Groanings on the Ocean Floor: An Advent Reflection
In what became an immensely popular and widely circulated article in The New York Times magazine several weeks ago, Nathaniel Rich highlighted a mystifying biological phenomenon observed in a species of jellyfish called Turritopsis dohrnii. To put it simply, this organism is somehow able to regenerate itself indefinitely, repeatedly cycling through stages of development and always returning to its earliest stage, a polyp. Rich fondly refers to this death-defying creature as the “Benjamin Button jellyfish”.
At first glance, many people reach the conclusion that this enigmatic ocean dweller is a rare and miraculous proof of the existence of immortality in nature. On the surface, that does indeed seem to be the case, but as Rich points out, “Despite being immortal, it is easily killed. Turritopsis polyps are largely defenseless against their predators, chief among them sea slugs. They can easily be suffocated by organic matter. ‘They’re miracles of nature, but they’re not complete,’ Kubota acknowledged.” Here Rich quotes Dr. Shin Kubota, a Japanese biologist who has committed a large part of his life to studying this species.
The fact that Turritopsis is at once able to transcend the natural tendency towards death and decay, and yet an extremely fragile and vulnerable creature should, at the very least, give us pause and cause us to reflect on how biological processes in the created order might reflect larger, cosmic purposes of God and His relationship with creation. In his letter to the church in Rome, circa 55 AD, St. Paul wrote that “the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains”, and one day, “creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay”.1 So many of the Judeo-Christian scriptures contain such sweeping statements that cut across all levels of reality and experience, but what do these phrases really mean? What does it look like for all of creation (i.e., the entire natural world with its myriad species and ecosystems), to groan? What will creation look like when it is ultimately set free?
Turritopsis dohrnii offers us a bit of clarity, and a glimpse into these otherwise perplexing ideas. It might just be that this “immortal jellyfish” is, in its own way, groaning and longing for a time when the creation will no longer be subjected to the pervasive processes of death and degeneration. This may be an odd way to put it, but maybe its repeated life cycles are a prayerful waiting in anticipation of an era in cosmic time when, as Christ declares in the Book of Revelation, “I am making all things new”.
But are we humans ready for that time? Are we prayerfully and hopefully waiting for a destiny in which the very fabric of the universe will be renewed and rewoven so that sin, death, and suffering will no longer have the last word? As we move through this season of Advent, we not only reflect on the time when God took on flesh and became a human person some 2,000 years ago. We also set our eyes on that time when there will be, as St. John asserts, a New Heaven and a New Earth, where “there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things [will have] passed away”.2 Only when we make an effort to assume and embrace this spiritual posture of waiting, we will, along with Turritopsis dohrnii, join in creation’s groanings and longings for restoration.
He Moves
This article was originally published in the Fall ’08 issue of Revisions, Church and State.
Home, love remembered.
But fallenness spins loose, with news of a mind u n d o n e.
Hope for new bodies keep me going—
reflections on these past two years,
swirling with giddy anticipation of what’s to come…
more…
Review: WALL-E
This article was originally published in the Fall ’08 issue of Revisions, Church and State.
As the film opens, guiding the viewer through a medley of stars and galaxies, we hear a haunting rendition of “Put on your Sunday Clothes” from Hello, Dolly!. This appears to be a recovered memory fragment of an exuberant, foolish race of beings. And, not surprisingly, the words from this tune lend themselves to an unbridled, care-free spirit that seems innocent enough but hardly shrewd:
Review: Call + Response
This article was originally published in the Spring ’09 issue of Revisions, Christ and Mental Illness.
Believe it or not, when God speaks, things happen. Mind you, these things are never trivial: the creation of the universe and the constant sustaining of life are prime examples of the kinds of things that happen when God’s words shape and beautify reality. As His image bearers, our words also can have tremendous impact on the restoration of creation to God’s original purposes for it.
His Truth is Out There
This article was originally published in the Summer ’06 issue of Revisions, Has American Culture Killed Christ?
I absolutely love musicals, especially those with powerful messages that speak to the heart. Wicked is such a musical, and the last song before intermission always hits me hard. The song is entitled “Defying Gravity.” Elphaba, the soon to be Wicked Witch of the West, proclaims this poignant anthem with resolve and confidence. In the song she speaks of a profound change within her, one that is characterized by a “refusal to accept limits, because someone says they’re so.” She hopes to “defy gravity,” to overcome everything that has oppressed her and prevented her from truly being free. For me, this cannot resonate more intensely with my Christian worldview. After coming to faith, I realized that we all must free ourselves from ourselves, and not let us “be burdened again by a yoke of slavery” (Gal. 5:1, NIV). But wait a second. How exactly are we enslaved? You do not have to search your heart for long before you see stuff that is messy and distorted. You see a cute couple holding hands, and consequently a quick spell of jealously (hopefully only if you’re currently single) sets in. You get into a fight with your parents in which you are curt and disrespectful with absurd lines of reasoning that “justify” your stance. You are not really in the mood to greet someone you sort of know, so you pretend to be preoccupied and turn your eyes away abashedly.
I definitely can go on and on, but let us quickly get to the point: we are not the people we really want to be. Why? We are enslaved by temptation, guilt, and sin: all of which proceed from this tangled mess of a world in which we live. Since the Fall, I would argue that sin has run a dreadfully destructive and debilitating course. Sin has formed itself to be a complex exaction of “logical deception,” and falling into it seems natural – maybe even expected. Furthermore there are many levels through which sin has compounded and permeated, from the realm of the biochemical all the way up to our everyday interactions with others. For example, cancer has emerged as a deadly biological anomaly, our instinctual “eye-for-an-eye” mentality is almost unavoidable, and many times our urges to help others are circumvented by self-serving motives.
With all of that said, the picture appears to be grim and hopeless. When I re-discovered the Christian faith in my senior year of high school, I realized that it offers much hope, but not without stipulation. What I would like to fully convey to you, reader, is that Christianity does not consist of a restorative snap of the fingers, leading you to say: “I’ve been saved, my sins are forgiven, it’s all good, and I have nothing to worry about now.” In fact, the reality of it leans heavily toward the opposite direction. I would even argue that after becoming Christian, in some ways it is much more difficult to live out your life. For example, overcoming temptation and sin is something you never really thought about before, and now it is tirelessly in your field of vision.
Nevertheless, Christianity is wonderfully encapsulated by a radical and profound promise offered by the God-man who lived and walked on the earth some 2,000 years ago: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 NIV). This promise is made manifest in the grace God offers to all of mankind. God’s freely given grace for us, in my mind, is the greatest gift in human history. It should never be taken lightly or without careful investigation. This free gift of grace is biblically grounded, as apparent in the following two passages from Paul’s letter to the Romans: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:23–24, NIV) and “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 6:23). When I reflect on these passages, I always come back to the song Be My Escape by Relient K. There is a lyric that claims “the beauty of grace is that it makes life not fair.” Face it, for EVERYTHING that we have done wrong in our lives, do we really deserve a free gift of grace from a perfect and all-powerful God? Not really. Life is not fair then, because we can taste and experience this wondrous grace that was made known to us by and in Jesus Christ.
I came to know Christ in a rather unique way to say the least. I entered into His wisdom by means of science. This might seem a little paradoxical, but it definitely worked strange wonders for me. In high school I came to love science intensely; in physics I saw beauty in equations and derivations; in biology I witnessed the high-ordered intricacies of DNA transcription. To say the least, I was impressed and stunned at how much this universe is goal-oriented. It is replete with purpose and meaning, always moving forward with something in mind. But, in whose mind does this forward motion reside? Our minds are finite and defective, for we can never completely draw meaning nor give rise to it by moving our will or motives. There is something greater at work in our everyday experience, and as I have grown in faith, I have realized that God is the mind, purpose, meaning, and truth that I always searched for. Science pointed me to Him, but my faith has allowed me to know Him and love Him. Because of Him, I can physically tap my laptop keyboard this very instant, articulate the biochemical reactions between the neurons in my brain into thoughts and beliefs, and have you understand the assorted black patterns of ink on this page.
I will never forget one particular conversation I had with my high school AP Physics teacher. He was explaining to me that there is a passage in the Bible that strangely supports quantum physics. I’ll be honest with you: I was extremely skeptical that this could be possible, let alone true and tenable. Yet I remained patient when he showed me this exact excerpt: “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist” (Col. 1:16–18, NKJV). As my teacher explained to me, it would be perfectly fine (according to quantum physics) if I just ceased to exist. Because quantum physics deals with probabilities and uncertainties, anything becomes possible. I can fall through the chair in which I am currently sitting or if I lean against a wall, my hand could pass right through it. In fact, there is an extant likelihood that any of these events could transpire. But why don’t they?
“He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” Christ knows of every possible atomic arrangement and reaction that could ever happen. He could will any one of them to occur if he so wished, even one that would instantaneously halt my existence. But yet, I persist in my existence. I continue to grow, learn and love. You cannot control your very being, for only Christ has that power: He is the only one who keeps your motor running.
Yet, our motors tend to run on empty. Time and again our efforts will fail us, our faulty reasoning will blind us, and our hardened hearts will hurt others. Before Christ ascended into Heaven, he promised that he would send His Spirit, a Counselor who would speak into our stubborn natures to stir within us a willingness to turn to God. The Holy Spirit is the gasoline for our empty fuel tanks and defunct motors. He can fill our hearts with life, love, and joy. To receive Him and have Him effect real change in our lives, we must allow the word of God to operate within the deepest cores of our being: “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Heb. 4:12–13, NIV). The author of Hebrews makes significant claims here that cannot be overlooked: the word of God enters into the very fabric of our moral and spiritual frameworks. After the word of God does its job, the Holy Spirit comes to repair and stitch our frayed fabric. Our fallenness, through sanctification, will then slowly turn into a seamless tapestry that no longer knows sin or fear. This process is slow and arduous, characterized by suffering: “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Heb. 12: 11, ESV). Above all, we must realize that in our tribulations, God continually shapes us to grow in His image. This is certainly the grandest telos ever conceived, but its magnitude should never deter us. Rather, we should be humbled and grateful to be presented with such a radical possibility. How is it that a God so holy and powerful has made Himself so approachable? The answer lies in the blood shed by God Himself on the cross: “In [Christ] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses…making known to us the mystery of his will…to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth” (Eph. 1:7–10, ESV).
I certainly am not (and might never be) at a comfortable place in my faith journey; I continue to stumble only to have God pick me up, brush me off, and help me to continue growing in His love and truth. The only thing I do know is that I have come to know God in the past year in an intimate, profound, and life-changing manner. My life has greater meaning now, and I can comfortably pursue science knowing that when I find truth it is undoubtedly God’s truth. One of my favorite TV shows when I was younger was the X-Files. At the end of the introductory credits a message would flash reading: “the truth is out there.” Looking at that phrase now I would naturally substitute “His” for “the.” You see, reader, most times when I wake up every morning, I strive to sustain a refreshed spirit. I earnestly yearn to get to know God better. In that sense I will forever be His student because, well, His truth is out there.
Towards a Christian Epistemology
This article was originally published in the Fall ’06 issue of Revisions, Sex is Good.
How do we know that we know what we know? Scientists, philosophers, and theologians have posed this question for millennia, many times to no avail and with no definitive resolution. Why is this the case? Why is it so difficult for us humans to trust our proper knowledge and let our doubts just fall by the wayside? The answer to these questions cannot lie in ourselves, because with honest introspection we will find our thoughts, desires, goals, and motivations to be at best utterly capricious and at worst severely flawed. Now if this is true, we should terminate our efforts and forget about ever developing a sound theory of knowledge. But through the lens of the Christian gospel, the story does not end at this bleak juncture. The implications of a Christian epistemology are not only intellectually curious and significant, but also profoundly provocative for one’s identity and worldview.
From the Blogosphere... Grace Undone
This article was originally published in the Spring ’07 issue of Revisions, Can Technology Save Us?
This is the correlation of salvation and love; don’t drop your arms, I’ll guard your heart, with quiet words I’ll lead you in and out of the dark.” –Anberlin, The Unwinding Cable Car
“God sometimes does His work with gentle drizzle, not storms. Drip. Drip. Drip.” –John Newton, Amazing Grace (2007)
How horrifically greedy we can sometimes be! We repeatedly hurl our avaricious hands into the heavens, expecting God to cater to every last bit of our fleshly desires. Rather than waiting in Him and trusting that He will provide in His time, we rush in prematurely and go after what we think is best for ourselves in the moment.
I vaguely remember that during one of my earlier birthdays I grew so antsy and impatient that I frantically opened one of my presents a week early. My dad later found out, and to say the least, he was very disappointed because I took pleasure in receiving the gift without waiting for him. I remember that I felt really shameful and terrible afterwards. The same is true with our Heavenly Father. Grace becomes undone if we greedily seek and unpack it without waiting for Him to give it to us at His appointed time.
So, what do we do then in the meantime? We wait, we remain quiet, and we listen. He will guard our hearts and minds if only we let Him (Philippians 4:7).
Heart, mind, shut up! Let Him in. Listen for His soft drizzle, ever constant, ever present.
Looking for: [insert desired object here]
This article was originally published in the Spring ’07 issue of Revisions, Can Technology Save Us?
Facebook.com, the addiction-forging time vacuum that we all love in secret, packs a multitude of tantalizing features that warrant censure or praise, sometimes both. However, I would like to focus on something with seemingly less controversy: the “Looking for” category in a user’s profile. Now of course, some people choose options in this category that reflect exactly what their “looking for.” Others, on the other hand, experiment with their preferences with vain hopes of fulfilling them in future social (or maybe sexual) exchanges.
A Much Needed Reconsideration
This article was originally published in the Winter ’05 issue of Revisions, Is there a Place for Christ in the Classroom?
In this ever-changing world, teeming with technological advancement and enterprise, I earnestly ask this question: how do ideas such as Jesus Christ or The Trinity readily affect people’s lives? This question is not easily answered because many believe that religion solely belongs in antiquity. Wasn’t religion originally developed to explain natural phenomena and the human condition before the advent of modern science? Honestly, who needs Jesus Christ today? He was crucified 2,000 years ago; he cannot possibly make any difference in the lives we lead today. Moreover, Christianity has bred nothing but trouble, corruption, and suffering throughout history. Now some think that they are justified in making such assertions, but I want to argue that they have been severely misinformed. I propose to carefully inspect Christianity from historical, scientific, and philosophical lenses. My intention is not to offer Christianity as the final say in all theological matters. However, I argue that Christianity has historically been misconstrued, and that today it is of great importance to revisit it with an open mind and fresh perspective.