people by productivity, and we measure this by the time someone puts in, and by how much they earn.

But this is a terrible way to evaluate people's worth. Jesus didn't value people like this, but saw the value in them regardless of their earning potential or how likely they were to wil Employee of the Month. He taught that every person is a child of God, and there's more value in that than in any reward we get in the marketplace.

That's not to say that we should slack off. Doing what you do with pride and dedication is a wonderful thing. It has to be put in perspective, though, because there are other things that are just as--or more--important. God doesn't just want us to be hard-workers, but good parents, friends, spouses, neighbors, and much more. We can do these things only if we take time to spend with the people we love, to cultivate our spirituality, and to just have fun.

God wants you to be productive, but God also wants you to be happy, loving, spiritual, and fulfilled... I wonder why it seems so hard for us to do it.

The Mosque in NYC

The city of New York has cleared the way for a mosque and Muslim community center to be built near the ground zero site. This has promped protests from some who feel that this would disrespect the memory of the victims fo the 9-11 terrorist attacks.

I don't get it.

The reactions I've seen seem to suggest that a mosque would be some kind of a concession to the terrorists. One fo the protest signs I saw on the news said that Muslims put up mosques to mark the place of victories.

I understand the depth of the feelings about ground Zero. I remember watching the news in horror when the buildings collapsed, and feeling outrage that anyone could do such a thing. But it is a terrible mistake to act as if all Muslims are terrorists, or even extremists. The vast majority of Muslims I've met have been kind, decent, law-abiding people who care about their families and want to be good neighbors. In this they are very much like most of the Crristians I've known, and most of the Jews, Buddhists, and Athiests.

There is a problem with violent extremism in the Muslim world, and it would be foolish to ignore this. But is is even more foolish, in my opinion, to blame all Muslims for the actions of a minority group. (Militant extremists are a very small minority in Islam, which is fortunate. Imagine what the world would be like if any significant fraction of the 1.5 billion Muslims in the world were terrorists.)

The people who would be worshipping in the Mosque and using the community center are innocent of the horror of 9-11 and the people who are guilty would have no interest in having such a place built. The proposed Mosque is meant to cultivate religious tolerance and healing, two of the last things the terrorists want to see.

Anger is natural after such a senseless tragedy, but holding onto anger makes it impossible for us to heal. And turning that anger against the blameless only makes our wounds worse. Jesus calls on us to firgive even the guilty. That's a tall order, but surely we can forgive the innocent.