I started out by stating that God can and does speak to us. I know that this raises all sorts of problems, perhaps the most common of which is the criticism that many people who, by all measures, do not at all appear “godly” … think of some of those famous televangelists who led deeply corrupted lives, firmly state that they have heard from God. But, I’m not going to go there now. Maybe another time.

My premise, of course, is that there is a God who knows us and loves us, without condition. That this God wants to be in an intimate relationship with us. That this God knows every thought we’ve ever had and is aware of everything we’ve ever done. That this God understands that in order for us to have an intimate relationship, we must communicate. Back and forth. It’s a two-way street.

Furthermore, there are all sorts of clues as to what we can do to help foster this communication. I’ve already mentioned some.

But, for now, let’s turn our attention to a major obstacle to cultivating that relationship.

I’m talking here about noise.

All of us know of many, many pleasant sounds. Beautiful sounds. Sounds that can strike us deeply. Perhaps they’re from nature or from certain musical instruments and remarkable voices. I, for one, can be completely captivated by some of these things.

But, honestly, I don’t respond in the same way when I hear the word, “noise.”

To me, noise is not a desirable thing. Yes, it’s sound but it’s sound that we don’t receive as pleasant. To me, it can act to obscure other things that really appeal to us. (Ok, I’ll make an exception for “white noise” which is really just constant sound that is designed to mask other sounds that disrupt us.) Of course, one person’s idea of good sound can be another person’s idea of noise. Sound and noise are really just the same thing when it comes to physics, chemistry and biology but they’re not received the same way based upon our motivations.

For our purposes here, in order for us to increase our opportunities to hear God, we need to deal with the noise problem.

But, before diving in, perhaps we should expand our concept of noise beyond the scope of simple sound. For our purposes, let’s consider it as a form of distraction that invades our consciousness and diverts us from a thing of intention. For instance, the incessant loud arguing next door can certainly interfere with our appreciation of a Chopin Nocturne. The gas-operated leaf-blower at 7am can interfere with our desire to sleep in a bit longer on a Saturday morning.

I remember, as an undergraduate, learning the rather simple lesson that if I really wanted to actually “study” something (as opposed to sort of using half of my brain to skim through, highlighting stuff that I thought looked important), I needed to leave the busy and loud dorm and head to the quietest part of the campus library, which was probably in some obscure location in the basement. On a Saturday morning. 🙂

Much later, I taught a program to undergraduates at a local university and emphasized that the mind can only process one thing at a time, like a light switch flipping furiously back and forth. In other words, concentration is a pretty good skill to learn and noise is its enemy.

It will come as no surprise to anyone that, in this age of hyper information coming in from all directions, that our attention spans are fraying away. Sound bits, tweets, non-stop video and audio and so forth just add to the cacophony that also includes all of the other demands placed upon our attention. Jobs, families, political inclinations. The list can be nearly endless.

And, we only have so much bandwidth to deal with this.

It’s a wonder that even for faithful Christians that there is space to send the prayer requests I mentioned in my last post. (We usually remember God when things don’t go as we’d like and we want his help.)

So (and this is a simple question), how can we hear God amidst all of this? How can we even expect to hear him? No wonder people want the electronic billboard to light up with the answer. Now, that’s something we could identify with!

It’s not only a simple question, the answer is equally simple. We have to learn to listen. And, the only way we can listen (especially to an invisible God), is to get away from the noise.

There should be a 12 Step Program for all of us (I include myself) who struggle with the dominance of noise.

Here’s a place where those raised in more Eastern cultures (Asia for instance) have had more cultural practices that seek to quiet the mind. I suspect Brother Lawrence practiced silence for most or all of his day.

Now, this is not to say that we need to leave all of our westernized habits and interests behind. I firmly believe that’s not necessary. However, we do need to take an honest look into how much we’d like to hear God and how we can best go about it.

My experience with this is not something I’m particularly proud of. But, and this is a big “but,” I know that I’ve grown in my capacity to listen for and to God as the years are going by. Some might say, “Goodness, Brad, you’re retired! You’re no longer working those crazy hours and under all of that stress. You’re just not facing what you’d call a huge amount of “noise,” that surrounded your life before retirement!”

And, they’d be right. Up to a point.

In fact, however, I began training in shutting out the noise and opening up my ears (so to speak) long before I retired. And, in many ways, I have just as much opportunity to live with noise now as I had before.

So, how do we reduce the noise in our lives while simultaneously opening up to God’s voice, in its various manifestations? And what, exactly, are those manifestations?

To be continued.

For any of us who are at least a little intrigued about the concept of hearing God, I think it’s a good starting point to consider a thing we generally call prayer.

Yes, prayer.

Prayer is a funny thing. You hear the word all of the time. A lot of people pray, or so they say. Even some of those who don’t really believe in God, admit they can pray.

Perhaps you’ve heard the familiar adage that “there are no atheists in foxholes.”With the terrible explosive shells raining all around and life hanging by the thinnest of threads, “God, please …”Or, “God, I promise that if you’ll only … I’ll …”

I’ve heard the most common type of prayer referred to as “arrow prayers.” You get the picture: We’re here on normal earth and have a very specific need or, in fact, a whole quiver of needs. We pull out our trusty bow, select the specific arrow, which is really a plea or request, and launch it heavenward.

When I’ve been in group discussions about prayer and this characterizing of the practice comes up, I’ve imagined millions and millions of arrows launching continuously around the globe, tiny little missile-like things, seeking to escape earth’s gravity. Never ceasing. Each carrying an individual request or plea, somehow relying on the hope that they will be captured by someone of great power and, accordingly, acted upon with favor.

It would be a mistake for me to imply that I’m making light of this. These are real attempts to relate to God, the God who we may believe has the power to make things better for us or those who we pray for.

Ipray these prayers. Most Christians I know pray these prayers. Some people who would not self-describe as either Christian or as “religious,” pray these prayers.

Of course, what we are all doing is either believing in or hoping for a supernatural being or reality of some sort to help us with our circumstances. And, it’s fascinating to consider what we pray for!

We pray for miraculous healing when the experts have said there is no hope. We pray for divine intervention to resolve the terrible circumstances our children are in. We pray for peace amidst violence and horror. We pray for the safe return of loved ones who travel afar. We pray that we, or someone close to us, will finally be able to get a good job because it’s been so long and so hard.

We also pray for good parking spots, that one will open up right in front of us. We pray we will find our wallet or car keys.

We pray that we will be more patient, less angry, less judgmental.

“Please, God …”

I dearly remember my first prayer. If you’re not aware, I grew up in a non-religious house. I didn’t enter a church until college and our family certainly didn’t pray. God was pretty much a foreign concept.

So it happened in the 10^th grade, in the middle of the year, and I was in 2^nd period Geometry with a rather severe older and never-married teacher named Miss Hurst. While I had spent my elementary school years considered something of a math prodigy, unfortunately I’d gone off course, largely due to some pretty poor teachers, and had become disenchanted with math.

On this particular day, Miss Hurst was roaming her roost and, to my dismay, directed me to go to the chalkboard in front of the class and produce the theorem and related proof that had been part of our homework. For whatever reason (I take full responsibility for my failure), I had not done the work and walked to the board with slumped shoulders, feeling her gaze and the gaze of the thirty some other students upon my back. There was complete silence as I stood in front of the board. No encouragement from my teacher. No exit strategy. My goose was cooked. I just stood there, defeated.

And then, I prayed. I don’t know who or what I prayed to. It just came out as a kind of pathetic plea for help. “Please!!”

And, at that very instant, the fire alarm bell rang.

I jerked to attention, feeling bewildered, filing out of the room with the teacher and other students while in a kind of daze, adding as I went another plea. That the fire drill would last until the end of the period. Which it did.

Chalk one up for an early proof in the existence of God.

So, why am I bringing this kind of thing up in a piece which ostensibly is about hearing God?

I believe the short answer is that we’re really talking about communicating with God and that “arrow prayers” are a common way we naturally communicate. “Here I am, Lord. I have something to say!”

In a very real sense, these are examples of one-way communication. Which, if we really think about it, kind of gives a back seat to the reverse flow: That is, God talking back.

We’ll get to a discussion of how God talks back but let’s first ask, “What’s the point in communicating in the first place?”

I’ve heard from some really wise people about this over the years. And, I’ve grown in experience that reflects a lot of this wisdom.

To put it simply, God wants to be in relationship with us. And, relationship is obviously a two-way street. It takes two to dance. At least a dance with love as the music.

We can all imagine a real-world scenario when one person in a two-person couple does all of the talking, always asking for favors. It sort of defeats the idea of balance, of a healthy give-and-take that helps the relationship to grow and blossom.

None of this is to mean that God doesn’t want us to share our requests and concerns with him. Our fears and anxieties. The deepest pleas of our hearts. In fact, he wants us to share everything with him. (Remember Jesus’ first commandment?). Our joys and sorrow. Our successes and failures. They can be big ones such as asking for medical healing or they can be smaller ones like asking for a parking space. He doesn’t care so much about the object of our plea but, instead, the fact that we’re seeking him out. And, let’s remember, he being God and all, he already knows everything about our thoughts! Nothing we ask is a surprise.

(Now I will say here that I’m not going into a discussion of why certain prayers “work” and certain ones don’t. I’m not going to address free will or predestination or what it means for God to be outside of time when we’re in it. While those things are related to this overall topic, it’s just too much to engage here.)

Instead, let’s look at prayer as the way we commune with God. The way we interact with God. The way that we acknowledge his tremendous presence and influence in our lives.

One of the earliest influences upon me in this direction came from a tiny little book by a 17^th century friar named Brother Lawrence, entitled, Practice of the Presence of God. I used to keep it by my desk at work, so I would be reminded of its truths. With beautiful humility, Brother Lawrence described a framework that was basically non-stop praying. But, not praying in the sense I’ve been describing. It was more a continuous acknowledgment of the fact that God is always present and such a realization is completely transformational.

I’m no Brother Lawrence but I get his point and reflect upon it fairly frequently.

Jesus modeled a life of prayer during his public ministry. But he actually instructed his disciples on it by clearly teaching the most famous prayer of all time.That prayer begins with

“Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

I have written about this entire prayer (these words and those that follow) before. But, let’s just pause and take a quick look at this starting point. I promise it will eventually lead back to this thing about hearing God.

Without going into depth, what is commonly referred to as The Lord’s Prayer, begins with a vivid declaration of who God is and how he is involved in every aspect of creation, down to the minutest of details in our own mortal lives. In other words, he is holy, he is ever-present, and he will get his will done, one way or the other.

Taking that a step further, when we speak and mean these words, we deeply recognize who it is we’re talking to and where we stand in the scheme of things. This is the first truth about prayer. Do we know who we’re talking to?

One of the most common techniques that some Christians use to help focus their prayer life is to use a system that is contained in the acronym ACTS, which stands for Adoration,Confession, Thanksgivingand Supplication. Briefly, that means the period of “prayer” begins with a time of praising and honoring God for who he truly is. This is then followed by a reverential admission that we fall very short of leading the kind of life he seeks for us, making poor choices on a frequent basis. The third piece is to acknowledge the bounty that surrounds us; the gratitude we have for so much in our own lives and the lives of others. The final piece involves those “arrow” requests: Pleas for our own needs and the needs of others.

Of course, there are other methods of prayer, such as meditating on a phrase or even just sitting in silence, letting the mind go but, once remembered, bringing it back to focus on some specific thing about who God is and who we are in relationship with him.

So, the bottom line is this. What we can call prayer is really a way to connect with God and that begins with the recognition that we are in a relationship. A real relationship. The most important relationship of all.

And, a funny thing happens when we stop doing all of the talking. When we shut off the noise that invades our consciousness from seemingly every direction. When we seek not just solutions to many of life’s real problems and challenges; instead seeking God just for the sake of seeking God, he frequently shows up.

There are a great many instances in scriptures when prophets such as Isaiah, and even Jesus, ask us whether we have “the eyes to see and the ears to hear.” Or, merely instruct us with the likes of, “knock and it shall be opened. And, seek and you shall find.”

If we want to hear God, we need to know how to knock and what it is that we’re looking for. Whether the knocking is born from pure desperation or from a genuine interest to know God, both our heads and our hearts need to be in the game. If we want to know who and what is on the other side of the door, all we have to do is ask.

We’ll see where that leads next time.

Yesterday morning, I had a long leisurely visit with my friend, Hoan, over coffee and a light breakfast. Hoan was born in Vietnam some 65 years ago and you pronounce his name like the Hispanic “Juan.” He and I get together every few months and have been doing so for probably seven or eight years. We normally have a free-ranging discussion about life, our families, our jobs, our travels and our common faith. Hoan is a Christian who speaks English, Vietnamese and French and has one of the most remarkable stories I’ve ever heard. He is a humble man with a huge smile, who by all measures, should not have survived the fall of South Vietnam, nor his eventual horrific escape in a small boat into the South China Sea. Compared with Hoan, I’ve never had any problems.

Among the many the topics we touched upon in our visit was that of hearing God. Interestingly, this same topic came up a week ago in another discussion within a larger group of about 30 people. It’s certainly not a topic that graces your normal conversation, say in usual social settings. “Hey, has anyone here heard God recently? Yeah? Well, what did he say?”

Some of you of a certain age may remember the movie, “Oh God!”with John Denver as the everyman supermarket manager and George Burns as God. I really enjoyed that movie. Who wouldn’t? The simple premise is that God (the elderly and wonderful Burns) decided to actually speak with Denver and even show up physically. Denver, of course, didn’t buy that it was actually God speaking with him until Burns proved it in some hilarious ways. Then, Denver wanted to know why God was talking with him, just a regular guy, to which Burns basically said, “why not?” Furthermore, Denver was to be his messenger to the world. This was not received well by Denver. Not at all. Talk about being reluctant, but God couldn’t have cared less, basically responding, “You’re my guy and you’re on my team. Get over it!”

Of course, it’s quite an entertainment industry that seeks to show how God communicates with mortals. Movies and TV shows. Angels acting out all sorts of scenarios. I even saw mention that there’s one new show where a devil and angel are basically in cahoots. Whatever.

But, when you cut away the fluff and get down to it, do we really believe God speaks and, if so, what’s the deal? How, when, why, and so forth?

Now, I’ve read books on this and have been in more than a few discussions so this is not a new topic. It’s also not an easy one to unpack.

Hoan and I were speaking about this, in the context of how or whether God answers prayers and in what way he gives us direction, especially when we’re facing complicated stuff.

I am not of the school of God as Genie in the Bottle. Apparently, in the Vietnam of the early 1960s, there were no cartoons of such genies, nor a TV show like I Dream of Genie. So, of course, my mention of this resulted in a kind of blank stare from my friend. Hoan hadn’t heard of genies but he’s a quick learner when I explained the “Master, you get three wishes for releasing me from captivity,” offer from the very relieved big blue creature.

I bring this up because many people, Christians and otherwise, think God exists to give us what we think we need. But the problem arises that, when we ask him for such and such, he frequently doesn’t respond. Silence. No fix to the problem, which can either be simply annoying or deeply troubling, especially when we or our loved ones face deep crises.

I had a friend who I haven’t seen in some years now, a highly educated and committed Christian, who was facing a pretty big problem, and he was relentless in asking God to show him signs on how to fix the problem. My friend was really suffering and became extremely upset at the continuation of the problem, with no apparent response from God. It didn’t seem to make him disbelieve in God but it surely made him angry and bitter. I once asked him, after a great deal of hearing about this, whether he kind of like expected one of those huge electronic signs that hang over the freeways to light up with his name and some sort of message from God. He didn’t take offense with the question because I asked it in a fairly compassionate tone but he answered, in essence, “yes.”

I don’t think that’s how God normally communicates.

But, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t communicate with us frequently, which can be quite an extraordinary thing.

I actually met Hoan after hearing from God.

Now, many of you who know me, or have followed these ramblings, know that I claim I actually heard, in full audio mode, God’s voice. I’ve testified to that privately and publicly many times. That was a truly earth-shattering event and I can understand the plight of John Denver. When God (you know, that God) breaks through all of reality and speaks directly into your left ear as if he was right next to you and a little bit taller, it’s a game changer.

And, it’s also very rare.

Fortunately, God finds a number of other ways to “speak” to and with us.

And, one of those times happened when I met Hoan.

Some of you have heard this story but it’s always good in the re-telling. One of the reasons it’s a good story (that happens to be completely true) is that it shows how God can show up completely unexpectedly and the results can be astonishing.

Picture this: Several hundred of us gathering in the Vista branch of the San Diego Superior Court’s main Jury Room. Most of you have had that experience. It’s early in the morning and we’ve all answered the call to serve, a decent number of whom are more than a little reluctant. But, the law is the law and duty is duty (sixth amendment to the Constitution and all of that). I got there early this time, having taken the day off of my job as a school district assistant superintendent. I found an electric outlet on the wall immediately adjacent to me so I could plug in my laptop and get some work done. I went about inserting my ear buds and settled down for the requisite wait.

Shortly afterwards, a man sat down in the chair immediately to my left. Like everyone else, we listened to the usual spiel, filled out the forms and then got about our business of waiting. He and I engaged in no small talk. I had the wall to my right and a strange man to my left, a laptop and earbuds, and a pile of work to get done.

A little time went by and then I “heard” a voice.

Now, this is where things can get dicey.

It would be right for some to ask me to define “heard.” To which I’d have to honestly say it wasn’t a real voice (not like that one time) but it was rather like a thought out of nowhere. A thought that had no connection with what I was focused on. It wasn’t like a “daydream” thought such as, “I’d really, really rather be somewhere else than here.” No, it was a completely out-of-context thought. I would say it was mostly like a message. And, there was nothing ambiguous about it.

I heard exactly “talk to him.”

 Yes, that’s right. “Talk to him.”

Admittedly, this was not the first time I’d had something like this happen to me since I’d surrendered in 2005. For the record, I was not unfamiliar with the concept of how God can communicate and I’d been the welcome beneficiary of some of that communication. However, I don’t remember hearing such a direct message telling me to do a very specific thing at that specific moment. This was something a bit different.

Feeling that I could easily ignore the message as, well, men don’t just approach strange men for no reason (plus I was busy), I chose to do just that. Ignore it and keep working on my laptop.

Funny thing, though, about God. He’s not easily dissuaded when he gets his mind up. (Ask John Denver.)

So, a few minutes later, here it came again, “Talk to him.”

This time, I probably sighed a bit and said back, in my mind’s reply, something to the effect, “I don’t want to. He’ll probably think I’m weird and I just don’t feel like it.” And I went back to work.

You know what happened next. A few minutes later, here it was again. Relentless. “Talk to him.”

At this point, I knew I was trapped. I mean who, after all, gets such specific directions out of the blue to stop what they’re doing and change course? I also knew I was left with no choice. I didn’t doubt it was from God because it fit the formula. Perhaps more on that later.

So, reluctantly, I turned to this strange man who had made no overtures to try to engage with me, who had been sitting quietly (perhaps reading, if my memory serves). And, I said, “Hey, how are you?”

I honestly don’t remember what exactly transpired in the next few moments but I do know that two hours later, I had heard his life story which completely captivated me on more levels than I can describe here. And, by the time we eventually parted company, we had one another’s contact information and the rest is history. We’ve been close ever since and count each other as one of the great blessings in our lives.

All because I wasn’t quite obstinate enough to continue ignoring God.

You can’t make this stuff up.

This wasn’t the last time something like this has happened to me. And, I’ve never, never been disappointed for having obeyed, even when I’ve done so reluctantly.

In my follow-up, I hope to dive a bit deeper into what’s happening in situations like this and how, perhaps, we can pay closer attention to how it can effect our lives.

Note to Readers: I actually drafted a good portion of this  piece a number of months ago but didn’t get around to publishing it. To be honest, I sort of forgot about it until I’d already completed my most recent series. I realized that, while there is certainly overlap, there are some differences. I’ve tried to clean away some of that overlap and here is what remains.

* * * * *

How many of us wake up each morning, look around at our lives and surroundings, our circumstances and ask, “What’s the point?”

Probably some of us do. Maybe the question is so powerful that we can’t help but sigh, feeling the burden of facing the same challenges each day, with no real end in sight.

For others of us, perhaps that question quietly percolates in the background, not particularly obvious but not fully absent either.

In fact, we all need a reason to keep on going, to take action in order to proceed through life. Show me a person who has no such reason, and I’ll show you a person who is already dying.

Does the following internal monologue sound even vaguely familiar?

Yes, I’ve sought this or that, with some successes, plenty of failures, periods of happiness, even joy, and periods of sadness, even grief. I’ve been in and out of relationships, some short and some long, even quite long. I’ve felt the rush at finding someone I truly like who seems to like me. I’ve also felt the heartache of rejection. I can quickly recall that phone call offering me a long sought-after job, with perhaps a celebration dinner that evening with family or friends. I’ve also felt the creeping dissatisfaction with a job, the encroaching burden that not-so-subtly whispers that maybe I’m actually not in the right place after all. I’ve moved from point to point, learning the fact that little if anything lasts forever and even if it seems to, it’s really not the same as I first thought.

We each began our lives with an idea, two people making a decision, the result of which (planned or not) was us. Cells divided strictly according to a pre-ordained code. Months afterwards, we arrive as fully formed human beings. Later, our bodies give out, the system submitting to frailty, and our lives end. The countless points in the middle reflect the common journey mentioned above.

Is there no reason for any of this, other than the onward march of physical, chemical and biological forces? Is there a point, after all is said and done? Do I have a purpose, once born, other than to eat, stay alive and procreate before I die? If not, then what is my value, when you stop to think about it? Perhaps I’m just an infinitesimally small cog in a vast cosmic machine that cares nothing for me. A kind of cork bobbling in the middle of a vast ocean, easily missed, and of no real consequence?

Maybe I’m stepping out on a limb, but, I’ll suggest all of us crave a purpose, whether we choose to think about it or not. We want our lives to have some value, whatever it may be. In fact, each of us wants to mean something when all it is said and done. Purpose. Value. Meaning.

Is this just wishful thinking or is there something to this? If there isn’t anything there, then what’s the point to getting out of bed? What’s the point to us looking forward to anything? Why should we care what others think? Why do we want to belong to something, do anything? Just as we hunger for food to sustain us, we also hunger for significance, a different type of sustenance but just as important.

When things don’t go well or worse, don’t we naturally ask “Why? Why me? This isn’t the way it’s supposed to be.” I suggest that this plea, however soft or loud, is just a way for us to give voice to the belief that we’re meant for something else. That this bad or unfortunate thing is a rejection of what we value and, therefore, a rejection of us.

When things go well, we can tend to doubt, wondering how long the good times will last. When will the next shoe fall? Perhaps the natural optimist doesn’t think this way but, assuredly, the natural pessimist or the one who endured trial after trial is likely to have such thoughts. Regardless, unless we are Pollyana, we know that some kind of suffering isn’t all that too far off.

Most of us travel through life, flitting from one thing to the next, hoping for fulfillment, which is another way of saying we seek answers to questions we may not know we even have. The hope is a constant feature and a sign pointing to a place where we have purpose, are valued, and where life is meaningful.

I should know. For some reason (time and place, family histories and dispositions), I felt this kind of tug beginning in early adolescence, growing up in the turbulent 1960s where it was expected I could not be a bystander to the great causes facing us. Many voices combined in telling me that my life should mean something. I needed to dig in. Become involved. Try to leave the world a better place for my connection to it.

In the decades that followed, college, profession, marriage, and family all formed a life of its own, with me at center stage. Relationships, things, and events were all punctuated by joys and sorrows, victories and defeats, none of them unfolding exactly according to my desires.

For all sorts of reasons, I woke up one night, a number of years ago, with the realization I was hopelessly lost (which would have seemed absurd to all who knew me, be they wife and family, friends or colleagues). I was commonly recognized as accomplished and successful. I had a beautiful and loving family, had overcome life-threatening illnesses, was at the pinnacle of my profession, receiving consistent accolades, and was fit and active.

But it all tumbled like a house of cards facing just the slightest breath of wind.

The desperation I felt then would have more commonly been typical of the long-suffering addict on the street or the victim of abuse and violence, unable to escape the endless cycle. How is that possible?

The answer is, it’s possible because we are all after the same thing. But it turned out I was actually chasing the wrong things, just as many of us are. There is a difference.

My belief is that we’re all wired to seek the same thing but we don’t know how to find it so we end up going down pathways that nearly always disappoint.

In retrospect, I probably should have known better because I’d thought about these things for a very long time. Which is an irony. It shows we’re all made of the same stuff and vulnerable to the same misdirection.

Now some might interject here that I’m being too harsh. Too general. Painting everyone with the same broad brushstrokes. And I can understand that criticism. Someone could say to me, “my life is actually pretty good. It turned out fairly close to how I wanted it. In balance, I’m quite content and I haven’t been seeking answers to the kinds of questions you’re talking about.”

A recent American Psychiatric Association study found that nearly two thirds of Americans are “extremely or somewhat anxious about health and safety for themselves and their families and more than a third are more anxious overall than last year.” In a separate study, interestingly, there was a direct correlation between higher income level and levels of anxiety. This included cultures around the world. In other words, the prosperity achieved in wealthier communities and population resulted in heightened anxiety. In still another study by the APA of 20,000 random people, it was discovered that nearly 50% suffer from loneliness, which is on the increase in our society.

These are examples of large groups of people who feel disconnected and ill at ease. I can’t count the studies and journal articles I’ve read in recent years that describe the rise in alienation while the world has never been more prosperous.

Of course, there are significant groups of people that face daily trials, including finding food and clean drinking water and safe havens from violence and persecution. Maybe an explanation can be that those with high expectations for material gain are the most susceptible to dashed hopes. Attaining material advantage is actually a source for anxiety and loneliness. Or, in the terms I’m using, these advantages do not answer our inner drive for a sense of purpose, clarity of what is truly valuable, and what is the meaning of our lives. We smirk a bit at the popular adage that “he who dies with the most toys win.” I might flip that a bit and say, “he who seeks the most toys, hoping for fulfillment, actually loses in the end.”

So, on the one hand, we frequently have hope but that hope can morph into the realization that it never lasts. All good things come to an end. On the other hand, we can try to come to grips with the essence of what this failure is actually telling us.

With that in mind, let’s now turn to the common Christian belief that we are all broken. No one escapes. Observed outside of the Christian context, this might seem peculiar. Brokenness sounds pretty extreme. Anxious perhaps. Lonely maybe. But broken?

When something is broken it means it isn’t working as it was designed. We can’t be broken, even a little, if we weren’t designed for much. Each of us wants to be in touch with that design which is where we can discover our purpose, our value and the meaning of our lives.

Now, some people have no problem knowing they’re broken. It’s the most obvious thing they live each day. One way to characterize brokenness is the place we are when we wonder how to put one foot in front of the next without crumbling. It’s the place we are when time moves forward with interminable slowness. The minutes and hours drag on, relentlessly. It takes seemingly Herculean effort to get out of bed. We pull back from relationships. We welcome sleep until the nightmares take over. Many different things can bring about this state of affairs. Anyone reading this will either have experienced it or knows someone who has. Or is.

On the other hand, plenty of people do not connect with something like being broken. Perhaps they’ve lived a fairly charmed life. Never known physical privation from poverty or illness or violence. Never known the kind of rejection that completely tears at the soul, slicing away all semblance of self-worth. “What, me broken? Set-backs, perhaps, battling here and there. But, broken? No.”

Regardless, most of us come to a place, sooner or later, when we realize that our own efforts cannot keep the beast at bay. We will realize we are weak and in that weakness we will ask the question, what’s the point? This is true, even for those who have lived a fairly charmed life and, nearing the end, look back without any regrets. I hazard the guess that all will find some reason or set of reasons why their life had purpose, value and meaning.

So far, I’m trying to build the case that, first, all of us search for purpose in our lives even if we don’t recognize that is what we are doing. All of us want to feel that we provide value of some kind and all of us want that purpose and that value to be meaningful. Second, material advantages actually increase alienation and a loss of purpose and ultimate fulfillment. And, third, huge numbers of people suffer from that loss of purpose, even to the point of being broken.

Ok. Where does this lead? If I buy into some piece of these ideas, how do I discover my purpose? How do I peel away the layers to better understand the fundamental value of my life? When all is said and done, what does my life really mean?

I always learn something when I explore these things a bit deeper.

When I’ve discussed this theme with people, I like to begin with an either/or question. Pick one answer out of two. On the one hand, are we just the result of random and coincidental forces that brought subatomic particles together to make us?

The question is really another way of coming to grips with our purpose. Which is another way of answering the question, what is my value? If I’m more than miniscule particles created when distant stars exploded billions of year ago, what am I? What am I worth? Do I have a purpose beyond eating, surviving and procreating? If not, what is life about? If so, how do I find it?

Oh, of course, there are all sorts of answers that immediately come to mind. My purpose is to have a family, to give love and life to others. My purpose is to be part of a broad movement of people joined together in a great cause to start this, fight that, believe in something important.

But, if we do have a purpose, where does that come from?

In some limited fashion, plants, animals, rocks and rivers each have a purpose. They do what they are designed to do. It does not matter, for this discussion, whether the purpose for each is the result of natural evolution, supernatural creation, or exploding stars.

Similarly, in loose fashion, they provide value. On earth, rocks create a platform for soil and the things that come from the soil. Rivers create broad platforms for abundant life. Plants also provide platforms for abundant life, including oxygen, consumed by animate lifeforms. Animals benefit from all these things although, while conscious, they don’t have a way of understanding what it all means.

Only humans, among all known things, are able to go from purpose to value to meaning. Only humans can ask the question, “Where does all of this come from?”

Only humans can ask “What does it mean to be human?” Only humans can figure out that knowing one’s purpose is a way of identifying what makes me, “me.”

Am I just particles of stardust like everything else, thereby irrelevant in the grand scheme of things? Or, am I relevant? Does my life mean anything, when you get down to it?

In fact, as I said at the beginning, everyone is in search for purpose, for a sense of value, for wondering why it’s important to get up in the morning and do anything. This universal truth, whether recognized consciously or not, is a defining characteristic of being human.

Which brings us to the fundamental question of where this comes from. Nebulae (exploding stars) cast out massive amounts of energy and matter into the cosmos, afterwards collecting as building blocks for things like plants, animals, rocks and rivers. And us. Us We? being the only result that wonders if we’re relevant and where that relevancy comes from.

Absent a universal truth (which is one way of saying there is a fact that exists behind all other facts or all other feelings or all other assumptions), we’re just accidents. Accidental results of physical, chemical and biological forces that have no stake in the game. We are born, survive, procreate (possibly) and die. That’s it. Or is it?

But, there’s this voice, or echo of a voice, that rumbles around somewhere in our consciousness that says there’s more to the story.

The anti-theist, one who has faith that there is no supernatural force apart from the physical, chemical or biological just mentioned, will insist that this voice or echo is merely psychological wish-fulfillment, a search for ultimate meaning when there is none. Philosophers have followed this logic like a thread, leading to a conclusion. It terminates in something called nihilism (“life is meaningless”), perhaps the subject of another piece. Feel free to look it up.

Some of us decide that this is all too complicated. It’s much easier to just go about our lives and do the best we can. Many of us choose to either disregard the voice or echo, or to suppress it, not wanting to see where it might lead.

I should know. Like many of us, I heard the voice/echo many, many years ago, at times listening and wondering, at other times dismissive and unwilling to follow the thread so see where it ended up. Of course, I found a lot of meaning in my life through my family, friends, profession, participation in causes and so on. But, I didn’t fully confront the question of why. I didn’t fully confront the question of whether I actually had a fundamental purpose that underlay all other purposes.

And then, as hard as it was, I followed the thread, bit by bit, struggle after struggle, often reluctant to learn what was just around the next bend. But, persistence was born by need and, in the end it paid off beyond all of my expectations.

Dear friends who may be reading this, my hope and prayer is that you seek the voice or its echo and look for the thread that will take you on a journey where you will discover the answer in your search for meaning.

When we show up at the hospital as a mother in labor or, perhaps as the prospective father, we are probably both anxious and hopeful. We are anxious because this is not a kind process. It can be lengthy and quite painful. As well, sometimes the end result brings us something we’re not really prepared for. We are hopeful because we wait in wonder to see that what began as two single cell organisms is now about to emerge as a fully formed human being. A human being that could only come from those single cells, each of which was provided by a different person.

The science is pretty clear. There’s a lot of stuff about chromosomes and cell division and differentiated cells that come from single cells, of DNA and genetic codes, about how the different organs in this new human function and emerge in coordinated fashion so this baby can breathe, see, hear, feel, taste, smell and even think. We know that the amount of information contained in those cells, in those genes, comprised of coded patterns of amino acids that create proteins that are carbon-based and allow the whole system to function is astronomical and far beyond the ability of the most powerful supercomputers. And, we know that this information system is specifically designed (by intention or not) to do what it does.

But, what we actually see in what inevitably emerges, is a beautiful sight. A baby human that can fill our hearts with joy. We witness the beauty of the first suckling at the mother’s breast and the way she looks at that which she faithfully carried for nine months inside of her. We see the miniature hands and feet with tiny little fingers and toes and, perhaps, we can even faintly see a little heartbeat underneath the baby’s chest. We marvel. Most of us love. We experience joy, beauty, marvel, and love.

Are these four things real? Or are they illusory? Are we just combinations of particles that happen to coalesce together without outside purpose or are we somehow both valuable and a product of something dependent on outside purpose?

Is this all there is or is there something else? Are beauty and love real things or just adaptive constructs that are merely chemical and serve to perpetuate the species?

The two worldviews we’ve been looking at compete for our attention. I’ll jump to the conclusion and just come out and say it. The one ends in darkness and the other ends in light. The one ends in emptiness and the other in fulfillment. The one ends in the dust of ruined worlds and the other ends in eternal life.

I did not arrive at that conclusion quickly or lightly as many of you know. I arrived at that conclusion when I was finally left with no other answer that made sense, given the evidence.

But, that’s me.

What about you?

Of course, there’s always an escape clause. It can be some variation of “the answer just can’t be known.” Or, “I’m good with just trying to figure out how to get by day to day. This philosophy stuff isn’t who I am.” Or, “I guess we’ll find out soon enough!”

Honestly, I understand all of that and maybe this is just much ado about nothing when you get down to it. It is what it is.

On the other hand, don’t we all, deep down inside, want to make sense of things? I mean big things like why is there so much suffering? Is it ok to say that someone really is evil? Does God really exist?

Maybe you already feel like you’ve arrived at the answer. Maybe you haven’t. Or, maybe you’re somewhere in the middle. It doesn’t matter. We’re all in the same boat.

So, let’s say we’re new to philosophy and a thing like worldviews or frameworks for making sense of things. But, we’re at least a bit interested, while also not a little intimidated with the thought of diving in. What should we do?

Well, think of a jigsaw puzzle. And, we don’t have to start with one of those really big ones that are basically a representation of abstract art, that fill a large table with tiny pieces and would drive most of us around the bend. We can start with a much smaller one. It’ll fit on a card table and the pieces are rather large.

Each piece of the jigsaw is a piece of evidence. A clue (which is really all a jigsaw piece really is). That’s it. Evidence.

Simply put, evidence is a thing that serves as a kind of fact, especially if it’s solid evidence.

Let’s say you hear a gun shot and the very next second you come around the corner and see a man with a gun that has smoke coming out the barrel, standing over a very still person lying on the ground with a pool of blood seeping out from underneath. That’s evidence. Is it proof that the man with the gun actually caused the blood coming out of the other man? Well, not exactly, but it’s certainly far more probable than not that the evidence points to a fact that the cause of the blood seepage lies in the device that man is holding. Solid evidence.

The observation clearly points to a conclusion that is highly probable if not perfectly provable. One piece of the jigsaw puzzle.

There is this grossly mistaken belief (we can call it a fallacy) that faith and reason are in opposition, when in fact, they can be extremely closely related. But, let’s continue.

The method by which we ultimately resolve our fundamental question is by gathering as much evidence as we can and then put the pieces together to see what kind of picture unfolds.

If this seems like a great deal of work, it may turn out that way for some people. Perhaps not for others. But, it’s not a contest of who gets there first. It’s merely a question of how much do I care about this?

Does it matter if there really is a Designer or not? Does it matter if all animate and inanimate things are basically the same thing, on the one hand just chemicals and particles connected via physical properties and on the other hand, perhaps, somehow connected by a “spiritual” force that runs equally through all things? In reality, it does matter to a lot of people who make decisions on how to live their lives (and influence other people) accordingly.

I try not to be critical of the things people believe unless I find them to be abhorrent, which does happen at times. I watch as new variations on old themes rise up to capture the public imagination as if they were original and many people ooh and ahh, as if now it all makes sense. One such variation blew into the scene some ten or more years ago and offered a conclusive answer to life’s big questions. Millions of copies of the book were sold (you see, people want to know the answers) and I believe even Oprah weighed in with something to the effect that this was the real deal.

It was called The Secret. Talk about a catchy belief system! As in, in the entire history of human thought and belief, just now it is discovered that there really is a design to it all and it’s been hidden forever but now it’s known. Fundamentally, it’s just the most recent version of the Genie in the Bottle system but the genie is actually just an inanimate Universe that somehow will give each of us what we want if we really want it. It certainly wasn’t revolutionary. In fact, it had its roots on a thing called The Power of Positive Thinking.

(There’s a similar and so-called Christian splinter group that goes by the adage: “Name it and claim it.”)

Now I find nothing wrong with believing in the power of positive thinking. After all, being a “glass half full” person is probably better than being a “glass half empty” person. (For the record, I am neither. If asked where I line up on this, I answer, “I’m a realist who hopes.”)

I raise this recent attempt to help us better understand how we think and behave, and what’s behind it all, for two reasons. The first is as evidence that people really want to know what’s going on and are hungry for answers. The second is that, when something like this comes up, it need fall into one of our two prevailing worldviews. Can it be explained by Scientific Materialism? (If you read how scientists looked at this popular phenomenon of The Secret, they universally claimed there is no scientific evidence to substantiate it.) Or, can it be explained by a Supernatural reality which, honestly, just begs the question of what is behind that reality. (In a Christian framework, this is often cited as coming from Matthew 7:7, when Jesus said, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” However, this is spoken in terms of seeking God, not stuff.)

I’m using recent and popular example because it doesn’t allow us to escape from the central question of what lies behind the curtain. If there is no evidence of a natural and scientific explanation, where is the evidence of the supernatural? For instance, who or what designed the system? And, how does this philosophy (worldview) account for all of the millions of people who try really hard but don’t get what they want? No one talks about The Secret anymore but the point remains: People seek answers.

We began this lengthy series by seeking an understanding of why we think and behave in certain ways. Then, we followed a trail that took us progressively deeper, beginning with guiding principles that, themselves, are founded upon a layer of fundamental values that, themselves, are founded upon a layer of a thing we can call truth. We then sought to look at truth as either subjective or objective and we spoke in terms of two overarching worldviews that seek to explain this: Scientific Materialism and (to put it loosely) Supernatural Design.

I have intended this to be a kind of summary and, because of that, it is quite general and deserves much greater specificity and clarification if anyone is interested. In fact, I think I’ll want to continue with some of these threads in another series for anyone who has the stomach for this kind of thing.

Yes, it’s a jigsaw puzzle. Either consciously or subconsciously, we’re all trying to make sense of things. Who are we really, as human beings? How are we supposed to make sense of things that puzzle or intrigue us? Things like justice or freedom or equality or beauty or love or morality? Is there a thing we can call “purpose” to our existence as a species and to us, particularly? We know that we will die and, if what the scientists all tell us, eventually the earth will fry from a dying sun and, far, far in the future, the universe will run out of gas and be a cold and dark place, unable to sustain life in any form. What does that say about our place in it right now? Are we “merely” a conglomeration of subatomic particles acting upon physical forces, combining to form chemical compounds? Or are we more than the sum of those parts? We, consequently, seek evidence from experience and the wisdom of others. In the end, there are all sorts of ways we can examine the individual pieces that lie on that table so that we can fit them together. When the curtain is pulled away, what will that picture show us?

We left off pursuing the question: What lies behind the curtain?

So, let’s briefly review and summarize what we’re talking about because this has been kind of technical and, possibly, in areas that aren’t particularly familiar to some who are reading this. (I don’t mean to be at all dismissive! I’m just guessing that most people don’t spend much energy diving into physics, chemistry, biology, philosophy and theology.) 🙂

We’re asking the question because we’re curious about why we think and believe certain things. We’re curious about who we are and why we’re here. We’re curious about our value as individuals, the value of other individuals and about society in general. We’re curious about why we consider some things moral and other things immoral or why we consider some things just and other things unjust. Or, maybe we haven’t been particularly curious about some of these things but it piques our interest to think about what makes me, “me.”

And, remember, to risk being simplistic for the purpose of making a point without resorting to some thick academic text: (1) Our thoughts and behaviors are framed through the application of certain (2) Guiding Principles, which are like programs or outlines that translate our (3) Fundamental Values into action. Therefor (logically), we look to our fundamental values where we can accept them as either having a source or not.

If we want to go further or, I should say, deeper, we are faced with two possible ultimate sources for our fundamental values. (1) They are socially constructed. That is to mean, there is no outside “objective” source. Instead, our fundamental values are purely the product of societal norms and dependent upon the ebb and flow of what is important to human society in the place and time we’re examining. More on that in a bit. Or (2) They are the product of some kind of supernatural (non human) vision which contains both previously determined purpose and desired outcomes. In other words, our fundamental values which seek to answer who we are and why we think and behave in certain ways, are either subjective or objective.

I’ll repeat that, the fundamental values that ultimately determine what and how we think and behave and give meaning to who and what we are, are either subjective or objective. Another way of saying “subjective” is relative, meaning dependent upon circumstances, feelings, and experiences without any underlying or external truth.

These are the only two categories.

One common response (whether knowingly or not) when coming to this Y in the road is to throw up one’s metaphorical hands and say, “We just don’t know. And, this is very frustrating and I don’t have the time or inclination to think about it!” Which of course is completely understandable.

Having said that, it’s a fact that, by default, we fall into one of the two categories or worldviews, whether we want to or not. 🙂 And, the implications are fascinating.

Worldview #1: Scientific Materialism. Our reality is a function of random (ultimately non-rational) sources and our values are relative in that they are socially constructed around certain purposes that we, as humans, create to serve our own needs.

Worldview #2: Intelligent Design. Our reality is a function of a rational external source wherein fundamental values are ultimately objective and not dependent upon time, circumstance, or what we think is best to serve our individual or collective needs.

With this in mind, our fourth category (joining thoughts/behaviors, guiding principles, and fundamental values) and the one that lies behind/underneath our fundamental values is Truth. This is the thing we are all longing for. That which is ultimately true. It’s what gives form and substance to everything else. This is the diamond in the rough. This is what exists when all else is peeled away.

What will I find behind the curtain: Subjective Truth or Objective Truth?

Any heads spinning right now? Join the club. Mine spins all of the time!

To get right down to the brass tacks …

Whether you are an atheist, agnostic, pantheist, polytheist, monotheist, naturist or spiritualist, it all comes down to which of these two worldviews you subscribe to.

And the upshot is not to lose heart! We can approach an investigation into this quite simply, although the results will be profound!

All we have to do is ask why we value something.

Ok, it’s actually a little bit tougher than that because it’s really no good to answer something to the effect of “Well, that’s just what I believe.” (That’s called begging the question which is just a kinder way of saying avoiding the question.)

“Why am I concerned about civil rights for ethnic minorities?” “Well, because I believe in justice.” Ok, then, why do you believe in justice? (Pause). “Well, I believe in justice because it’s important that we treat people fairly and equally.”

Ok, then, why should we treat people fairly and equally? “Well, because society functions better when everyone is treated fairly and equally.”

Ok, then, what if there are societies that don’t believe in fairness and equality?

(Two possible answers …)

One, “Well, that’s up to them but I believe fairness and equality are best for us.”

Two, “Well, they’re wrong, fairness and equality aren’t dependent upon what people think is good for them. They’re just right, regardless.”

In other words, justice is either a good thing because I think it is or it’s a good thing because it’s the product of external design. Justice is either subjective (relative) or objective and non dependent upon human constructs.

So, what is the source of justice?

Is the practice of human sacrifice by throwing babies into flames objectively wrong (where does that objectivity come from?) or can it be right for some societies while wrong for others?

Is an incident of a person walking into a house, not his own, and randomly skewering a person he’s never seen, just because it pleases him, objectively wrong or are there explanations that could make that perfectly acceptable?

At the very foundation of our sense of reality, of our own meaning, of our moral code, of the makeup of the material world, is there purpose and design or is it without ultimate meaning?

Do we have value in and of itself or, as humans, is our only value dependent upon the perspectives and inclinations of others or, better yet, merely as a means of consuming fuel, replicating the species and transforming our bodies into fuel for other life forms?

The answer to these questions, the questions to which we are led by our search for what’s what, are really just variations of one central question. Is there supernatural reality or not?

Which makes more sense to us, Scientific Materialism or Intelligent Design?

How do we answer that question? And once we feel we’re tending towards one rather than the other, what are the implications?

Well, the implications are that the journey is just beginning.

I was at the gym a little while ago, peddling away at a pretty good clip on my recumbent bike, listening to music that helps me keep pace, doing my best to ignore the TVs with their constant stream of news. I’m not against news, mind you. I just haven’t been able to take the TV version for many years now. But, I digress.

I’ve grown somewhat used to finding my mind wandering while the body does its thing and today was no exception.

Have you ever found yourself in a place that seems tailormade for you? Where you don’t have to make an effort to get something done? Instead, you seem like you’re merely along for the ride?

Well, I do on occasion and the last four or five days have been like that.

I’m talking about my writing and the thoughts behind it.

The oddest thing: I think I started back to write maybe five days ago, including today. I’ve posted one piece each day since then, although I’ve written about twelve. Just this morning, I wrote three before this one and have others chomping at the bit. This, after quite a lengthy period of relative silence.

In fact (and I’m really not embellishing here), I can’t keep up with where this is coming from and I’m a really fast typist. It’s a little like stepping into a kayak, pushing away from the bank because the water beckons and, before you know it, you’re miles down the river in a current with no signs of letting up. In fact, I’m having to apply the brakes just to keep some balance.

I have no idea of how many or few people actually read this stuff but I don’t really think all that much about it. The ideas and words just form themselves virtually without consciously thinking and the fingers dance across the keyboard accordingly.

I do not mention this as any kind of boast. Really.

Instead, as I was peddling away, I was reflecting on this zone I’m currently in as an expression of a spiritual gift.

Interestingly, I touched upon this concept in an hour-long talk I gave a week ago Sunday at a local church. It wasn’t the primary subject but it did fit in, tangentially. So, I guess it’s been on my mind and, perhaps, the preparation for that talk helped prime the pump.

I know I’ve written about spiritual gifts before but, since it leapt back into my mind this afternoon (while taking a break from my writing, of all things! Cut me some slack, God!), I thought I’d share a few pertinent thoughts.

Without going into theology in any detail, spiritual gifts are like special skills that we’re granted by God, once we surrender to him. The apostle Paul, giant as he is of the New Testament, names a number of them, as does his compatriot, the apostle Peter, the rock upon which Jesus said he’d build his church.

So, what are these special skills that are actually “gifts” from God, issued for the purpose of partnering with him?

Well, we can start by viewing them in a context that is not spiritual. In that sense, they’d be things that others would recognize we are very good at. Perhaps people have told you that you are very good at fixing things, at being mechanically inclined. Perhaps people say that you are a very good musician or a quite good at your job in sales or marketing or finance. Maybe that you’re a skilled doctor or nurse or athlete or entertainer.

“Spiritual” gifts are like skills that are supernaturally charged and they affect the lives of others in a way that honors God and his plan for us. This is an important equation of sorts. Yes, they are skills … things we are shown to be quite good at. But, that’s not all. They have to have an effect on others in a way that is deeply meaningful. And, not just meaningful but profoundly so. The expression of the gift can point to something either deeply within someone or it can help set their eyes and heart on something deeply beyond that someone.

Here’s another way to determine if one of our skill sets fits the definition. When we are in that space of expressing a given gift by our actions, we have almost no sense of it. It certainly doesn’t seem like effort, although others observing it might describe it as a kind of work. It just seems so natural, like a most common thing such as breathing.

But, remember, in order to fulfill the true definition, it has to be something that advances God’s plan for us, collectively and individually. And, that raises all sorts of questions.

I believe there are such things as spiritual gifts and I believe I’m the beneficiary of some of them. Not a ton, mind you, but at least several. One of Peter’s admonitions is that it is incumbent upon us to employ those gifts. Get them out from underneath the bushel. Let the light shine.

One of my regular prayers is that God use me for his purposes. Let me act as his eyes, his heart, his hands and feet. I fall miserably short most of the time but I don’t think he minds as long as I keep asking and getting up after falling down. I’m grateful for the times when I recognize his handiwork in my actions, as simple as they may be. As simple as sitting down at a laptop and trying to offer even the crudest picture of who he is and why we should care.

Do you know yours?

Thank you, Jesus.

Now, let’s step forward and try to pull away the curtain. What do we find?

Is it really an onion, which only consists of layers, all the way down until you reach nothing?

Or, is it like the element of carbon that is brittle (such as coal) and resides in the upper layers of our earth’s strata but, when you dig in certain places you find the same basic carbon element in its highly compressed form and you realize you’ve found a diamond, the hardest of all minerals. You can’t scratch it. It’s the lowest common denominator.

It needs to be said that all of us have our biases and those biases act as a kind of filter or control mechanism by which we examine the things that are important to us. I’ll be the first to raise my hand and admit that I’m biased.

(Before I get charged with being close-minded, to be biased doesn’t at all mean being closed-minded. Bias is not synonymous with prejudice. Not at all. In fact, bias is the normal and reasonable result of thinking about things rationally and arriving at a conclusion. Prejudice is to “pre-judge” a thing before encountering appropriate evidence.)

For instance, I have a well-developed bias against people who chronically bully others because I think bullying is against one of my principles (respect of others) that comes from a fundamental value (all people are inherently of tremendous value) and another fundamental value (freedom of the individual). Prejudice is judging a class of people unworthy without taking any time to actually understand the individuals in that class. Etc…

I mention this because, after many decades of thinking about this problem of what lies behind the curtain, I’ve reached a conclusion based upon the evidence that I’ve been able to cull from hundreds of sources … across the full spectrum of beliefs, including both scientific and philosophical.

And, I can find no way to further reduce the two prevailing possible worldviews to lower common denominators than the ones I’ll be addressing. (Cautionary note: There are multiple ways of interpreting each of these two worldviews but the fact is, they still fall into one or the other of the two general categories.)

Recall that worldviews are ways of organizing our values and principles, therefor our thoughts and behaviors.

For any of you who have been with me for a time, this will come as no surprise.

Worldview #1

All that exists can be explained through the interaction of physical elements and forces.

In essence, everything is purely a combination of matter and energy, from the smallest known sub atomic particles like quarks and gluons to the vast universe of galaxies and stars. In this worldview, the thing we call life is a product of accidental combinations of chemical and physical processes that formed a third that we can call biology, ( which is the study of “living” organisms).

To continue with this worldview, all life exists as a product of what we we’ve been calling for the last 150 years Natural Selection, which is the survival of the fittest (passing along successful natural characteristics and abandoning unsuccessful ones) and Random Mutations (the accidental small changes that occur in otherwise healthy genetic codes). These two forces are said to account for all of the changes that occurred (the arrival of complex organisms and incredibly diverse species) once the inorganic chemical compounds (not alive) suddenly became organic (alive).

For some as yet determined reason, after about ten billion years of our universe’s existence, a chance radical change occurred on earth and life began. In a sense, this was a cosmic accident. From the moment of the Singularity to who we are alive today with all of our values, principles, thoughts and behaviors, it’s “just” a combination of physics, chemistry, biology and random chance.

As the famous and popular astronomer Carl Sagan put it: “The cosmos is all that is, ever was and ever will be.”

Another very popular scientist, the atheist and biologist Richard Dawkins says, “Biology is the study of complicated things that give the appearance of having been designed by a purpose.” In other words, Dawkins says and believes that while the science looks like it has design and purpose behind it, in fact it doesn’t.

Ramifications of this include the belief (by both some evolutionary biologists and the philosophers who agree with them) that, in fact, there is no such thing as human free will … we are, as humans, merely (as one critic puts it) “meat with no purpose.”

This worldview can be described with many titles. One of the most common in scientific and philosophical circles is Scientific Materialism. Another is just Naturalism, or even Metaphysical Naturalism. In the history of modern philosophy, the closest schools are Nihilism and Existentialism. Presuming you have any interest in diving more deeply, these are decent places to start.

The bottom line is “what we see and empirically prove is what we get.”Everything that exists need fall within the framework of physics (the study of matter and energy), chemistry (the study of the substances that matter forms) and biology (the study of living things). That perspective then creates a “worldview” which is just another way of saying “philosophy,” which is the way we determine how to make sense of this stuff and apply it in reality.

In summary: Scientific Materialism is an all-encompassing worldview (a philosophy or overarching belief system) that says that we are “just” the sum of the gazillions of particles (from exploding stars) and that there is actually no objective meaning to who we are apart from that fact. We are not greater than that sum. There is nothing outside of physics, chemistry and biology that can define us and, as a consequence, define our fundamental value apart from that.

In contrast, there is

Worldview #2

In this framework, we are, in all actuality, greater than the sum of our physical properties as defined through physics, chemistry and biology. In essence, there is a supernatural quality to our existence. Super, here, means above, beyond or greater. I guess it can also mean outside.

One of the fundamental beliefs in this worldview is that there was a “cause” to the Singularity and that cause was outside of time and space, distinct from the realm of pure matter and energy, the stuff which eventually formed chemical properties and allows for the thing we can call life.

(The problem for both worldviews is that no one has been able to pull away the curtain behind the Singularity in order to “prove” how and why it happened. Both sides claim piles of evidence to support their conclusions which, because they can’t be empirically “proven,” must rely upon conjecture or probabilities, which is maybe a little like a thing we can call “Faith.”)

In this second worldview, the evidence actually points to things beyond scientific materialism. There is meaning and purpose outside of the purely natural. For instance, love is not just a product of miniscule neurons composed of particles and energy “firing” a certain way in order to give an illusion of meaning beyond helping us perpetuate and adapt the species.

This second worldview rests on the belief that there is a causal agent behind the curtain and that a fundamental characteristic of this causal agent is that it is rational. It is not random that 2+2=4. The equation works because the nature of numbers (which don’t actually exist but are the product of our thoughts!) makes it so.

In this line of thinking, something can never come from nothing.

I’ll say it again, in this line of thinking (worldview) something can never come from nothing.

There are all sorts of named concepts to define this second worldview but most come down to a framework that says there is actually a rational design to our reality. And, of course, design requires purpose and reason in order to exist. Another way to put this is design is a product of vision followed by related rational action.

Like Worldview #1, it goes by certain names; in this instance some names are Theism (belief in gods or a God, especially a Creator God), Deism (belief in a supreme being and creator who no longer pays any attention to that which was created) and, more recently, Intelligent Design (the belief that there is a creative force or person behind the curtain that has something akin to a Mind.)

Of course, I fall somewhere in this realm for the many reasons I’ve expressed through all of these essays but, for now, I’ll just go with the last one which is “Intelligent Design.”

The face-off, therefor, is between Scientific Materialism and Intelligent Design.

And, what a face-off it is! They are diametrically opposing overarching worldviews that, when we pull away all of the layers behind how and why we think anything or behave in any way, we can explain those thoughts and behaviors.

Pick one, for there are (when you really get down to it) no others. And, what do you find when you pull away the curtain and find either one?

Next time.

To recap: All of us process the things we confront each day, whether they are thoughts, events, behaviors, feelings and so forth, through a set of lenses that organize everything. I’d hazard that most people don’t think about this much, which is normal and not unreasonable. After all, we have enough to process without going through a thing we can call metacognition.

(Metacognition is a fancy word that really means we’re aware of our own thought processes. We kind of stand outside of the thinking and examine it. Just now, as I’m trying to consider an illustration, the image came to me of the stories some people relate of having “died” and becoming disembodied, rising above and looking down at everything going on … doctors running around, people crying, hospital machines shrieking. This gazing at one’s self is kind of like metacognition.)

While we don’t actually live consciously much of our time practicing metacognition, to the degree that we do, we’d discover that the worlds of thoughts and behaviors are really all about a thing we can call cause and effect. In a sense, the effects of actual thoughts and behaviors have real causes. They have roots in things like experience, knowledge and beliefs.

As touched upon previously, we behave as if a kind of computer program spit out how to apply our fundamental values in the form of guiding principles that will govern our behaviors. You input the fundamental values, press the button and, “whir,” out come guiding principles, the way we consciously and even unconsciously make choices about how to live our lives.

Which raises the question, “Where do our fundamental values come from?”

I may be kind of alone here, but this stuff really intrigues me.

Maybe it’s the curiosity of wondering if there is something behind the curtain really pulling the levers. Or, maybe it’s a bit like those little Russian doll sets where, if you open one, you find a smaller one inside, only to open that one to find an even smaller one and so on. Or even a third illustration: All of us learned math in school, whereby we were asked to reduce equations to their lowest common denominator, that place that was no longer divisible. It just stood solidly on its own. So, in our case, we can just ask, “where does it end?”

Given that I think a lot about this because I tend to geekiness in some matters (plus I’ve had significant academic training in the philosophy of knowledge), I’ve arrived at a place I consider the lowest common denominator.

At this, we must turn briefly to the related sciences of physics and a thing called cosmology, which is a term describing the study of the origin of the universe. (I seriously doubt that most people spend much time, if any, thinking about either physics or cosmology and that’s completely understandable! I apologize for this little detour.)

I bring this up because physics is really just applied mathematics, one of the greatest practitioners of all time being Albert Einstein, who famously found himself having to cross over into philosophy to help make sense of the implications of his findings. And, while physics seeks to explain how things fundamentally function in the realm of actual stuff (particles and energy and such), philosophy seeks to explain the fundamental nature of what it actually means … the essence, so to speak, of reality.

So, pure mathematics and pure philosophy are actually far more linked than most people would believe (including the fact that they both are absolutely dependent on logic). And it’s to both that we momentarily need to go to find what lies behind the curtain.

In a sense, it’s really quite similar to ask the question, “What is the true origin of the universe?” while at the same time asking the question, “What is at the root of why I think and behave a certain way?”

If this is new to you, please don’t shy away because it’s actually less complicated than it might seem (at least at the level we’re addressing).

Over the last century or so, really smart physicists have come to the conclusion, supported by overwhelming amounts of evidence, with zero evidence to the contrary, that this universe in which we live (the only one so far as we know), actually began with a thing called the Singularity, a point that was infinitely small (really, zero), yet proved to contain all of the matter and energy that now populates the entire universe. All. All of the hundreds of billions of galaxies, each with up to hundreds of billions of stars. That’s a total number that fries our brains. And, with the fact it all came from virtually nothing even fries our brains more, if we care to think about that.

(If any of you have more than a passing knowledge of this, we can get into the alternative explanations by some physicists of our universe’s origin … namely things like multiverses, string theory and aliens seeding lifeforms hither and yon. But, interestingly, neither of these address the same problem: What began it all?)

I said that there are only two fundamental worldviews and they come from this actual problem, a problem that occupies scientists, philosophers, theologians and all those who want to pull away the curtain to figure out really what’s what.

Here’s the problem: Was this Singularity random and non-rational or was it reasonable? Did the beginning of time and space and, ultimately, all life on earth, occur as a random process or was it the result of some rational thing that we can call a design?

Why is this important and what does it have to do with what guides our thinking and behavior? What truly lies behind the curtain or beneath the surface of our consciousness? What do physics and philosophy, mathematics, theology and psychology all have in common?

Let’s see.

Really, the most vivid memory I have, as a six year old watching The Wizard of Oz for the first time, is of the horror of the flying monkeys. At least that’s what woke me up from that early nightmare. Aside from that, I’m sure I was entranced by the story and ended up reading all of the Oz books as a youngster. While the world of Oz was a very special place for an inquisitive child, I don’t remember spending much time philosophizing about the role of the curtain and the man behind it. I don’t think a kid of eight or so is all that good at inferring from hidden meaning.

So, maybe I’m making up for lost time.

Because, in fact, we’re always trying to look behind the curtain to find out who or what is pulling the levers. And, I don’t just mean scientists or philosophers or psychologists or any other line of professionals whose business it is to peel away at layers to see what’s what.

I mean we all, in our own ways, want to know what’s really going on and why.

All of us want some kind of explanation so we can make sense of our experience. I’m not sure I’ve met anyone who could honestly say, “You know, everything is random. I mean everything. Nothing makes sense and, in all honesty, it shouldn’t. I inhabit a reality with absolutely no meaning to anything. There’s no purpose. I can’t count on a single thing.”

(It might come as a surprise that, actually, this line of thinking is behind some pretty major philosophical movements that still resonate today.)

So, to be overly general, we all seek meaning in order to actually live our lives. We want to know, whether simply or profoundly, what is important and what is not and how we’re supposed to respond. This kind of thinking punctuates our thoughts and behaviors all of the time.

I bring this up because I’m curious about where these thoughts and behaviors come from. What is their source? And, subsequently, why is it important for any of us to know this stuff?

Now, there are all sorts of ways to craft a response. The psychologist will go at it one way and the neurobiologist somewhat differently. The historian and the economist and the sociologist will all weigh in, as will the theologian and philosopher. Does that mean we need to sift through all of their perspectives and studies in order to address the questions I’m raising?

I don’t think so. At least not to a level that will help us look behind the curtain that is a feature of everyday reality.

With that in mind, I’d like to propose a simple formula for trying to answer any question of how or why we think something or behave in a certain way.

All of us value things. And, I’m really not referring here to things as stuff, like houses, cars, jewelry, nice sound systems and so forth. I’m referring to things that tend not to come and go as readily. We value aspects of life, like relationships and the things that make them work well. We value traits like honesty and courage. We value hard to define features of life like love or beauty or justice. Of course, it’s possible to actually value the inverse of these things but it’s rare for someone to admit it. “I value lying and cowardice. I value hate and ugliness and oppression of the human spirit.”

Regardless, the things we value come from somewhere while also giving rise to action in the form of behavior.

But, in order for the things we value to be transformed into behavior, we all develop a thing we can call guiding principles, which are the way we (to be direct) organize our values in order to live. For instance, if we value truth-telling, we develop guidelines on how to live that way. We try to discern how truth-telling actually works in the real world. A guiding principal can be something like, “Always tell the truth unless by telling the truth you get someone inadvertently killed or cause great emotional harm to another person.” We struggle with both developing guiding principles and living by them. People who have some really solid guiding principles for behavior (derived from fundamental values) but who act contrary to those principles (for whatever reason) are often referred to as hypocrites, a not particularly flattering label.

So far, we have two things that help frame what and how we think and how we organize our lives. These two things help us make sense of our behavior and where that behavior comes from. Those two things are (1) Our values and (2) The principles or guidelines we construct in order to put our values into action.

At this point, we’re beginning to pull away the curtain to see what lies behind. Or, peeling away the layers to determine what the core is made of.

We’re basically moving away from the idea that everything is just random or illogical. In fact, there is a relationship between cause and effect. There is actually meaning and that, by applying the ability to reason, we discover that who we are and what we do is defined by principles which are formed from our values.

Which brings us to a very interesting point. From what or where do we get our values?

Do we merely come back to the position that our values are constructed randomly? That our values are constructed out of fluff? Mist? Shifting sands?

“Yes, I believe in love or beauty or honesty, or courage or justice but I have no reason to actually value those things other than that’s just how I feel.”

“And, of course, my feelings change (this I know from experience) and everyone feels just a little bit differently from everyone else because, you know, everyone is actually a little bit different and grew up in a different place with different experiences so I guess I don’t know where my values come from other than they’re just there. And, to be honest, my values change with time and experience just like feelings do.”

So, is this it? Is this what we find when we pull away the curtain in trying to discover why and how we think things are important and behave accordingly? Or is the curtain still closed?

I say the curtain is still closed. But that’s a matter of philosophy.

What do I mean by that?

I have written about this before. When you peel away all of the layers (basically all of the window dressing), we’re left with just two things. And those two things are actually two sides of the same thing, which we can call a worldview.

The concept of worldview is really, really important.

A worldview is actually a simple device by which we can lump all belief into one place. It’s a way of organizing everything into a single framework, by which everything is made sensical.

Now, let me say that there can be all kinds of worldviews, all kinds of frameworks by which we can organize the way we understand things. In a sense, every different religion or belief system offers a distinct “worldview.” The ways we examine the political landscape, for instance, can be through a worldview where economics reigns supreme or perhaps anthropology or sociology. But, I suggest, with some foundation that, in the end, we come to two doors, each separately beckoning us forward, each offering diametrically opposing worldviews or frameworks that give issue to all of our values and principles, thereby our behaviors and sense of meaning.

Two.