I live in an age of wonders. I may live in the most amazing age the human
race has yet to experience. And, even
though many analysts would tell us that this may be the best the human race
will ever have it (dwindling resources, climate change and population
pressure), I believe the outlook for the human race can be and is as rosy as
ever. If you review media reports from
any age before now you will find that there have always been essays about the
grim outlook for the human race. It is
part of our nature to be vigilant and notice threats to our survival (and we
have always faced them in some form).
This also means that every society has seen challenges in their future
that can be interpreted as the end of the world, or at least as severely
altering our standard of living. This
ability to recognize the threats to our existence, may also be our greatest
talent. It is just this skill that
allows us to prepare in advance, and plan and work our way through or around
the potholes and roadblocks in our future.
Am I suggesting that we do not face life or at
least standard of living threatening challenges right now? Certainly not. We have a huge task ahead in discovering how to live within the
limits of this planet while providing an acceptable standard of living for all
God’s children around the world. Our
resources need to be managed more carefully and responsibly, our environment
needs fewer assaults on its integrity, and we must reach a stable world
population (or consider that a greater standard of living could be had by all
if we stabilized at a lower level than today).
However, I do believe that we are also equipped
as well or better than ever to meet the challenges we face. We live in an age of wonders. Our understanding of the operation of our
world is comprehensive, reliable and powerful.
And, in many areas it is about to explode with possibilities. Through the investigation of the tools of
science we have developed theories that successfully explain and describe most
of our physical world. These theories
predict the future of buildings, materials and other structures we create in an
accurate manner. They have allowed us
to advance from walking and horsepower to fast motorized transportation, even
to leave the ground in flight, and leave our planet’s atmosphere and explore
its natural satellite (our moon). The
latest revolution (I will not suggest it is the last) in our understanding is
in the biochemistry of living things.
We still have much to understand and master in the structure and
function of plants, animals and particularly ourselves. This is not a failure of science, but rather
an example of the complexity of living systems. And, through the brute application of scientific principles and
large numbers of research personnel, life is slowly but surely revealing her
secrets to us.
Our successful treatments in medicine today are
many. We no longer suffer and die from
most infectious organisms through the application of vaccines and
antibiotics. Worn out skeletal body parts
can in many cases be replaced to provide return to mobility to people crippled
by their failure. We have artificial
skin to help burn victims heal. Crude
artificial hearts are even available to help sustain persons waiting for a
heart transplant (the first of which was completed in the 1960s with poor
success, but is now performed routinely around the world with long lived
patient results). Our understanding of
the physical science of materials has allowed us to develop methods to look
inside the body without the need to surgically cut them open (x-rays,
ultrasound and MRI).
We have only understood the chemical code for
our genetic makeup (the structure and function of DNA) for about 60 years. In this time we discovered the coding for
the amino acid structure of the proteins that make up all living cells. We discovered the codes that make a gene
active or dormant. We discovered how to
cut open DNA and remove a gene or add a new one. We have discovered how to modify the DNA coding in a gene to
produce new protein structures. And,
just recently scientists (and I will use the word creation here) created the
first artificial bacteria. They removed
a bacteria’s DNA and replaced it with artificial DNA (created chemically in a
laboratory). Granted the original cell
was a daughter of a natural cell, but using our instructions it created
generations of new copies of itself.
Those copies were also able to grow and replicate. Dare I say that we have created life?
Many of our treatments and therapies today are
crude and excessive. Our understandings
of much of biology are still primitive.
However, research today is revealing important information that will
lead to the next revolution in medicine being much more precise treatments that
will produce little or no side-effects as they target the bacterium, virus or
cancer cells only.
In the early 1900s scientists began to suspect
that the universe was a truly strange and bizarre place. As we discovered and strengthened our theory
of atoms, we also began to discover that the rules that govern our world at the
macro scale (the size of thing we can see and deal with) did not apply to the
world of atoms (the world of the nano-scale).
To explain this more completely I will need to teach you some atomic
physics and chemistry. So here comes an
introduction to atoms, Atoms 101.
Today atoms are thought to be made up of three
elementary particles (small bits of the stuff of everything). These particles are also made up of smaller
particles called quarks (which are even more bizarre in their nature and
behaviour; don’t even get me started talking about neutrinos). Fortunately we do not need to discuss quarks
today for the demonstrations I would like you to see. These three elementary particles make up the structure of the
atom that many of you were taught or see in depictions of atoms in the
media. Every atom has two main regions;
a central massive part surrounded by a cloud of one of the particles (the
electrons). The electrons are so light
that it would take almost 2000 of them to add up to the mass of one of the
other particles. The other two types of
particles have equal mass and reside in the central part of the atom we call
the nucleus. These two types of
particles are protons and neutrons. How
many of each of the particles there are in an atom of a specific element (one
type of matter) is rigidly defined. The
number of protons in an atoms nucleus defines the type of matter. Hydrogen gas has only one proton in its atom
nucleus, and because of this it is considered the simplest element. This also determines how many electrons the
atom will have. Now we need to
understand some of the electronic structure of matter. Protons and electrons have electrical
charge. As a matter of fact, it is
electrons flowing through wires that we call electricity. Protons have a single positive charge and
electrons have a single negative charge (opposite and equal). Protons and electrons, because of their
charge, are like heterosexual people.
They are attracted to their opposite and repelled by themselves. For hydrogen gas to be neutral, the one
positive charge in its nucleus must be balanced by a single orbiting
electron. How do we know that elements
are neutral in their natural state?
Because you don’t get electrocuted by touching them. You pick up extra electrons when you walk
across a carpet in your stockings in the winter. You find this out when you then go to touch a door knob (that
spark is the extra electrons jumping from you to the knob). The last particle to be discovered (in the
1930s) was the neutron. It is called
this because it is electrically neutral, which also made it the hardest to
discover. This particle can be found in
the nucleus, and the number there follows some complicated rules. We don’t need to discuss those rules today
to understand my examples. However,
they add to the mass of the atom, and allow elements to come in more than one
type.
Your body is made up of organic compounds (they
contain the element carbon). Carbon
naturally exists in three types; carbon with mass 12 (99% of all carbon),
carbon with mass 13 (1% of all carbon) and carbon with mass 14 (very small
amount and the principle of carbon 14 dating of old, once living things). This means that 99% of your body contains
carbon 12 compounds, 1% is carbon 13 compounds and a small amount is carbon 14
compounds (you are radioactive!). That
is all we need to discuss about the role of the neutrons.
Now for the bizarre parts. Where is this orbiting cloud of
electrons? For a hydrogen atom (the
simplest kind) the one electron is orbiting at a radius approximately 10,000
times the radius of the nucleus (the proton).
This is a really big number, what does it really mean? Here is an example. If the nucleus was about 1 meter in
diameter, how far away would the electron be orbiting? West Edmonton Mall. What does this mean about the nature of the
atom if the mass is contained in only 1 meter, but the volume extends out to
West Edmonton Mall? It means that the
atom is mostly empty space (greater than 99.99999%). This means that this lectern is mostly empty space and my hand is
mostly empty space (you are mostly empty space). This means that I should be able to push my hand through the
lectern. Why can’t I do it? Take your index finger from each hand and
press the tips together. Are they
touching? I don’t think so. Why not?
Why couldn’t I push the empty space of my hand through the empty space
of this lectern? What are the outsides
of all atoms made of? Electrons! What do electrons do when they get close to
each other? They repel each other. Thus my hand electrons prevented me from
pushing through the electrons of the lectern.
Why did I suggest your fingers are not touching? Because we know how much energy it takes to
make two electrons collide with each other (this is done in high energy
particle accelerators like the large Hadron super collider in
Switzerland). We are not strong enough
to push two electrons into each other.
Our brains have learned to interpret the repulsion as touching.
Another point to make you think. What do you see? Do you see me? What you
see is the light that is reflecting off all my exterior electrons. Your brain has learned to interpret that
reflected light as me.
One last example of the bizarre nature of the
atomic world and I will return to the theme of this meditation. We know where to look for electrons orbiting
the atom. This is a picture of one of
the types of volume of space around the nucleus where an electron can
reside. Notice it looks like two
balloons almost touching end to end.
The black dot in the gap in the center represents the nucleus. Notice that there is a gap between the two
parts of this volume. This is space
where the electron cannot exist (neither in the gap or in the nucleus). How does a single electron get from one lobe
to the other? We know that when there
is one electron that it will be found in both lobes, but never in the gap?
Some of you may be thinking that this is all too
bizarre to be true. It is so different
from the macro world that we live in, how can it possibly be correct? We know that we occupy space and have
mass. We don’t see things disappear as
they move from one place to another. It
is all just too bizarre. However, we
know it is true because it is the description of matter that allowed us to
invent the CD player and DVD player that you use. We know that neutron stars (where all the empty space has been
removed) contain matter where one teaspoon of it would weigh hundreds of
thousands of tons. It is true, because
so far it cannot be proven to be wrong.
Now, as promised, I would like to return to the
theme of this meditation. How can I
believe? With what we know and are
learning about our world and universe, how can I believe in God? Science does not need God. Through the application of the principles of
science we have managed to discover much of the process of creation of the
universe, and many of the principles that govern its daily existence. And, I believe that our continued
application of science will bring us ever closer to a complete understanding
(dare I say of the mind of God?). I
believe that this is a major reason why many people today do not see the need
for God.
But now I must confess that I didn’t give you
the true title of this meditation. It
is really “How can I not believe?”.
When I witness the first breaths and cries of a newborn baby, how can I
not believe? When I see the beauty of
visual art, music and drama in our society, the inspiration of our creative
communities, how can I not believe?
When natural disaster strikes and caring people from all over the planet
rush there to help those injured and left homeless, how can I not believe? When I see an individual stand up to a
government that does not respect basic human rites, how can I not believe in a
God who has promised to be with us through the good times and the bad? Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, Joan of Arc,
Francis of Assisi? How can I not believe?
Unfortunately, what many scientists do not
understand, or will not admit, is that there are some things that science
cannot investigate. There are questions
that are beyond the realm of scientific answer. God is not testable by science. God is beyond science. This ultimately means that God is a matter
of faith. There is not scientific
evidence that demands the existence of God.
There, however also is no scientific evidence that can prove the
non-existence of God. Science cannot
explain the love of a parent for a child.
Just because we can understand creation does
not make it any less glorious. I think
what many people today have trouble with is seeing the need to believe in
God. They look at the Bible stories of
creation and compare it to what science can tell us and feel that Christianity
is not relevant. However, the creation
stories in the Bible are just that.
Most religious scholars today believe that this is our cultural story
about the creation of our universe (one of many that early cultures have
produced). And, it is only a small
portion of the message of the Bible.
And what are the most important messages in the creation stories? God created the universe, and God saw that
it was good. God defies our attempts to
define God, to put God in our own little box.
The most important messages in the Bible are in
the rest of it. Messages about how God
intends us to use this planet and treat each other. God asks us to care for creation and live in harmony with our
environment. We are directed to love
our neighbours as ourselves. We are
directed to forgive the hurts of both friends and enemies. Jesus lived out these directions as an
example for us. As Christians we try to
follow God’s wishes and the example of Jesus.
And in return, God promises to be there with us when we most need God’s
love and support.
Scientific knowledge does not make me arrogant,
but rather humble in the presence of God’s awesome creation. A baby’s first cry, a Rocky Mountain
sunrise, reconciliation of enemies, the unreserved, undying love of God.
How can I not believe?!!
Now I would like to close with what I
believe. Please join with me in reading
together our United Church creed found on page 918 of Voices United.
Chris Meintzer, August 15, 2010