The Language of God

I started a new book: The Language of God by Francis S. Collins, head of the Human Genome Project. Are you suitably impressed? Collins is not only an extremely smart man, but a believer, and the book's focus is on the compatability of science and faith. Some of the book will be a stretch for me (as in can my brain comprehend everything he is saying), but so far, I'm liking it. The first chapters deal with his life as an unbeliever, and his becoming a follower of Jesus. He was heavily influenced by C. S. Lewis. I love how on page 40 he says:

The church is made up of fallen people. The pure, clean water of spiritual truth is placed in rusty containers, and the subsequent failings of the church down through the centuries should not be projected onto the faith iself, as if the water had been the problem.

Isn't that so true. I am just a rusty pot, doing the best I can, and hoping I don't turn someone away from the pure water by what I do or say. It puts me in mind of a poem by Christina Rossetti - the last verse is:

My life is like a broken bowl,
A broken bowl that cannot hold
One drop of water for my soul
Or cordial in the searching cold;
Cast in the fire the perish'd thing;
Melt and remould it, till it be
A royal cup for Him, my King:
O Jesus, drink of me.

Although I don't particulary like being remolded and melted, I love the picture of being a royal cup for the King.
Collins goes on to say on page 42 that the earnest seeker must look beyond the behavior of flawed humans in order to find the truth. I like that too. People always think that Christians must be "perfect", and some Christians act as though they are, but we're just learning and growing right along with the rest of the world. As you can tell, the first chapters rely heavily on his conversion, and questions like: How can a rational person believe in miracles? Why would a loving God allow suffering? I'm on the chapters that deal with the origins of the Universe. Will I be able to absorb the "anthropic principle", "quarks" and "quantam mechanics"? I'm thankful I have Phil right next door to me to help unravel this scientific jargan! My brother likes to say he believes in the Big Bang theory - God spoke, and BANG, it was here. I don't have any trouble believing that God can create the world with one word, but it's interesting to learn how science is supporting that the universe was created by One being. Even Darwin alluded to it in the last chapter of his book - but, I have to go back to work now so I'll have to write about that another day.