Traces of God

Physicists wanted answers to a big question, so they constructed the largest machine in the world to get them. The Large Hadron Collider cost about $10 billion to build, consists of a 17-mile long underground tunnel, and shoots 40 million protons per second toward each other through the tunnel at 99.9999991% of the speed of light. The hope is to finally detect the Higgs boson particle, nicknamed the “God particle” because it is predicted to be the fundamental building block of everything in the universe.

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However, the Higgs boson cannot be seen because it only exists for a yoctosecond, or 0.000000000000000000000001 of a second. Therefore, scientists cannot detect the particles directly, but instead observe “tracks” after the protons collide and break into smaller pieces. Like contrails from a high-altitude jet, the traces indicate the particles have been there.

Although physicists dislike the “God particle” nickname, it seems appropriate considering how He reveals Himself. Smack in the middle of pain, grief, suffering and doubt crashing through our lives, we cry out “God, where are you?” but we don’t get a clear answer. We want answers and relief in a yoctosecond, but evidence of God’s presence can take years to see. It took me over 20 years to finally understand my parents’ divorce was probably the best thing to happen to my spiritual growth, despite the confusion and sadness I experienced when I was a boy. I wanted answers, but got none at the time.

Similarly, despite direct involvement in some of God’s mightiest miracles, Moses still needed reassurance that God would continue to lead the Israelites through the desert after leaving Egypt. Even after holding his hands up to part the Red Sea, Moses still had doubts about God. He pleaded for answers from God, and wanted to see Him directly face to face.

“Then the Lord said, ‘There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.’”(Exodus 33:21-23).

What big questions do you want answers to? God may not be apparent when we want Him or expect Him to be, but with faith and perseverance, the traces of His presence become evident later.

Boston

“It. Was. So. Much. Fun.” That was the first response – with an emphatic, whimsical pause between each word – when I asked runners what the Boston Marathon was like. I started asking about two years ago, before I had fully dedicated myself to the months of preparation ahead. I wanted to know what one of the most prestigious, challenging and demanding marathon courses in the world had in store for me.


I expected to hear about the hills on the course (the most famous one isn’t called “Heartbreak” for nothing). I expected to hear about how much their legs hurt after enduring the race. I expected to hear about how terrible training through a Montana winter to be race-ready in April would be.

But no.

The initial and immediate response from the Boston veterans uplifted and encouraged me.

When I finally participated in the 2012 Boston Marathon, my legs screamed in pain because the hills were brutal, and the withering heat near 90 degrees made me wilt, and I ran my worst race since junior high.

And yet when people started asking me how the race went, I found myself echoing that happy first response. Running through the midst of a 26.2 mile tailgate party, with thousands upon thousands of people cheering and encouraging you on, mile after mile, affects you like that. I think if I had smelled even a whiff of negativity when I first starting asking about Boston, I would have given up on the marathon idea, and therefore, would have missed out on pure joy, in spite of all the difficulties.

It probably shouldn’t be surprising, then, that Jesus did not mention the potential troubles, pain, and suffering the disciples could be in for when He first asked them to follow Him. After all their time together, Jesus did not say “In this world you will have trouble” until His last day on earth (John 16:33). Up to that point, I would think the disciples had been a fearful mix of awe, wonder and amazement. But initially, I think “Follow me” probably sounded joyful, playful, and even whimsical, the same way runners told me about Boston.

So the next time I find myself on the verge of discussing my Christian faith, I’m going to try and start with some version of “It. Is. So. Much. Fun.” Because I don’t want someone else to miss out on all the fun.

What's that kid with the purple head saying - LIVE

From the Life Covenant Church 2012 Cabin Fever Follies.

"_______"

When my wife was a young girl, she and her little sister were treated to a Saturday night at the drive-in theater. Popcorn. Giggling. A good wholesome time during a family-oriented film, the first of a double feature. During intermission, the parents informed the girls it was time to go to sleep. Their movie was over, and it was time for mommy and daddy’s movie.


Worn out from the excitement and late hour, her sister conked out before the second movie started. However, my future wife sat in the back seat, quiet, patient and supposedly asleep, while the adults became engrossed in the story, oblivious to the small sponge behind them.

The very next day, a teacher intercepted my future mother-in-law at the classroom doorway as she came to pick up her daughter. The teacher looked horrified; her eyes wide with shock as she pulled my future mother-in-law aside. The teacher leaned in nervously. “I’m not sure how to tell you this,” she whispered incredulously, “but Kristin said ‘______.’”

In front of the teacher.

For all the other kids to hear.

During Sunday School.

Probably made for some interesting discussions around town later that day, when unsuspecting parents innocently asked, “So, what did you learn at Sunday School today?”

When religious leaders arrested Peter and John for preaching about Jesus’s resurrection, they stated, “We cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20).

And neither can we.

We all repeat and tell other people about the things that influence us, good or bad. What we expose ourselves to sways our hearts, minds and opinions, which in turn, drives what we talk about. Peter and John spoke about the miracles, healings, love and good news they were exposed to by hanging around Jesus. But as Kristin’s parents discovered, the flip side occurs when “bad company corrupts good character” (1 Corinthians 15:33), and bad company can take the form of people, books, music, TV shows, jokes, magazines, websites, and of course, movies.

Even if she had no idea what the word meant, little Kristin could not help speaking about what she had seen and heard, repeating at least one word from the movie with adult language and situations, and reflecting it back out for the world to hear. But she was unknowingly exposed to some things that apparently turned out to not be appropriate for her age. As adults, however, we have a choice about who and what approaches our eyes and ears.

If we are not careful, at the most inappropriate time, we might end up saying “______.”

Sour Cream



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The sour cream never had a chance. Never knew what hit it. Innocently it waited in my refrigerator for the next potato- or nacho-based meal, which as a bachelor happened frequently.


This particular day, I staggered into my apartment after running 22 miles while training for my first marathon. Drenched with sweat, vision blurred and legs wobbling, I lurched toward the kitchen, ravenous after burning so much energy. Flinging open the door to the fridge, several tumbleweeds blew out, exposing the unsuspecting tub of protein and fat. Hesitating briefly, a small voice of reason pleaded to not make meal out of a condiment. I shrugged, and attacked the sour cream with primal gusto anyway.

Even though I had changed my physical regimen over several months to prepare for running 26.2 miles, I hadn’t changed my eating habits – burgers, fries, fried chicken, and now apparently, a foray into the fattier condiments. No wonder my body always felt so broken down, and I was zombified by the need for sleep.

Call me crazy, but a food-ish product that contains 10% of my suggested daily allowance of saturated fat in a mere 2 tablespoons couldn’t possibly replace all the carbohydrates, potassium, sodium, vitamins and minerals I burned off in mass quantities. And it certainly could not provide me energy for the next training run. So I lost weight and remained sluggish throughout my training. I bonked during the actual race. My legs turned to mush, and I slogged through the last 2 miles like I was shuffling through waist-deep wet cement.

In the second half of 1 Corinthians 10, Paul writes about bad food. Bad because it was sacrificed to idols, not bad because of its fat content. These days, we do not have to worry about whether our food participated in pagan temple rituals. But we should be concerned about what food we put into our bodies, and how it affects our moods, our energy levels, and our focus because it relates to how well and how actively we can serve God.

When speaking of food, Paul said, “Everything is permissible – but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible – but not everything is constructive” (1 Corinthians 10:23). The items on my bachelor menu were all readily acceptable to eat, but they were not helpful for me. I hope you do not have a sour-cream-as-a-meal habit, but what other food-ish item(s) are on your regular menu that may not be beneficial for you in the long run?

Silence

Microsoft clip art

Remember a serious crush you had when you were in high school? Michelle and I were in typing class together (Flashback: The class taught kids how to use a typewriter correctly. You know, those clackety things people used before computers to create documents?). From what I could tell we hit it off pretty well. Joking and laughing and occasionally stealing glances when the teacher wasn’t looking – needless to say, I was a little distracted during class. Maybe it’s because of those interactions that still, to this day, I don’t know how to keyboard correctly.


Yet, even though I spoke with her, I remained silent about The One Thing That Mattered: how I felt about her. And so, I remained trapped in my own, self-constructed solitary confinement of unspoken hopes and dreams.

I drowned in that same silence when I found out she had started dating some guy. Some other guy. Some guy in our typing class, no less, who probably used his superior typing skills to woo her, unlike me who continued to hunt and peck. Some guy who apparently had no problem talking to her on a deeper level, unlike me who kept silent about such things.

So while they started joking and laughing and stealing glances, I ached inside, left to repeatedly wonder “What if I had said . . . ” Every word I failed to speak when I had the chance pressed down like stacked weights on my chest. Her same actions that used to thrill me, now tore me apart. I resembled David’s remarks in Psalm 39, “When I was silent and still, not even saying anything good, my anguish increased” (Psalm 39:2).

By not saying anything of importance or meaningful to her, in effect, I abandoned her ears to let them roam and find something of substance to listen to; something our fellow typist verbalized.

What is The One Thing That Matters to you that is being left unspoken, and to whom? How could your relationship with God, your friends and your family improve if you said something – anything - about how you honestly feel and what you think? During this time of resolutions to start the new year, make it yours to start tearing down the walls of silence.

Eye-Catching



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My eyes bugged out when I came down the stairs on that particular Christmas morning. The present stood almost as tall as me, and because it was so big and so eye-catching, I was absolutely positive it just had to be the coolest present I had ever gotten or would ever get. My mind raced from one possibility to another about what it could be, and who I would call first to brag about it.


After half-heartedly opening several other gifts and encouraging my mother to hurry with hers, the time finally came to open The Present. Tearing into the wrapping paper, breathless with anticipation, eyes wide with excitement, it was . . .


It was . . .

It was . . .

A long-handled snow shovel.

*Sigh* Gee. Thanks.

Christmas seems like a good time to remember what God considers important is typically upside down from we consider important. That’s why people have such a hard time understanding concepts like love your enemies (Luke 6:27), to be great you’ve got to be a servant (Matthew 20:26), to be first you must be last (Mark 9:35), it’s more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 21:35), rejoice in suffering (Romans 5:3), and so forth.

Therefore, when God gave us all a present on the very first Christmas and sent the long-awaited Messiah and Savior of the world, He was not grandiose, showy and pretentious. The King of King and Lord of Lords was born tiny and helpless into humble, simple beginnings, and rested in an animal’s feeding trough (Luke 2:7). As He grew older, Jesus “had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him” (Isaiah 53:2). In other words, He was easy to overlook. I overlooked a number of much smaller, more meaningful Christmas presents to focus on the big attention-grabbing one, only to be let down.

This Christmas, remember “the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23). The person that embodied that gift - the most meaningful and precious gift any of us will ever receive - was so unassuming, modest, and unpretentious, that many people overlooked the tiny gift’s significance, and chose to focus on something eye-catching instead.