Winning Words 5/18/11
“There are no accidents—there is only some purpose that we haven’t yet understood.” (Deepak Chopra) The physicist, Stephen Hawking, has been making headlines lately, with comments like, “Science Makes God Unnecessary.” I recently saw someone interview Hawking. I wonder if his comments relate to a search for “purpose” that might be going on in his mind. We all search, don’t we? ;-) Jack

FROM DRJH: I like this one a lot! I think science makes God necessary actually, as science is based on observation and has limits. We cannot truly "know" what we cannot see or test in science. Whereas God cannot be directly observed. I used to think of it this way... Science is the telescope that lets us observe and explain the natural world around us. God is the what lies beyond the view of the scope. It is certainly there... but lies beyond human vision. But the science only makes sense because of the context around it (God). Does that make any sense at all? FROM JACK: Faith is so elusive that it's hard grasp it without saying, "I believe; help my unbelief."

FROM TAMPA SHIRL: Yes, but they must not know or have not experienced the power of prayers. FROM JACK: First of all, I believe in the power of prayer. As I pray, I say: "Thy will be done," not "my will be done."

FROM ST IN MICHIGAN: Excellent thoughts to start my day with. Thanks for sharing FROM JACK: Regarding your comment on "thoughts," here's something I learned a long time ago: "Though man a thinking being is defined, Few use the grand prerogative of mind. How few think justly of the thinking few! How many never think, who think they do!" (Jane Taylor)

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY: Just my simple opinion but the people who say they don't believe in God seem to use His name a lot. They spend a lot of time trying to "prove" He's not real. Why would they spend anytime at all on that theory. Truly I believe they use Him as a challenge and are really kind of threatened by His power. God is working on them and the people around them. Just my Wednesday morning thoughts. FROM JACK: After watching and listening to the interview of Stephen Hawking, I came a way wondering...What would my thinking be if I were sitting in his chair. It's frustrating to try to know the unknowable.

FROM MOLINER CF: Life is one big search. Some things are just easier to find. FROM JACK: When I was "working," I conducted a search party every Sunday morning.

FROM PH IN MINNESOTA: Hawking is surely an interesting fellow. and yes, i think he may be searching. FROM JACK: Everyone with a curious mind is searching. I withhold criticism of Stephen, because I have a curious mind, too.

FROM CL IN SANTA BARBARA: I love the concept of purpose. Also the fact that we don't always understand.
Chopra advocates some worthwhile ideas . . .According to Business Week, one of Chopra's main messages is that by ridding oneself of negative emotions and developing intuition by listening to signals from the body, health can be improved. According to Chopra, slowing down or reversing the aging of the mind through his methods can increase one's lifespan up to the age of 120 years. As a result of his writings and lectures in this area, he is thought by some to be "one of the pre-eminent leaders of the mind-body-spirit movement".
Trouble is it's all temporal. One may live to 120 but that's all there is according to Chopra. How disappointing to see smart guys like him and Hawking missing the point that the only Purpose that counts is eternal. FROM JACK: I asked my doctor about "knowledge" yesterday. He made a small circle with his thumb and forefinger and said, "This is how much we know about this world and us."

FROM SH IN MICHIGAN: I used to wonder if my physicist husband, spending so much of his time with the equations and big machines of the lab, was actually looking for God. He certainly seemed to be searching for the grand "truth" of all matter. After he didn't get the job he wanted and had to go in another direction, which incidentally involved a growing involvement with the church, I no longer wonder so much about what my husband is looking for. He seems pretty content and peaceful and fulfilled and happy also now too with how he is spending his time. He did so enjoy research!!!!! What God has/is creating is so fabulous!!!!! FROM JACK: You have given a perfect example. When a door closes, a window opens. I thought I knew a certain "purpose" for my life, and when a door closed, a new and better opportunity presented itself. So....we think we know it all? How foolish.

FROM BLAZING OAKS: I really cannot fathom just what Deepak Chopra means by this...is it like the thought in the book God Winks, where the there are not coincidentals? We certainly cannot know the "grand design" of things that befall us, but Jesus assured us "Everything works together for good, to those that love Him, and are called according to His purpose..." With Atheists putting up billboards with persuasive Anti-God messages, we are aware that not everyone believes in, or feels the need for, God, in their lives. Dr. Werner Bon Braun had an interesting article years ago, in which he expressed his belief in eternal life, as his experience as a Scientist (and a Rocket Scientist at that!) had taught him that "nothing disappears with out a trace...all creation knows is transformation, never extinction: even the tiniest iota of matter survives in some form. He said "Science has quite a surprise for the skeptics!" I loved that article and his affirmation of faith.
FROM JACK: The "searchers" that I'm writing about today are those who have not had the same experiences that you have had, so Jesus and God mean different things to them. What we all have in common is that we would like to know "the reason" behind things and events.

FROM TS IN MICHIGAN: It takes everyone to make the bell curve look like a bell. FROM JACK: Let's take a poll on whether or not there's agreement on what Chopra says and see if the results come in the shape of a bell. (x) I agree.