A friend sent me this story on this Christmas day that I’d like to share it with you:
There once lived a king. He was a king, but he was more than a king. He was THE king, the king of kings. He was incredibly rich. He was enormously powerful. His realm of influence stretched far beyond the horizons.
Other kings would send him very expensive gifts, even though not all of them liked him. No one wanted to make him angry. Because all he had to do was speak and, at once, it was done.
He was rich and powerful. He was also very good. He was wise and just. This king knew his subjects well. He knew where they lived and what they did. He would often venture out from his castle in his royal carriage, so he could see his people at their work and at their play.
One day, he was looking around and he saw a young woman. She was at work taking care of goats. He asked some others about her and found out that she lived in a tiny cottage with her mother. She and her mother were very poor. Her father had been dead for some time. Sometimes in the evenings she would sit in front of her cottage and play a wooden flute for the children in her village. She loved the children and they loved her.
Well, the king, this king of kings, fell in love with this lowly young woman. He wanted to marry her and to make her his queen. But he also wanted her to love him.
Of course, the young woman knew that there was a king, a king above all kings, and she was grateful for what he did for everyone. But she had no idea that this king loved her. There were so many other women in the kingdom – beautiful, rich, talented women. He could marry any one of them. She was poor and plain. Yet, for reasons he could not explain, he loved her. He loved her because of who he was. And he wanted her to love to love him.
The question was – how could that happen? What could he do? The king called together the wisest in his court to get their advice. He told them of his love for this young woman. He didn’t tell them who she was. He only told them she was poor.
One of them piped up, “Congratulations your majesty! How wonderful that you have finally chosen a queen! We shall send messengers to the young woman and order her to come to the castle that she might become queen!”
“No,” said the king. “Soldiers I command; servants I order; all my subjects obey my decrees. But this woman I love. I can’t order her to love me. I don’t know that she would be happy with me. If I ordered her to be my wife, she could resent me the rest of her life.”
Another stepped forward and said, “Your majesty, then we must set out to win her love for you. We shall send her gifts…yes, gifts beyond her wildest dreams! We will build a great house for her. We will send her servants. She can have everything she ever wanted. Why, she’ll be so grateful, she’ll just have to love you!”
Now the king became angry. “Are you suggesting that I buy her love? That I bribe her? Every time she would look at the gifts, she would feel obligated to love me. Or, worse, that she actually deserved my love.
“My love for her is free and undeserved. I don’t want her to feel obligated to love me. I don’t want to deceive her into thinking that she deserves my love. That is not true love and will not win her love. I cannot force her to love me by power or by price.”
At this all of the king’s advisers fell silent. So, he dismissed them. After some time of thinking on his own, the king decided what he would do. He took off his crown and his royal robes and set them aside. He put on the clothes of poor peasant and dropped a few small coins in his pocket.
Then, in the middle of the night, he left through the back door of the castle. He went to the village where the young woman lived. He begged for a place to stay. No one would take him in, so he slept in a barn with animals. The only job he could get was the lowest job – a goat herder. Because people didn’t know him, and maybe because they could sense something different about him, they laughed at him.
In the evening, he went with the children to listen to the young woman play the flute. That is how he got to know her. Then, he offered to help her. He helped her with the goats. He did small things to fix up their cottage. When her mother became sick, he brought her soup.
Then he waited. He waited and waited for a sign of her love – not merely of her gratitude, nor of her respect, nor of her admiration, nor of her friendship, but of her love. At times, he became very sad and discouraged. He wondered if she would ever love him. He spent many long and lonely nights. But at last joy came to him when he discovered that the poor young woman did indeed love him.
He asked her to marry him and she consented. When her neighbors found out, they scolded her. “He’s so poor! He has no prospects! He doesn’t even herd goats very well!”
But she simply said, “He loves me and I love him. He wants me to be his wife and this is enough for me.”
Then he told her, “I live in another place not far from here. I want you and your mother to come live with me there, but I need to go first and get it ready for you.”
He went back to his castle. Then he returned in order to marry her according to the customs of her people. Then, together, they walked to the castle. To her great surprise, they strolled right through the gates and the guards did not stop them. She was surprised again when others came up to her husband and bowed to him. She was most surprised when he invited her to take a seat on the throne next to him. But, because of how he had loved her, she was always amazed, but she was never surprised by his love.
And every evening she would sit at the castle gate and play her flute for all the children of the kingdom who would gather there. And her audience always included the king.
Friday, December 25, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Science and Religion: Nature of the conflict (VIIII)
Conclusions
Working scientists have tended to be skeptical of religion because they have examined only the older religions where, as I have suggested, facts are few and theory is perverted by years of unscientific thinking. Few such scientists have undertaken an objective study of the Bahá’í Faith. They cannot, therefore, presume that they would not validate the finding of Bahá’ís until they have examined this most recent evidence for the phenomenon of revelation. A modern scientist would ridicule someone who judged modern science by studying the science of 500 or 2000 years ago. Yet these same scientists judge all religions without examining the modern form of religion which is the counterpart of modern science.
The truth is that scientists are human and that human beings, even scientists, can suffer from subtle but disastrous prejudices. When great scientists such as Albert Einstein and Julian Huxley have undertaken to write about scientific religion, they have been scorned by the scientific community. Most biologists began to regard Huxley as a senile old man when he undertook to write in this vein. Yet Huxley’s thoughts on the subject are not only profound but they also constitute the true culmination of his scientific career. We, as individuals, can do nothing more than to apply the scientific method in our own life and to maintain a scientific faith. We must not allow false conceptions about science to mar the beauty of scientific method any more than we let false conceptions of religion mar the beauty of religion.
(All above are excerpts from an article “The Science of Religion” by Dr. William Hatcher which I liked very much so to share it here with you.)
“Science and Religion:Nature of the Conflict(VIII)”
“Science and Religion:Nature of the Conflict(VII)”
“Science and Religion:Nature of the Conflict(VI)”
“Science and Religion:Nature of the Conflict(V)”
“Science and Religion:Nature of the conflict(IV)”
“Science and Religion:Nature of the conflict(III)”
“Science and Religion:Nature of the conflict(II)”
“Science and Religion:Nature of the conflict(I)”
Ref.: The William Hatcher Library
Working scientists have tended to be skeptical of religion because they have examined only the older religions where, as I have suggested, facts are few and theory is perverted by years of unscientific thinking. Few such scientists have undertaken an objective study of the Bahá’í Faith. They cannot, therefore, presume that they would not validate the finding of Bahá’ís until they have examined this most recent evidence for the phenomenon of revelation. A modern scientist would ridicule someone who judged modern science by studying the science of 500 or 2000 years ago. Yet these same scientists judge all religions without examining the modern form of religion which is the counterpart of modern science.
The truth is that scientists are human and that human beings, even scientists, can suffer from subtle but disastrous prejudices. When great scientists such as Albert Einstein and Julian Huxley have undertaken to write about scientific religion, they have been scorned by the scientific community. Most biologists began to regard Huxley as a senile old man when he undertook to write in this vein. Yet Huxley’s thoughts on the subject are not only profound but they also constitute the true culmination of his scientific career. We, as individuals, can do nothing more than to apply the scientific method in our own life and to maintain a scientific faith. We must not allow false conceptions about science to mar the beauty of scientific method any more than we let false conceptions of religion mar the beauty of religion.
(All above are excerpts from an article “The Science of Religion” by Dr. William Hatcher which I liked very much so to share it here with you.)
“Science and Religion:Nature of the Conflict(VIII)”
“Science and Religion:Nature of the Conflict(VII)”
“Science and Religion:Nature of the Conflict(VI)”
“Science and Religion:Nature of the Conflict(V)”
“Science and Religion:Nature of the conflict(IV)”
“Science and Religion:Nature of the conflict(III)”
“Science and Religion:Nature of the conflict(II)”
“Science and Religion:Nature of the conflict(I)”
Ref.: The William Hatcher Library
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Searching for the meaning of life (cont'd)
(3)
It was when I first arrived in US, my husband had told me once that there were two persons in our area I should meet. I asked him why. He said he didn’t exactly know why, but felt that they possessed certain qualities which I might like. That was the end of conversation. I didn’t understand the meaning of it, neither did he.
One day during those confusing period, at supermarket, my husband suddenly said loudly to me: “Le, look, that’s Bill, whom I told you before.” I remembered what he said to me about Bill. Yes, there was something special in Bill that I could not describe, but I did like for sure. After exchanging a few greetings, Bill said: “Do you have time on Wednesday evening? Let’s have dinner together at my home.” Before we realized, the invitation was confirmed.
On the way home, I asked my husband: “Do you know Bill well?”
“No, just met him one time when he came to where I lived to visit some one else, we chatted in the hall way and after that met him several time in restaurant where I worked as a waiter, that’s it.”
I asked : “Is this the custom here, people invite each other for dinner at home even though they don’t know each other well?"
“I don’t think so.” We were not sure what all these meant.
On the evening of that Wednesday, right before we were ready to go to Bill’s home, my husband decided he would not go after all. I decided I was going all by myself.
On the way to Bill’s home, I lost direction for a while in the darkness. I had never been in that area. I couldn't decide should I turn back or go forward. I asked myself that I didn’t know Bill at all, why I’d go to see him even by myself. Beside to keep my word, were there any other reasons? Another day when I saw Bill at National, I felt clearly there were something in him that attracted me. I was not sure what it was, but I'd like to find it out.
When I arrived at Bill’s home, he and his wife had prepared a whole table of food and were waiting for us. Five minutes into dinner, I was about to ask Bill questions concerning religion. I didn’t know then that the conversation was about to lead me to answers to all my questions and concerns, and would change the rest of my life and my 15-year-long search would come to a conclusion.
(The following is not exactly quotes of our conversation, rather they are what I remembered the principles I learned).
I asked Bill: Are you a Christian?
Bill said: We believe Christ is a Messenger from God, and Bible is the teachings from God brought to us by Christ.
I noticed immediately that Bill’s answer was different from a standard Christian’s answer. I was encouraged and asked another question: Beside Christ, are there any other Messengers from God?
Bill: Yes, God has sent to mankind many Messengers in history and will send many more in future. In fact, we believe all of the founders of major religions are Messengers from God.
I: So what’s the relationship between those religions? Do they believe in the same God? ( This was a big and crucial question for me)
Bill: We believe all religions are from the same God. The relationship between them we call Progressive Revelation.
I: What is Progressive Revelation?
Bill: We view religious history as a succession of revelations from God and the term "progressive revelation" is used to describe this process. We believe that in reality, there is only one religion, the religion of God. This one religion is continually evolving, and each particular religious system represents a stage in the evolution of the whole. All of the religious systems "have proceeded from one Source and are the rays of one Light." Religion is like a book, different religions are different chapters in the same book.
I felt that the clouds in front of me were slowly dispersed away, there was a ray of light shining through the cloud directly to the very depth of my heart. My inner being recognized instantly the truth of these few words. It's like a magic, religion was no longer a lifeless system, rather suddenly become alive. God was no longer so far removed, but became near, so intimately near to my heart.
I couldn't wait to hear more: What’s the relationship between science and religion? Do they have to contradict with each other?
Bill: We believe that science and religion are two sources of knowledge ordained by God. Science is the source of understanding the laws of physical reality while religion, true religion, is a source of understanding of the laws of spiritual reality. Fundamentally science and religion should agree and complement to each other. If they appear to contradict with each other, it’s because either religion has become superstition, or science has not yet discovered complete truth.
I breathed deeply. Everything sounded refreshing and made sense to me and I still had one last question that had been buried deeply in my heart for 15 years: "What is indeed the meaning of our existence?"
Bill: We believe that human reality is fundamentally spiritual. If there were no Creator, if humans were simply chance products of a thermodynamic system, there would be no purpose in life. Each individual human being would represent the temporary material existence of a conscious animal trying to move through his or her brief life with as much pleasure and as little pain and suffering as possible. It is only in relation to the Creator, and the purpose which that Creator has fixed for His creatures, that human existence has any meaning. And in this context, life should be seen as an eternal process of spiritual discovery and growth. God has endowed each human reality potentials to reflect all of His attributes. Thus the development of these spiritual potentials constitutes the meaning of our life. And as we develop and as we progress, we become more and more God-like and thus drew ever nearer to God.
How wonderful and beautiful insights of understanding! Everything suddenly made sense and all pieces had simply come together. My puzzle had finally been solved!!
It was obvious to me that all of these understandings were not from traditional Christianity.
I asked Bill: "What is your religion?"
Bill: "We are Baha'is, the followers of Baha'u'llah."
The name was new, never heard before. But it's alright with me. There was first time for all new things. I could get used to the new name.
"Who is Baha'u'llah?"
Bill: "We believe that Baha'u'llah is the latest Messenger from God, He brought teachings for our time."
No wonder everything sounded so current, so accessible to modern mind!
I sat there for a while quietly, hardly comprehending what had just happened to me. I looked at Bill. His face was luminous that it seemed there was light shinning through him. His eyes were full of warm kindness that could move one to tears. I wished he kept talking and that moment would never end. I had no doubt at that moment that it was God who had sent Bill to guide me and to teach me. God had kept His promise. My fifteen-year-long fervent search had finally been answered, and my mind and my heart could finally rest for peace.
I ran home that night and shouted to my husband:" I found it, I found it, I found it!!!" He looked at me puzzlingly: " I never know you have lost anything." Never mind, he didn't know this. I never told anyone my inner struggles, my desperate desires. I wished I could share this with someone, anyone that how much this meant to me. God cares, God really cares for me and equally for everyone. God's grace did not just pour out at an arbitrary point of history and stopped pouring for ever for no reason. God has been and will always be raining down His grace to mankind. And with the one simple teaching that religion and science should be in harmony, my heart and my mind are brought together into one single entity. Truth must be beautiful and beauty cannot be false. Everything becomes one and I become whole.
I'd like to finish this post with a paragraph from the Writings of Baha'u'llah concerning how a seeker of truth should go about his searching:
"On this journey (searching) the traveler abideth in every land and dwelleth in every region. In every face, he seeketh the beauty of the Friend; in every country he looketh for the Beloved. He joineth every company, and seeketh fellowship with every soul, that haply in some mind he may uncover the secret of the Friend, or in some face he may behold the beauty of the Loved One." (Baha'u'llah, The Seven Valleys, p. 7)
Searching for the meaning of life (Part I)
It was when I first arrived in US, my husband had told me once that there were two persons in our area I should meet. I asked him why. He said he didn’t exactly know why, but felt that they possessed certain qualities which I might like. That was the end of conversation. I didn’t understand the meaning of it, neither did he.
One day during those confusing period, at supermarket, my husband suddenly said loudly to me: “Le, look, that’s Bill, whom I told you before.” I remembered what he said to me about Bill. Yes, there was something special in Bill that I could not describe, but I did like for sure. After exchanging a few greetings, Bill said: “Do you have time on Wednesday evening? Let’s have dinner together at my home.” Before we realized, the invitation was confirmed.
On the way home, I asked my husband: “Do you know Bill well?”
“No, just met him one time when he came to where I lived to visit some one else, we chatted in the hall way and after that met him several time in restaurant where I worked as a waiter, that’s it.”
I asked : “Is this the custom here, people invite each other for dinner at home even though they don’t know each other well?"
“I don’t think so.” We were not sure what all these meant.
On the evening of that Wednesday, right before we were ready to go to Bill’s home, my husband decided he would not go after all. I decided I was going all by myself.
On the way to Bill’s home, I lost direction for a while in the darkness. I had never been in that area. I couldn't decide should I turn back or go forward. I asked myself that I didn’t know Bill at all, why I’d go to see him even by myself. Beside to keep my word, were there any other reasons? Another day when I saw Bill at National, I felt clearly there were something in him that attracted me. I was not sure what it was, but I'd like to find it out.
When I arrived at Bill’s home, he and his wife had prepared a whole table of food and were waiting for us. Five minutes into dinner, I was about to ask Bill questions concerning religion. I didn’t know then that the conversation was about to lead me to answers to all my questions and concerns, and would change the rest of my life and my 15-year-long search would come to a conclusion.
(The following is not exactly quotes of our conversation, rather they are what I remembered the principles I learned).
I asked Bill: Are you a Christian?
Bill said: We believe Christ is a Messenger from God, and Bible is the teachings from God brought to us by Christ.
I noticed immediately that Bill’s answer was different from a standard Christian’s answer. I was encouraged and asked another question: Beside Christ, are there any other Messengers from God?
Bill: Yes, God has sent to mankind many Messengers in history and will send many more in future. In fact, we believe all of the founders of major religions are Messengers from God.
I: So what’s the relationship between those religions? Do they believe in the same God? ( This was a big and crucial question for me)
Bill: We believe all religions are from the same God. The relationship between them we call Progressive Revelation.
I: What is Progressive Revelation?
Bill: We view religious history as a succession of revelations from God and the term "progressive revelation" is used to describe this process. We believe that in reality, there is only one religion, the religion of God. This one religion is continually evolving, and each particular religious system represents a stage in the evolution of the whole. All of the religious systems "have proceeded from one Source and are the rays of one Light." Religion is like a book, different religions are different chapters in the same book.
I felt that the clouds in front of me were slowly dispersed away, there was a ray of light shining through the cloud directly to the very depth of my heart. My inner being recognized instantly the truth of these few words. It's like a magic, religion was no longer a lifeless system, rather suddenly become alive. God was no longer so far removed, but became near, so intimately near to my heart.
I couldn't wait to hear more: What’s the relationship between science and religion? Do they have to contradict with each other?
Bill: We believe that science and religion are two sources of knowledge ordained by God. Science is the source of understanding the laws of physical reality while religion, true religion, is a source of understanding of the laws of spiritual reality. Fundamentally science and religion should agree and complement to each other. If they appear to contradict with each other, it’s because either religion has become superstition, or science has not yet discovered complete truth.
I breathed deeply. Everything sounded refreshing and made sense to me and I still had one last question that had been buried deeply in my heart for 15 years: "What is indeed the meaning of our existence?"
Bill: We believe that human reality is fundamentally spiritual. If there were no Creator, if humans were simply chance products of a thermodynamic system, there would be no purpose in life. Each individual human being would represent the temporary material existence of a conscious animal trying to move through his or her brief life with as much pleasure and as little pain and suffering as possible. It is only in relation to the Creator, and the purpose which that Creator has fixed for His creatures, that human existence has any meaning. And in this context, life should be seen as an eternal process of spiritual discovery and growth. God has endowed each human reality potentials to reflect all of His attributes. Thus the development of these spiritual potentials constitutes the meaning of our life. And as we develop and as we progress, we become more and more God-like and thus drew ever nearer to God.
How wonderful and beautiful insights of understanding! Everything suddenly made sense and all pieces had simply come together. My puzzle had finally been solved!!
It was obvious to me that all of these understandings were not from traditional Christianity.
I asked Bill: "What is your religion?"
Bill: "We are Baha'is, the followers of Baha'u'llah."
The name was new, never heard before. But it's alright with me. There was first time for all new things. I could get used to the new name.
"Who is Baha'u'llah?"
Bill: "We believe that Baha'u'llah is the latest Messenger from God, He brought teachings for our time."
No wonder everything sounded so current, so accessible to modern mind!
I sat there for a while quietly, hardly comprehending what had just happened to me. I looked at Bill. His face was luminous that it seemed there was light shinning through him. His eyes were full of warm kindness that could move one to tears. I wished he kept talking and that moment would never end. I had no doubt at that moment that it was God who had sent Bill to guide me and to teach me. God had kept His promise. My fifteen-year-long fervent search had finally been answered, and my mind and my heart could finally rest for peace.
I ran home that night and shouted to my husband:" I found it, I found it, I found it!!!" He looked at me puzzlingly: " I never know you have lost anything." Never mind, he didn't know this. I never told anyone my inner struggles, my desperate desires. I wished I could share this with someone, anyone that how much this meant to me. God cares, God really cares for me and equally for everyone. God's grace did not just pour out at an arbitrary point of history and stopped pouring for ever for no reason. God has been and will always be raining down His grace to mankind. And with the one simple teaching that religion and science should be in harmony, my heart and my mind are brought together into one single entity. Truth must be beautiful and beauty cannot be false. Everything becomes one and I become whole.
I'd like to finish this post with a paragraph from the Writings of Baha'u'llah concerning how a seeker of truth should go about his searching:
"On this journey (searching) the traveler abideth in every land and dwelleth in every region. In every face, he seeketh the beauty of the Friend; in every country he looketh for the Beloved. He joineth every company, and seeketh fellowship with every soul, that haply in some mind he may uncover the secret of the Friend, or in some face he may behold the beauty of the Loved One." (Baha'u'llah, The Seven Valleys, p. 7)
Searching for the meaning of life (Part I)
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Searching for the meaning of life
During this Thanksgiving season, while counting the blessings of family, friends and all the good things in life, my deep gratitude is especially given to those who guided me on my journey of seeking meanings and answers. Their patient and unreserved guidance had changed the course of my life and enriched it most greatly in both depth and breath.
It is said that every life has a story. Though my story may differ from yours, I believe no matter where we were born and in whichever cultural background we grew up, all of our stories are ultimately related to our searching (knowingly or unknowingly) for the identity of who we truly are and what the life is all about beside and beyond it’s obvious, visible and material form.
(1)
“What is indeed the meaning of life?” I started to ponder this question when I was in high school. Growing up in communist country, I was told that life was only an accidental product with no predetermined purpose. But somehow this materialistic view bothered me. Deep down in my heart, I wished this were not true. I tried to find possible answers from different aspects that were available to me at the time: books, friends as well as the experiences and understandings of others. Although all of those enhanced my understanding and helped me to look at life from different perspective, they didn’t answer the question to my satisfaction and didn’t completely comfort my agitated inner being.
In the spring of 1990, when I was trapped in Prague of Czechoslovakia alone, and life was at its lowest point. One evening while I was wandering in the street pointlessly, a group of students handed me a Bible. Though I didn’t believe in any religion, I read it anyway when I had nothing else to do. But I couldn’t comprehend it at all. One evening however, somehow one of these verses (Matthew 7:7) jumped out at me and I actually could understand its meaning: "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” It sounded like a promise. How wonderful it would have been if it were truly a promise, I pondered: if I kept seeking, I might one day find. But by nature and training, I was a person with mathematical mind, anything not logically sound was hard to accept. Besides, atheism was instilled in me from very beginning and was held true for the past thirty years. It was impossible for me to say “I believe” overnight. Nevertheless religion became a topic that interested me and I started to observe the life of those who believed. In the class I was attending, there were two students from Egypt, who were faithful Muslims. They were openly practicing their faith: morning prayer, evening prayer, fasting, seemingly it’s a real thing. One day I got a chance in the lab to ask the young and intelligent student Magdy: “Magdy, you are very intelligent, plus you are a student of science, how could you believe in God with such sincerity? You know that science and religion can not coexist, as I have learned.” Magdy’s answer was much unexpected: “Because I am a student of science, so my belief is more sincere!” This was exactly opposite to the knowledge I acquired about science and religion. I encouraged him eagerly: “Tell me about it.” I didn’t realize that my request was about to have Magdy to begin a wonderful explanation from an unexpected angle, which in turn, would change my 30-year-long atheist mind.
Magdy said: “We are both chemists, we understand the second law of thermodynamics. It is stated that in a closed system, if there is no energy introduced from outside, the system can only develop spontaneously from relatively higher order to lower order till it reaches completely chaotic state. For example, a beautiful garden must have a diligent gardener, otherwise the garden will for sure be full of weeds; a home, if there is no one to clean, to organize, it will not spontaneously become neat and orderly; and if you see a line of footprints on desert, you will sure think someone has just passed by, and will not believe just because of wind blowing here, accidentally left the footprints on the sand. In summary, that is ‘where there is will, there is order, otherwise, there is only chaos.’ The same is also true for the universe. Through out the nature we have come to know so far, order is everywhere. In all directions we look, small or big, near or far, life or lifeless alike are governed by predetermined natural laws. If we consider the whole universe a closed system, in order to sustain the highly ordered state, there must be energy introduced from outside the universe. The One who is beyond the universe, who is constantly putting energy into the universe is the God I believed in.”
What a reasonable explanation, at least to me! I never knew the existence of God could be explained scientifically. Magdy’s vivid explanation made me feel that switching from an atheist to a believer was not impossible as I thought before and could be reasonable. I had been in the world of atheism searching for the meaning of life for the past 15 years, and had not been able to find answer. Perhaps, it’s time for me to honestly ask myself questions concerning my belief. I thought I was an atheist, was that what I’ve studied thoroughly and came to the conclusion myself? No, I was taught to be an atheist; I was never given an opportunity to choose. Magdy could explain the existence of God scientifically, but I’ve never thought about what was the proof of my atheist belief. If believing/not believing was only a choice of 50-50%, what should I choose? I’ve seen enough what could happen in a society where there was no God. Perhaps, even if it's just a 50-50% choice, I’d rather choose to believe. I’d like to see the other half of the world. Plus, Magdy's explanation was somewhat sensible to me, I could not just ignore it.
I asked Magdy one more question: “Magdy, where did you learn all of these things?”
Magdy replied seriously: “Have you ever heard of ‘Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom’?”
I decided that I was willing and ready to search after the wisdom from God!!
(2)
In the spring of 1991, I finally entered US, the land of the free. The opportunity was precious. With the little knowledge about God from Magdy, I dived myself into Chinese Christian Fellowship organized by students. I studied Bible with them diligently for months and learned many explanations from them as well. I realized by surprise that believing in God was not just a question of believing or not, believing in God was also implying who to believe, which religion to join, even which sects to belong to. This was beyond my comprehension. Honestly, I had nothing to be against Christianity. As matter of fact, I was baptized towards the end of my Bible study, becoming a Christian of my own choice. I believed that Christ was a way leading to God, but I just couldn’t convince myself that Christ was the only way. I was once an atheist, the world was only divided into two half: believing and not believing. A verse from Bible had once given me a leap of faith; the intelligent and warm-hearted Muslim Magdy had led me crossed the line from the non-believing world to the Kingdom of God; I had also shared an apartment with a girl from India for almost a year in Prague, and witnessed her worshiping her God with the same sincerity; and also from my own homeland China, I had learned a little about Buddhism. Were they not all Religions? Beside the different names, did they not all believe in the same God? I happened to become a Christian, just because it was the most popular religion in this country. Had I not come to US then, instead gone to Middle East, I’d have become a Muslim for sure. Oh, religion, I once thought believing in God was all that a religion was about, never expected such complication and confusion.
Although I had many concerns and confusions about religion, I still remembered the verse from Bible which had once gave me comfort and encouragement:
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” --- Matthew 7:7
I still believed that this verse was a promise to me: if I ask, I shall be answered.
After I finished studying Bible, I began to ask questions. My major concerns at the time could be summarized as follows:
* What’s the relationship between different religions? How could we know they didn’t believe in the same God?
* According to the current belief of Christianity, Christ was the only Son of God, never before and never after would be another One like Him. Why? If God is all powerful, HE surely could send many Christ-like Ones to mankind, Why not then?
* What’s the relationship between religion and science? Science as the sum of discovered natural laws and religion as the teachings from the Creator of our universe must have something in common, surely not contradict to each other as most have believed?
I started asking those questions in Chinese fellowship, in different Churches. And soon I realized that Christianity as a whole had very rigid doctrines. Any questions that were beyond the scope of these doctrines, they tended to avoid answering them. I knew then that in order to find answers, I must search outside Christianity.
One thing I never doubted that I should one day find answers. God would never fail anyone who asked Him.
(to be continued...)
Searching for the meaning of life (Part II)
It is said that every life has a story. Though my story may differ from yours, I believe no matter where we were born and in whichever cultural background we grew up, all of our stories are ultimately related to our searching (knowingly or unknowingly) for the identity of who we truly are and what the life is all about beside and beyond it’s obvious, visible and material form.
(1)
“What is indeed the meaning of life?” I started to ponder this question when I was in high school. Growing up in communist country, I was told that life was only an accidental product with no predetermined purpose. But somehow this materialistic view bothered me. Deep down in my heart, I wished this were not true. I tried to find possible answers from different aspects that were available to me at the time: books, friends as well as the experiences and understandings of others. Although all of those enhanced my understanding and helped me to look at life from different perspective, they didn’t answer the question to my satisfaction and didn’t completely comfort my agitated inner being.
In the spring of 1990, when I was trapped in Prague of Czechoslovakia alone, and life was at its lowest point. One evening while I was wandering in the street pointlessly, a group of students handed me a Bible. Though I didn’t believe in any religion, I read it anyway when I had nothing else to do. But I couldn’t comprehend it at all. One evening however, somehow one of these verses (Matthew 7:7) jumped out at me and I actually could understand its meaning: "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” It sounded like a promise. How wonderful it would have been if it were truly a promise, I pondered: if I kept seeking, I might one day find. But by nature and training, I was a person with mathematical mind, anything not logically sound was hard to accept. Besides, atheism was instilled in me from very beginning and was held true for the past thirty years. It was impossible for me to say “I believe” overnight. Nevertheless religion became a topic that interested me and I started to observe the life of those who believed. In the class I was attending, there were two students from Egypt, who were faithful Muslims. They were openly practicing their faith: morning prayer, evening prayer, fasting, seemingly it’s a real thing. One day I got a chance in the lab to ask the young and intelligent student Magdy: “Magdy, you are very intelligent, plus you are a student of science, how could you believe in God with such sincerity? You know that science and religion can not coexist, as I have learned.” Magdy’s answer was much unexpected: “Because I am a student of science, so my belief is more sincere!” This was exactly opposite to the knowledge I acquired about science and religion. I encouraged him eagerly: “Tell me about it.” I didn’t realize that my request was about to have Magdy to begin a wonderful explanation from an unexpected angle, which in turn, would change my 30-year-long atheist mind.
Magdy said: “We are both chemists, we understand the second law of thermodynamics. It is stated that in a closed system, if there is no energy introduced from outside, the system can only develop spontaneously from relatively higher order to lower order till it reaches completely chaotic state. For example, a beautiful garden must have a diligent gardener, otherwise the garden will for sure be full of weeds; a home, if there is no one to clean, to organize, it will not spontaneously become neat and orderly; and if you see a line of footprints on desert, you will sure think someone has just passed by, and will not believe just because of wind blowing here, accidentally left the footprints on the sand. In summary, that is ‘where there is will, there is order, otherwise, there is only chaos.’ The same is also true for the universe. Through out the nature we have come to know so far, order is everywhere. In all directions we look, small or big, near or far, life or lifeless alike are governed by predetermined natural laws. If we consider the whole universe a closed system, in order to sustain the highly ordered state, there must be energy introduced from outside the universe. The One who is beyond the universe, who is constantly putting energy into the universe is the God I believed in.”
What a reasonable explanation, at least to me! I never knew the existence of God could be explained scientifically. Magdy’s vivid explanation made me feel that switching from an atheist to a believer was not impossible as I thought before and could be reasonable. I had been in the world of atheism searching for the meaning of life for the past 15 years, and had not been able to find answer. Perhaps, it’s time for me to honestly ask myself questions concerning my belief. I thought I was an atheist, was that what I’ve studied thoroughly and came to the conclusion myself? No, I was taught to be an atheist; I was never given an opportunity to choose. Magdy could explain the existence of God scientifically, but I’ve never thought about what was the proof of my atheist belief. If believing/not believing was only a choice of 50-50%, what should I choose? I’ve seen enough what could happen in a society where there was no God. Perhaps, even if it's just a 50-50% choice, I’d rather choose to believe. I’d like to see the other half of the world. Plus, Magdy's explanation was somewhat sensible to me, I could not just ignore it.
I asked Magdy one more question: “Magdy, where did you learn all of these things?”
Magdy replied seriously: “Have you ever heard of ‘Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom’?”
I decided that I was willing and ready to search after the wisdom from God!!
(2)
In the spring of 1991, I finally entered US, the land of the free. The opportunity was precious. With the little knowledge about God from Magdy, I dived myself into Chinese Christian Fellowship organized by students. I studied Bible with them diligently for months and learned many explanations from them as well. I realized by surprise that believing in God was not just a question of believing or not, believing in God was also implying who to believe, which religion to join, even which sects to belong to. This was beyond my comprehension. Honestly, I had nothing to be against Christianity. As matter of fact, I was baptized towards the end of my Bible study, becoming a Christian of my own choice. I believed that Christ was a way leading to God, but I just couldn’t convince myself that Christ was the only way. I was once an atheist, the world was only divided into two half: believing and not believing. A verse from Bible had once given me a leap of faith; the intelligent and warm-hearted Muslim Magdy had led me crossed the line from the non-believing world to the Kingdom of God; I had also shared an apartment with a girl from India for almost a year in Prague, and witnessed her worshiping her God with the same sincerity; and also from my own homeland China, I had learned a little about Buddhism. Were they not all Religions? Beside the different names, did they not all believe in the same God? I happened to become a Christian, just because it was the most popular religion in this country. Had I not come to US then, instead gone to Middle East, I’d have become a Muslim for sure. Oh, religion, I once thought believing in God was all that a religion was about, never expected such complication and confusion.
Although I had many concerns and confusions about religion, I still remembered the verse from Bible which had once gave me comfort and encouragement:
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” --- Matthew 7:7
I still believed that this verse was a promise to me: if I ask, I shall be answered.
After I finished studying Bible, I began to ask questions. My major concerns at the time could be summarized as follows:
* What’s the relationship between different religions? How could we know they didn’t believe in the same God?
* According to the current belief of Christianity, Christ was the only Son of God, never before and never after would be another One like Him. Why? If God is all powerful, HE surely could send many Christ-like Ones to mankind, Why not then?
* What’s the relationship between religion and science? Science as the sum of discovered natural laws and religion as the teachings from the Creator of our universe must have something in common, surely not contradict to each other as most have believed?
I started asking those questions in Chinese fellowship, in different Churches. And soon I realized that Christianity as a whole had very rigid doctrines. Any questions that were beyond the scope of these doctrines, they tended to avoid answering them. I knew then that in order to find answers, I must search outside Christianity.
One thing I never doubted that I should one day find answers. God would never fail anyone who asked Him.
(to be continued...)
Searching for the meaning of life (Part II)
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