Not finished

Once a month in the 4s & 5s room at church, a woman named Patty comes to read a story to the kids. Patty sits in an electric wheelchair. She doesn't have any use of her legs as far as I can tell and I'm guessing that her arm motion and speech used to be smoother too. Patty's always enthusiastic when she comes in to see the kids; she asks them questions throughout the story and lets them honk the horn on her wheelchair before she leaves.

This week Patty read them a story about a caterpillar named Hermie who just wasn't satisfied with life. Throughout the story Hermie's friends tell him to be patient, that God just isn't finished with him yet. Of course as you might guess, at the end of the book Hermie changes into a beautiful butterfly.

After Patty was done reading the story, I walked with her back to the sanctuary to help her with the doors. As we went down the hallway she told me a bit of her story. It went something like this: "I just love that story. You know it's true: God's not finished with any of us yet. I used to be a professor. Did you know that? Yes, a political theory professor. I never did like the 'publish or perish' atmosphere much. Then I had my accident. I was on my bike and a car hit me. Now, I read to the kids here at church and at the school. And you know what? I'm in my element! God wasn't finished with me yet and he's still not finished. And he's not finished with you either."

Man, what a blessing! I talked all of 3 minutes with this woman and she totally just rocked it. Her outlook on life is so encouraging and it's obvious that she completely trusts God with the entirety of it. So many times I see where I am as a daughter, sister, friend, disciple and I'm not satisfied with it. Part of it is me not putting in the effort necessary to move forward sometimes, and part of it is not believing that God will make it happen. But I know that he's not finished with me and just because I screw it up doesn't mean that he can't take it and make it into something beautiful. So if I keep seeking him (keep walking even though sometimes I stop) and trust that he knows best, I can be confident that change will happen. He's not finished with me yet and I think last Sunday he totally knew that I needed to hear that and I needed to hear it from Patty.

Book Review: The Language of God

I finally finished "The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief" by Francis S. Collins. I was really anxious to read this book... there's a chapter entitled 'Life on Earth: Of Microbes and Man' --right up my alley. :) Collins was the head scientist working on the Human Genome Project. Through the HGP (working draft completed in 2000, and final in 2003), scientists now have access to the instruction manual to the human body. Your genome contains every bit of DNA you have: genes, non-coding regions, and regulatory sequences; it's all there, the instructions that make your body run. But not only is Collins a scientist, he is a Christian.

Collins opens and closes the book with his testimony. He begins by briefly explaining his journey from atheism to belief in God. The last chapter (and possibly my favorite) focuses on how he progressed from belief in God to embracing Christ as Savior. In between Collins contemplates how faith in God and faith in science can harmoniously exist in one person without compromising either. He spends much of the book looking at scientific evidence for creation of the universe, possibility of miraculous events that surpass the laws of nature, and evolution of living things on earth. This doesn't surprise me at all considering that this seems to be where most scientists balk when considering belief in a supernatural being. Collins pulls information from Scripture (obviously), prominent believers from St. Augustine to CS Lewis, and scientists from Galileo to Newton. He presents his evidence well and in a manner that is reader-friendly to those without a scientific background. He is writing to scientists and believers alike, asking them to pause their protests long enough to listen to what the other side has to say before claiming irreconcilable differences.

One point that is quite necessarily made is that science can only go so far. Collins calls on Stephen Jay Gould's words for this one:

To say it for all my colleagues and for the umteenth millionth time: Science simply cannot by its legitimate methods adjudicate the issue of God's possible superintendence of nature. We neither affirm it nor deny it; we simply can't comment on it as scientists.

You tell 'em, Stephen. Take that, Richard Dawkins. Science has limits (1). It cannot test the existence of God or His role in creation. Therefore, you cannot legitimately say that evolution demands atheism, as Dawkins so prominently does. Science only goes so far before faith must step in, and rightly so.

I must admit that my thoughts on the relationship between God and evolution are muddy to say the least. I have been a Christian several years longer than I have been a scientist. But what I have found as a scientist has only strengthened my faith and trust in God. I study God's creation and see firsthand the intricacies of nature, but again, science can only go so far. I can look at all the data I want, but really my faith in God comes from the way I've seen Him work in my life. It's that kind of observation that shows me the God I worship, not scientific experimentation. I am not the same person I was 10 years ago when I accepted Christ. Obviously part of that stemming from the huge difference between 12 and 22, but there is a BIG difference in how I view the world, the way I treat others around me, and what I view as important that has nothing to do with my age. These things can only be explained by Christ's work on my heart. I won't delve further into it now, but if you have questions feel free to ask.

I have other thoughts on the book, but I won't bore you with them. If you want to discuss though, I'd be happy to. I would suggest reading it, but keep in mind that this is one guy's thoughts. Make your own decisions. I'll leave you with this quote from Collins:

Science cannot be used to justify discounting the great monotheistic religions of the world, which rest upon centuries of history, moral philosophy, and the powerful evidence provided by human altruism. It is the height of scientific hubris to claim otherwise. But that leaves us with a challenge: if the existence of God is true (not just tradition, but actually true), and if certain scientific conclusions about the natural world are also true (not just in fashion, but objectively true), then they cannot contradict each other. A fully harmonious synthesis must be possible.

[(1) In order for something to be tested scientifically there must be: a hypothesis, an experiment to test the hypothesis, and the experiment must be repeatable for the data to be considered reliable. The hypothesis must be able to be falsified. In general, a hypothesis can be rejected or supported by the results, not proven. More info on the scientific method here.]