Entries in Life

It is quite possible to look at the universe and come to a conclusion that there is no God. I have always marveled at this … sometimes wondering why it is not other than it is. And yet I am convinced that it is in the very humility of God that things are the way they are. It would have been quite possible to have walked by the cross of Christ and assumed there was just one more Jew dying on a cross. — Fr. Stephen

This really struck me. Christian Appologetics seems to take a materialistic, rationalistic approach: “These things are absolutely true and, as a result, you must believe.” But if we are honest, there is no such proof. There is no one thing that I can point to that will convince anyone that what I believe is true. And my experience with God isn’t going to satisfy anyone who chooses not to believe.

On Monday, Eric asked me why I thought I would need to use a consistent route to get back to 20 miles today. Today I went out at 6:30 in the morning to ride for an hour and half over that 20 mile ride that I used to do and I thought of the answer. Like the Mennonite man that passed me by, it is easier to compete against yourself if you are covering the same ground every day. You can push yourself to go a little faster and get done a little quicker. If you have a Heart Rate Monitor (which I plan on getting), you know that today’s readings are comparable to yesterday’s readings. Also, less thought is involved in the process. Fewer decisions (“Turn this way?” “Turn back now?”) mean I have time (like the woman Nathan ran into) to pray. I try to use the Jesus Prayer. It works something like this: (Inhale)Lord Jesus (Exhale)have mercy (Inhale)on me (Exhale)a sinner. Of course, you can tell by the fact that I was thinking about Eric’s question and coming up with answers for it that I am easily distracted from prayer.