Our God is awesome!

Monthly Manna came to a close with December 14, 2011 as the last gathering for this South Region Pastoral Council event.

Fr. Eugene Tremie, pastor of St. Marcellus Church in Rynella will be the final speaker. While attendance has decreased significantly over the past year, we are happy to report that since Monthly Manna began in February 16, 2005 this ecumenical lunchtime speaker series has served over 4000 Christians with over 80 gatherings and 75 speakers. Praise the Lord! We can definitely call this project a success!

Fr. Tremie detailed the relationship between religion and science. Today with the electron microscope and the Hubble Telescope we are able to view the smallest atoms and look into areas of space that were never possible. And just what do we see? We see order, pattern, design, and purpose in the universe – in the world God created. Edward Fischer in his book entitled, Everybody Steals From God, tells us we see science revealing the face of God. Something is there – in everything that was put in place from the beginning and had been operating eons. In the 20th century, science and technology has revealed to us, what was previously hidden.

Consider the painstaking patience of a cameraman setting up to capture and record wildlife. Today with the use of a high-speed camera we are able to “see” what the human eye was unable to detect. We are not only able to capture the Hummingbird’s flight but we are capable of studying the flight pattern of its wings.

Without a doubt, because of the impact of the scientific mind-set, the scientific paradigm, the loss of wonder at the awesomeness of creation, begins at an earlier age. The impression is given that we know virtually everything there is to know.

It may be just a wishful thinking but wouldn’t it be fantastic if we are entering a new era in the relationship between science and religion. For years now we have sent our children to places of higher education only to have science deconstruct the foundations of their faith. Shall we dare to hope that science and professors of science will show a new respect for the faith of young people? Perhaps because of interplay of truths revealed and discovered by each discipline.

Antony Flew, a British philosopher born in 1923, found God after six decades of atheism. In a book written with Roy Varghese, Flew tells the story of his discovery of the divine. The title of the book, There Is A God, with the subtitle, How the World’s Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind. Ray Varghese who teamed with Flew is the author of The Wonder of the World. Nobel prize winner Charles Townes says, “Varghese explores the basic and critical questions we face concerning this remarkable and wonderful universe. Why are we here? Where are we going? This is no doctrinaire treatise, but a sensitive, profound and clear discussion of the important issues of the universe and our existence, including questions, answers and uncertainties. It is written with a deep understanding of philosophy, spirituality and the complex science involved.”

Our God is an awesome God!