Where is God In the midst of these troubling times. it is a question that is on many lips today especially those on the front lines of the Covid-19 pandemic. There is a lot of commentary being produced right now and I fear that in some instances it is an attempt to capitalize on the moment. I am sensitive to that reality and I do not want to create material in which I benefit from the tremendous loss being encountered across our community. In this forum I wrestle with the idea of a God who is present in our time and I simply wish to address those who may be questioning that idea.
Before we can begin to conceptualize how a God presence might figure into our present circumstances I think it's important to examine our reality more closely. That's not as easy as it sounds. Especially if we are under the extreme pressure this pandemic is creating for those in its epicenter. The more intensely we experience any pressure on the existential realities ,that is life, the more intense our focus becomes on what is right before us. This obviously inhibits our objectivity. To even consider the margins of an infinitely bigger picture in times like these would take extraordinary courage. However there is a larger reality and it would be in this space that this God would be operating. To help bridge the gap I want to break it down into more manageable chunks. The present outbreak began in the Wuhan Provence in China. The interconnected nature of our global society provides intrinsic links to virtually every person on the globe. It was simply a matter of time when that first contact with a novel virus would begin its spread across the globe. Perhaps more could have been done to stem the contagion but the practical reality of global commerce and human nature make the decisions necessary to limit transmission unrealistic. Where indiscriminate biological links connect us there are social, political, and economic realities that keep us from acting uniformly. What has become painfully obvious in our new state of affairs is that we are a global community that has erected arbitrary barriers that fundamental truths do not respect. The biological reality inherent in an infectious disease is one of them. While we think and act domestically we are in nearly every important way a global community. Even more important is that our most intimate experience with reality is as individuals. We occupy personal space and our lives unfold over a span of moments that are unique to us. This personal reality gives us an experience we call individuality. Yet nearly every moment of our lives is shared experience. If we desire solitude we often have to seek it out. We have to find a space where we can be truly alone. It is our shared experience that is the more objective reality. It's more true than the one we experience as individuals. However because so much of our thoughts and ideals are tied to the existential we confine ourselves to the only truth we can trust with our survival. Our individual identity. However the anthropological reality of our experience on this earth is that alone we are vulnerable. In the face of a global pandemic we must come to rely on facts rather than fanciful conceptions. The idea that we can in fact isolate ourselves is fanciful. In addition we have become aware that living in isolation creates challenges of its own. Finally it is the more universal version of reality that makes a pandemic outbreak even possible. We could theoretically seal our communities from the outside world and avoid contact of all sorts. It is suggested that China did impose a draconian lockdown in Wuhan to do this very thing. In the U.S. stay at home orders had been put into place as the virus spread across the country . The Centers for Disease Control advocates measures where individuals isolate themselves, biologically, from one another through social distancing and wearing of personal protective equipment. All of these measures are designed to "break the chain" that links us together as living organisms. In the case of the Covid-19 virus it is a biological chain that, scientifically, we can trace to its distinct origin. One that took place in an atmosphere where social customs, and elicit practices put the human population in close contact with animals normally associated with the wild. Even the most stringent restraints we place on ourselves to be safe is undone by the actions of a few rogue elements in our midst. Before we can legitimately see God as the cause of our troubles we have to acknowledge that even what little control we have over our circumstances is negated by our misgivings. Whether they be individual or the product of the institutions we create. As an engineer I analyze and troubleshoot systems that are designed to maintain equilibrium of a measurable value. For instance cooling water in a reservoir. This is made possible by the use of sensing devices and fluid control equipment. To maintain the level and quality of the water in the reservoir we must first consider what values we desire to maintain. Sensors are set-up to detect the values to be controlled and finally equipment that add and subtract fluid and chemicals are installed. The values in the system are continually monitored for deviations from which they are set and the equipment is triggered to respond to those deviations. In this way we can establish an equilibrium and maintain it. I'm sure many of us would like to be part of a social environment as stable and predictable as the one in this example. However human communities retain elements that persistently reject control of any sort. The notion of maintaining a state of equilibrium among a human based system is fanciful. Often our notions of a Godlike entity center around the idea of a controlling mechanism. We pray to the sky for intervention when the system seems out of balance or our lives have taken an unpleasant turn. What we cannot clearly see are the factors of our own doing that have brought the system out of whack. Additionally those measures that would return us to a better state often run contrary to our own ideals of satisfaction and fulfillment. These are concepts, whether divinely inspired or not, are foundational to Christianity yet they are not exclusive to it. There are fundamental principles that dictate the events we see and experience as we streak through space and time. Issac Newton laid out such fundamentals in his classic work "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy". Modern physics and models we still utilize today to quantify many of our observations owe much to His insight. Newton didn't see a definitive line between scientific principles and theological ones. All were subject to the same natural ordering of the universe. His observations were made in a context of " first principles", the building blocks of our universal reality, and these principles did not negate the presence of a creative influence. Where science and theology separate is the question of intent. Do we exist in a universe that is incidental or are our experiences the product of divine intent? It is important to realize however that in either case the mechanism that informs our reality remains the same. It is a principle that mocks the scientist who declares we live in a godless universe as equally as it does the theologian who insists that God breaks his own rules. The opportunity to experience reality in the presence of a viral pandemic spreading across the globe casts these realities in sharp relief and gives us insight into the mechanism that defines our reality. What is a virus? First and most important in this context is what it is,"not". Living! A virus does not function in the same way as a living organism. It lacks the metabolic properties to sustain itself, to grow and reproduce outside a host organism. Fundamentally a virus is a gene sequence encased in a protective shell. It is a packet of information. When it attaches itself to cells within a host organism it offloads its genetic cargo. These rogue genes then interact with the genetic code of an otherwise healthy cell and reprogram them biologically. In the case of Covid-19 the virus causes an acute respiratory response in the host cells. In this way the virus achieves the mechanism of transmission that it cannot achieve through its own devices. The coughing and sneezing induced in the sick person ejects the viral payload into the atmosphere and onto surfaces where they can be picked up by the uninfected. Obviously the distancing and sanitation measures suggested by various public health organizations are designed to circumvent the viruses preferred method of transmission. Measures informed by the observations of scientists and health professionals that study disease and its transmission. It is remarkable how closely a real world viral pandemic correlates the "sin" pandemic of the Christian bible. lets understand first and foremost that the data that supports each of these phenomenon is measurable and capable of study. Those things I relate here are not simply fanciful they are based on real world observation and experience. The fact that the anecdotal evidence comes to us from a document that is considered controversial is incidental. In the bible humanity is first encountered in a pristine environment. There it is called Eden. In Eden humans have unfettered access to this God who we can rightly suggest is the embodiment of a universal constant . The God of scripture is said to be all present and all knowing. Humanity in this pristine state is well informed and in complete compliance with the standards set forth by this God figure. Man is virtually the master of his environment due to his understanding of the principles that define the reality he observes. Next mankind is confronted with a deceptive influence. Because he has not experienced, the unreal, he is extremely vulnerable to misrepresentation. A vulnerability to which he easily succumbs. The rest of the bible narrative is effectively a three way dialog between mankind, the embodiment of universal truth, God, and a deceptive presence. It is a dialog that manifests itself throughout scripture as oscillating cycles of stability and crisis. We do not have to believe in the biblical narrative to see the truth that it contains. We can observe the parallels that exist between those ideals and what we observe in our own environment. That's why a crisis like the one we now experience is so informative. It brings universal truths right to our doorstep. Even if we confront them behind a protective mask. We have a choices to make as we engage with a diseased world. Scientists and health professionals work to develop vaccines that protect us from infection. In the current Covid -19 pandemic these people are working around the clock to bring such a vaccine online. We also know with certainty that developing antibodies to the virus is the only sure way we have to prevent sickness. It's science. The biblical narrative then acts very much like a vaccine does in the biological world. It speaks of universal truths and of deceptive influences. These truths are simply static players. They're just factors in a larger schematic. Where the story takes on meaning is how those factors play out among a population of people. The most comprehensive laboratory that we have. One in which a pandemic of bad and misleading information results in suffering and confusion. The vaccine is 'truth". It is reasonable to assume that when the vaccine to treat the Covid-19 virus becomes available those vulnerable to infection would overwhelmingly welcome it. Yet there will be those who do not. It's a sad fact that despite the best science, the best information, and the efforts of those steadfastly willing to help the vulnerable some will choose to struggle. Issac Newton is quoted as saying," I can calculate the motion of heavenly bodies, but not the madness of people". Lets look again at the origins of the current pandemic. It has been widely assumed by those studying the outbreak that it probably first occurred in a " wet market" operating in China. A market very likely confining exotic animals to be sold to the public for consumption. These practices are considered elicit by most communities around the world. In many parts of Asia however the presence of cultural phenomenon make markets like these viable. In fact an appetite for the exotic has emerged in western society as well. It is factors like these that create a sub culture that operates outside the mainstream. An environment where elicit practices of all sorts find a marketplace. It's not necessary to categorize these practices as right or wrong. The fact that they are largely organized by criminal elements and transpire under a cloak of secrecy is a primary indicator of their disassociation with accepted values. Yet however far from the mainstream these practices stray they impact the whole of society.This reality is on full display as the entire human population of the world has become affected by the actions of criminals in China. It is a dilemma that human society has grappled with as long as we have gathered in community. I would like to point out here that China is a country that exerts more control over its population than almost any other on earth. In the example of a controlled system I shared previously the government of China would reflect one method of control. Certainly unleashing a pandemic on the world was not an objective of the Chinese government. At least we would hope not. Yet it was under this degree of supervision that the activities that directly led to the crisis took place. One of two things must be true in this case. The government in China knew of those practices and let them continue or it was unaware of them. In either case that system of control failed in one of its most basic functions. The implication is clear. There is no mechanism of control available to humanity that can eradicate the vulnerability we have to our own proclivities. It is a nature that is self centrist. One mans selfish act can create a rippling that effects the entire world. We can resort to draconian measures to curb our impulses. Yet it cannot do with a society what it cannot do within the heart of any individual in that society. I am not implicating the Chinese government in wrongdoing. What I do stress is the limitations that humanity has in developing systems that are designed to maintain equilibrium. Whether or not this is a function of divine mandate or human nature or one of a number of factors I do not speculate. I simply suggest that such a state is achievable only by an informed and coordinated populace. One that is not overseen by an omniscient or omnipotent institution, but one connected in spirit. I have to make a confession as to this idea of spirituality. It is not one that has been popularized in either the religious or secular communities. Ours is a world driven by the forces that exist all around us. In the celestial plane, the earth is held in orbit around the sun by a force exerted upon it. The atoms in our body are ordered and arranged by forces. The way in which we see ourselves and our position within the community are a reflection of the social, cultural, and economic forces that act on our community. Spirituality is a force as well. It is a force of inspiration. In a purely physical sense inspiration is a creative impulse originating in the neural structure of our brains. We simply see something in "our minds eye" and we act in ways that make that vision become real. We create our reality. Steve Jobs, the creative force behind the "Apple" brand, called his process, the reality distortion field. He not only saw the possibility of a future product. He had faith in the process that would provide the tools and techniques to bring that product into existence. Technology. Of course Jobs did not distort reality. He belonged to a community that was connected by a spirit of creativity. Its members shared a common vision and through their collaborative efforts brought that vision into existence. Today Apple products are a part of virtually every household. The "Rising Tide" is a force as well. Whether its source is simply a wholesome ideal or an intelligence connecting with us spiritually is a matter of debate. What is true without question is that we see the world as one in state of transition. We believe the world to come can be one of our choosing rather than one chosen for us by men with limited insight and all manner of prejudice. Our oceans tide is made possible by the pull of our nearest celestial neighbor, the moon. I believe a human tide is being gathered in our midst by a force even more powerful. Spirituality. I have taken tremendous care in arranging the thoughts expressed here in a context that is universal in its scope. The work of Newton, Einstein, Darwin, Plato, and a host of others have been and will be cited in this post and those to come. The ideals expressed here may seem novel but they are not. It is because our world has taken on such ludicrous proportions that the fundamental and simplistic seem so extreme. the Anthropological arc of humanity is that of man slowly emerging from the cave of his ancestors, to settle small towns and hamlets, and finally into the great cities of the world. The reality that we experience is not merely one of time and events as they occur. It is a state of emergence. We are transiting from a state of ignorance into knowledge. I have also drawn tremendous insight from the pantheon of Christian literature. In fact these volumes speak even more clearly on the state of mankind as his world expands from one he depicts on the walls of his cave into one truly reflective of reality. Yet there are elements in our character that yearns for the cave from which we have come. Thus all academic pursuits, religious and secular, are a rescue operations. Like the efforts in Chile several years ago that brought miners from the darkened pit of their own creation back into the light. To those on the front lines of this epidemic I would say that you occupy rare space in human history. A place where existential realities come into the sharpest possible focus. One mans decision, far removed from where you now stand, invited an infection that passed from his hands or lips to another. That disease was then passed along like a wave until it eventually washed over the patient or loved one now in your care or in your prayers. It is a struggle I understand all to well. The bible states that it was one mans sin entering the world that brought death in our midst. Death that then passed on to all the worlds people. Even worse than physical death this spiritual death doesn't merely deprive one of life. It takes away the meaning of ones life. An existence that is death without Its bittersweet release from suffering. Like you I am often left comforting the stricken. It is in those moments I am most sensitive to the suffering that is our inheritance as human beings. There are those whom I serve that will discover newness of life and those that will not. The truth of this is not in my hands, or of Gods. It is the disease that renders the final verdict. One in which we, and we alone have an appeal. Those among us in the community can take measures to limit our exposure to Covid-19. There are fundamental truths that the virus is compelled to respect. To know and understand those truths is our surest defense against it. To those that do not understand. To those that will not comply. To those who are simply innocent victims in the clutches of a deadly disease we can offer the only thing left to us. Compassion and understanding. I thank God for the spirit of compassion. We cannot seal shut deaths door, but we can ease the transition of those passing through it. Finally I feel compelled to speak on the resistance in some Christian communities to follow public health guidelines. I have started this piece between the good Friday holiday and Easter Sunday. For many within Christianity this story is very familiar. Christ was Crucified on Friday and was resurrected on Easter. There is a more fundamental element transpiring here. Christs crucifixion has ushered in a new reality. All the texts in the old testament, or in the case of Christ on that fateful weekend, the Judaic code, refer to his sacrifice as an atonement. The elements of those writings suggest mankind's efforts as a temporary resolution to the problem of sin. Christs sacrifice was a doing away with temporal practices and bringing about a complete restoration through his death and eventual resurrection. A restoration not made complete by an adherence to standard but in the restoration of spirit. As I write between these two holidays I am reminded, especially knowing that there are communities that will be defying distancing guidelines, that Christianity remains divided between a systematic relationship with the God of the mountaintop and that of the spirit released through the resurrection. Those communities who will not comply are in a state of rebellion with the truth. The truth of God, the truth of nature, the truth of reason and logic. They remain in such a state because they await the coming of God from the clouds. However the truth of Easter is that God has already come, and that he lives among those who share in his resurrection. His word is clear and distinct. Protect yourselves and your community by spreading the truth and preventing the spread of the virus.
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