Designed on Purpose

THE MYSTERY OF BEAUTY

Charley Gordon — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 21:51:42 +0000

Have you ever been on the beach at sunset? I remember years ago on the beach at LaJolla California on a family trip. It was evening and the sun was setting and cast a brilliant glow over the Pacific Ocean. No amount of words can describe the beauty we saw that evening, but what struck me was that everyone on the beach had the same reaction. We all stopped what we were doing and just stared at the magnificence of that fleeting moment. You’ve seen it too. Beauty that is dazzling. Once, during my neurosurgery residency, I had a long spell of working on call and went for several weeks without leaving the hospital except at night. Then on my first Saturday of each month, I drove through the Virginia countryside while the autumn leaves were at their peak. My eyes could almost feel the color! It was a stunning beauty that even a photographer could not capture.

And it occurred to me while visiting with a patient, that the perception of beauty really is a litmus test for mental health. If a person does not see or perceive beauty, then we call the doctors to see what’s wrong. Depression, dementia, brain damage, serious psychological problems- these cause us to lose our ability to appreciate beauty. Now here is the interesting part: nobody who enjoys good mental health ever argues that beauty does not exist. In fact, even the most hardhearted atheist can’t help appreciate a gorgeous sunset or the mountains in springtime. So where does that come from? The ability to perceive beauty- or ugliness- come from God’s Spirit infused when He made us all in His image. That is what separates us from the animals. We know right from wrong. We recognize the difference between lovely and filthy. It was Margaret Wolfe Hungerford who first penned the phrase “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” but I would argue that this trite phrase applies to man-made beauty, not the real thing. ”The genuine article” which is universally appreciated by the mentally sound are the glimpses of Heaven which take your breath away, and I think is a clue to the very heart of God.

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.

Psalm 19.1

ORDER AND THE GOLDEN RULE

Charley Gordon — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 18:04:25 +0000

I think one of the things that Designed On Purpose supports is the idea that there is order in the universe. What is interesting is that few people dispute this. Regardless of one’s religious viewpoint, there is little argument that there are certain physical laws of the universe that are not broken. The four fundamental forces and the physical laws that follow are the underpinnings of all of science.

What I believe is really stunning is that there is widespread belief that there are spiritual laws as well. Though not everyone agrees as to the specifics of these laws, there is little disagreement that ignorance of these laws does not disprove their existence. You don’t have to understand gravity to know that you need to be careful to watch your step. And you don’t have to know the Golden Rule to realize that how you treat others really matters.

Go see August Rush and let me know what you think.

THE BEAUTY OF NUMBERS

Charley Gordon — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 19:37:48 +0000

Have you ever looked at all the patterns we see around us? I have previously written about the Fibonacci patterns we see in the universe that you find not only in living organisms, but in croissants and anything that is coiled upon itself. When you think about it, God is a God of numbers—He loves numbers. Think of the numbers in the Bible. We are always running into numbers when we read His Word. Numbers like three, seven, 40 days, 40 nights, 50 years of jubilee. He tells us that the hairs on our head are numbered. He said that we can count the number of our days.

Numbers are indeed are important. Numbers like your LDL, your waistline and your blood pressure. These are numbers that we live by that measure the quality of our health. I didn’t know until recently that some really smart mathematicians can quantify the shape of a butterfly as parabolic curves. Imagine that! One of God’s most beautiful creations boils down to a mathematic formula. I think that the astounding amount of order, geometry and diversity in the universe speaks to a God of vast and unfathomable richness. I would encourage you to find the numbers and encourage us all to look at the numbers that He is using in our lives today.

FAITH AND COMETS

Charley Gordon — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 17:04:37 +0000

I had a somewhat sad conversation with a patient the other day. A gentleman came into the office, a highly educated theologian. He was reading a book on faith. I asked him why he thought that God required faith. Why was it so important to God that we have faith? He could show Himself to us all today and make His essence undeniably known and yet, He is hidden in the universe—His purposes are often hidden to our minds—we don’t always understand Him. In fact, we often don’t. His ways are higher than ours.

To my question, my patient sadly responded that the more he learns (he has his doctorate in theology) the less sure he is of what he believes. He told me that even though he used to be a chaplain, he no longer feels qualified to teach Sunday school because he is not really sure what he believes. The more he learns, the more questions he has and the more questions he has the less faith he has. I thought it was one of the saddest and somewhat disturbing conversations I have ever had.

So I went home and asked one of the greatest saints of faith that I know, my wife, her opinion. Why is it that God is hidden from us? Why does He connect us to us in faith? Paul says that we must have faith to please God because without faith we cannot even know that He exists. Why is that? Why does God want us to have faith?

She told me very wisely that if God were to show Himself in the fullness of His glory, we would have no choice but to fall down and worship at His feet. That suddenly our lives would be no longer our lives, that we would be complete and holy subjects to an awesome God. And when that happens, free will is gone. When we see God for who He is, really, we have no choice but to fall on our knees and worship. In fact, Revelation says that this will happen one day (Revelation 13:8, 15:4). The reason it has not happened yet is because God chooses to be loved freely than to be worshipped automatically.   Amazing as it is, God prefers our freely given love to our coerced worship. Worship that He could demand at any moment is not desirable to Him as the love of His children given freely in faith.

I thought about this and the new comet that is racing through our solar system. I believe that just as this comet has burst on the scene (and one that is even larger than our own sun), one day, God Himself will burst into our lives and become the brightest object to be seen.

THE SOUND OF WAVES

Charley Gordon — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 21:13:17 +0000

I am noticing waves these days. They can be peaceful, violent, calming or frightening.   What got me thinking was listening to breathing, especially sleep breathing. As we fall asleep, our breathing becomes more rhythmic, and sounds just like ocean waves. Illustrating this is not such an easy thing, but as I searched for illustrations of waves, I realized that there are all sorts of invisible waves around us all the time. Sound travels in waves, as illustrated above. Light, liquids, radio frequencies—all various waves. If you are using a wireless Internet connection, there you go—more waves.   Physicists and mathematicians can go on endlessly about the properties and behavior of these waves.

While I don’t pretend to understand their complex behavior, I can sit back in wonder. This is an incredible place. Just as a ripple can spread across a pond, so too our actions affect others far beyond our circle. Events in our past still affect us today. It is not too far a stretch to believe that our beliefs today can have eternal significance.