Science is defined as: the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment. As such, I find science to be fascinating and informative. The rudiments I learned in school, the structure of molecules, the intricacy of living cells, the placement and movement of the earth, the sun, the moon, and the stars, and the makeup of atoms; all these informed my understanding of the world in which I live.
Last Autumn, I drastically pruned some of the shrubs growing in front of the house. I removed probably two-thirds to three-fourths of the growth, leaving only bare stubs. A neighbor, observing my handiwork was appalled, believing that I had killed the plants. Now that Spring is here, I’ve been carefully observing the shrubs. At first, they did, in fact, appear to be lifeless. Gradually, I noticed tiny buds appearing on the bark. Then a few leaves broke forth. And now, the shrubs are filling in with new growth. With enough water, and a little fertilizer, they will thrive. And with careful pruning, they will remain healthy and be pleasing to look at.
Who wrote the rules about how a plant is to grow? Who designed a life-form that can renew itself after such brutal treatment? Who set in place the system of root and branch that draws water and nutrients from the earth, and responds to the sun so that it makes its own food and gives off the oxygen that I need to breathe? Science can explain how these things happen, and the explanation is amazing. But science cannot explain how the order of life came to be; how the rules, the laws, of physics, biology and chemistry came to be. These had to be created in the mind of a creator before the first twig ever sprouted.
Each morning, as I sip my first cup of coffee, before I read a bit of scripture and talk to my Creator, I think on these things. The birch tree that fills my view out the window, whether the branches are bare and snow-covered, or filling out with fresh green leaves as they are now, causes me to appreciate the sheer wonder of creation. The sun, which appears over the horizon behind the birch tree, is awesome to behold and its power is astonishing to contemplate.
Science tells us the sun is about ninety-three million miles distant from the earth, a flaming ball of raging fire, firmly fixed exactly in the right location as we slowly rotate and circumnavigate it. A little closer, and the earth would become scorched and barren. A little farther away and all life would cease and the earth be reduced to a frozen wasteland. But, by design, the two bodies maintain their relative positions and movements, and all life thrives by divine rule and providence.
I am more amazed by the wonder of creation, the richness and diversity of life than I am at the latest technological gadget. My wife just received one such marvel; a coffee cup that electronically maintains the temperature of her brew for up to three hours, complete with a status light. It’s nice because she spends a lot of time on the phone, and her coffee often gets cold. But it doesn’t compare with the effect of the sun, the rain, and the breeze that makes things grow. Or how energy is stored in the food we eat, and how our bodies transform that energy into thought and purposeful movement. It’s all by design, and how intricate and glorious it is!
I urge you to take a moment to reflect on the life you see around you everyday. Look up to the sky, or into the face of someone you love. Watch a bird fly, seeking its food. Feel the sun; let a breeze or a raindrop touch you, be alive for just a moment. Then maybe you’ll want to breathe a prayer of thanks to the Creator God who made all things good.
(And God said to Noah) “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth”.
Genesis 8:22 – 9:1 (ESV)
Robert Frohlich 