This morning, I read about how the University of Cambridge's Online Access site crashed because there were far too many enthusiasts trying to view or download Stephen Hawking's 1966 doctoral thesis "Properties of Expanding Universes". I went to the site to have a look, literally one glance - saw a mathematical formula and decided that it would be too much for me to handle. This is the realm of theoretical physicists, not a finance major. And it really exasperates me to start reading something and not finish it.
I didn't even know that the word "universe" comes in the plural form. I am thankful that universes, and particularly the one that we are living in, do not count on me understanding their properties in order for them to work. It would be a big mental burden if the entire universe depended on me. I do sometimes go about thinking that everything is a matter of life and death - that we must conclude on that particular issue today, that we need to get that thing close to perfection, we need to figure out a solution right this minute. Someone whom I regard as a mentor reminded me a couple of months back that unless people's lives are at stake, don't lose sleep over it. A good piece of advice and something that I need to gain mastery of before I take on the matters regarding the universe.
In the past, I have attempted to read some of the articles that simplifies the theories and concepts in the field of cosmology. Even those have proven I don't have a scientific bone in me. But it leaves me in awe to think that there are people who are capable of figuring out such complex matters just sitting at their desk. It is no wonder that in Genesis 11:6, it is recorded for us that God said, "nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them." Yet what mankind knows about the universe today is merely the tip of the iceberg, or more aptly, a minute blob in the universe. Everything we learn something new, we learn that there are far more things that we do not know. It is like a Russian Doll that works in reverse - you open a doll and realize that there is a bigger doll.
The Bible isn't a cosmologist's Guide to the Universe and Everything in it. If it were, it would fail the likes of me. The Bible is like the cheatsheet on everything you need to know to make sense of life. So rather than telling you every single detail of how the universe was put in place, it tells you who did it. Rather than satisfying the curiosities of scientists, the Bible seeks to satisfy the longing of every human heart - that everyone is immeasurably precious in the sight of God.
What we know today tells us that we know so little about the universe. God is not concerned that we know so little about it. What matters to Him is that you understand you mean the universe to Him.
4 What is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?
5 You have made them[d] a little lower than the angels
and crowned them[f] with glory and honor.
6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
you put everything under their[g] feet:
7 all flocks and herds,
and the animals of the wild,
8 the birds in the sky,
and the fish in the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.
~ Psalm 8: 4 - 8 (NIV)
I didn't even know that the word "universe" comes in the plural form. I am thankful that universes, and particularly the one that we are living in, do not count on me understanding their properties in order for them to work. It would be a big mental burden if the entire universe depended on me. I do sometimes go about thinking that everything is a matter of life and death - that we must conclude on that particular issue today, that we need to get that thing close to perfection, we need to figure out a solution right this minute. Someone whom I regard as a mentor reminded me a couple of months back that unless people's lives are at stake, don't lose sleep over it. A good piece of advice and something that I need to gain mastery of before I take on the matters regarding the universe.
In the past, I have attempted to read some of the articles that simplifies the theories and concepts in the field of cosmology. Even those have proven I don't have a scientific bone in me. But it leaves me in awe to think that there are people who are capable of figuring out such complex matters just sitting at their desk. It is no wonder that in Genesis 11:6, it is recorded for us that God said, "nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them." Yet what mankind knows about the universe today is merely the tip of the iceberg, or more aptly, a minute blob in the universe. Everything we learn something new, we learn that there are far more things that we do not know. It is like a Russian Doll that works in reverse - you open a doll and realize that there is a bigger doll.
The Bible isn't a cosmologist's Guide to the Universe and Everything in it. If it were, it would fail the likes of me. The Bible is like the cheatsheet on everything you need to know to make sense of life. So rather than telling you every single detail of how the universe was put in place, it tells you who did it. Rather than satisfying the curiosities of scientists, the Bible seeks to satisfy the longing of every human heart - that everyone is immeasurably precious in the sight of God.
What we know today tells us that we know so little about the universe. God is not concerned that we know so little about it. What matters to Him is that you understand you mean the universe to Him.
4 What is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?
5 You have made them[d] a little lower than the angels
and crowned them[f] with glory and honor.
6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
you put everything under their[g] feet:
7 all flocks and herds,
and the animals of the wild,
8 the birds in the sky,
and the fish in the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.
~ Psalm 8: 4 - 8 (NIV)
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