The Missing Element

I try to read the other side as often as I can. Dawkins, Harris and Hitchens all right from the extreme left and from the "there is no God" worldview. All of them write extremely well which lends to their success. But, I would like to posit two views produced by reading their works.

The first is this: their case is made more by their ability to write than by their logic, reason, and rational. In the case of Sam Harris, he writes in a clean and clear way that makes reading his book an enjoyable experience. Christopher Hitchens writes with a style that is attractive to today's "wow" crowd as he has little fear of offense and is quite content in shocking you. Couple this courage with an ability to write and you have an attraction. And, finally we have Richard Dawkins. Dawkins is a scholar who has an ability to write well. No more needs to be said.

My point here is that all of these authors are impacting because they write well, and not because they make any sense. Think of the things we humans have made popular over the years...pet rocks, silly putty, celebrity garbage, and the list goes on and on. Now, think of some of the things we have believed in over time. Things like the world is flat, Martians, the Lock Ness Monster, and this list goes on and on. The point is simple, belief in no God is one of the many beliefs mankind will try on and wear for a while, then throw away when there is no more use for it. Right now it is trendy and acceptable to write about it, but in the end it boils down to the same issue we started with...Dawkins, Harris and Hutchins have no answer to offer mankind other than their own. They, by claiming, first, that there is no God, and second, by claiming, even in the slightest of ways, that they have part of the answer are, again, falling out of the garden by trying to be like God. The attempt never changes; it is always the same with a different strategy, an attempt to be like God, and in the end, there will be no better array of answers than before.

My second view is this: as brilliant as these men are, and they are far brighter than I will ever dream of being, their writings all have the missing element. You know of the element of which I speak. You know... the one that delays you moments so you just miss that accident, the one that allows you to meet the friend at a time in a space that you were never going to frequent, the one where you lose your keys, and you never lose your keys, just long enough to miss a potentially disastrous situation and this list also goes on and on because we all can relate. This element is the mysterious, the fourth dimension, the consciousness... whatever name you want to give it. It is God in you and in me at work in our everyday lives providing for us in unexplained ways. As long as I have been alive there has been the unexplainable that can only be attributed to the Almighty.

Let me pause here and add that I am no theologian and am not seeking to go into the depths of theology here. I merely seek to speak in every day terms that all of us can relate to at one point in time. Now, back to my point.

These men refuse to discuss or acknowledge that there is anything unexplainable, according to each, all is explainable, and all that is not is attributed to chance or mere coincidence. But, if there is no divine power at work and in control, can there be chance?

Chance is luck, good and bad, an unknown and unpredictable phenomenon, a possibility due to a favorable combination of circumstances, a gamble... but, chance is never merely nothing (please excuse the double negative). My question is clear: how can we possibly have chance if there is nothing but nothing out there? That would mean no chance or no coincidence; all would be physics, and the laws of physics never bend or offer a reprieve.

Physics is the science of matter and its motion. It is the science that seeks to understand very basic concepts such as force, energy, mass, and charge. It is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the world around us in conjunction with the universe behaves. But, one thing is certain, if this is all that there is then the entire world must behave as these laws physics dictate. For example, there is no chance in the laws of gravity. Gravity is gravity, end of story.

As you wake up tomorrow and begin another day, give great Praise to the God who is there and at work in you every moment of every day. Mere men, as bright as they are, can not dampen our faith in the Almighty. If you doubt His existence then simply ask Him to show you that He is real, that He is true and that He is there. Pray a simple prayer each morning before you go about your day, and God will not disappoint you. Blessings!