Christmas Greetings from a Flyer
I’m on the marketing mailing list for Atlanta Hobby, a model airplane store I like. I just got this Christmas greeting that I rather appreciate. Here it is:
Each year as the Christmas season and a new year approaches I always find myself in study as I love to ponder the universe in my mind and how I will move forward in the next year. This hobby affords many benefits but the one I enjoy most is meeting new people, learning and understanding their beliefs and ideas about our beginnings and how those beliefs influence their lives.
I recently had a very good friend tell me that they were a believer in evolution. I thought about this a long time as I am a believer in Jesus Christ and Creation. I believe this “by faith” as well as the first words of the bible where is says “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”. I do however understand the evolutionary process and know that since I was not there (in the beginning) I can’t fully understand or comprehend it all and must therefore take the data that is presented based on the facts and the faith that both require.
As a believer in science and at least as much as my feeble mind can understand our own dimension, I know that all of everything that is, was part of gods creation plan before the beginning.
100 years ago this year, Albert Einstein published three papers that rocked the world. These papers proved the existence of the atom, introduced the theory of relativity, and described quantum mechanics. Pretty good debut for a 26 year old student scientist, huh?
His equations for relativity indicated that the universe was expanding. This bothered him (and others) however because if it was expanding, it must have had a beginning and a beginner. Since neither of these appealed to him, Einstein introduced a ‘fudge factor’ that ensured a ‘steady state’ universe, one that had no beginning or end.
In 1929, Edwin Hubble was able to prove that the furthest galaxies were fleeing away from each other, just as the Big Bang model predicted. So in 1931, Einstein embraced what would later be known as the Big Bang theory, saying, “This is the most beautiful and satisfactory explanation of creation to which I have ever listened.” He referred to the ‘fudge factor’ to achieve a steady-state universe as the biggest blunder of his career.
Einstein’s theories have been thoroughly proved and verified by experiments and measurements. But there’s an even more important implication of Einstein’s discovery. Not only does the universe have a beginning, but time itself, our own dimension and understanding of cause and effect, began with the Big Bang.
That’s right — time itself (as we know it) does not exist before then. The very line of time begins with that creation event. Matter, energy, time and space were created in an instant by intelligence outside of space, time and our understanding.
About this intelligence, Albert Einstein wrote in his book “The World As I See It” that the harmony of natural law “Reveals an intelligence of such superiority that, compared with it, all the systematic thinking and acting of human beings is an utterly insignificant reflection.”
He went on to write, “Everyone who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that a spirit is manifest in the laws of the Universe– a spirit vastly superior to that of man, and one in the face of which we with our modest powers must feel humble.”
This is a significant statement for a scientist that is based both on facts and faith.
As we celebrate this Christmas season and the birth of Jesus Christ (the reason for the season) I say to you to have faith and move confidently in the direction of your dreams.
Remember that when you come to the end of all that you know and when you are ready to step off into the darkness of the unknown, move with confidence because with faith one of two things will happen, You will step onto solid ground or will be taught how to fly!
From my family to yours,
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
Cliff, Gail, Elijah and Sierra Whitney
