Basic science involves setting up experiments, making observations, and testing hypotheses using probability theory. I was drawn to study physics, math, and mathematical statistics, not by the above process, but by some of the specific content of those subjects, and the interesting details they had to offer. But I was slow to connect the dots and really think and draw evidence-based conclusions.
When your experiment holds up under repeated observations and measurements, yielding consistent results, you begin to count on certain results, like even informally believing the sun will come up again tomorrow, just like it has each day before. Something could prevent that from happening, but we tend to typically discount that as quite unlikely.
As a boy, I went through cub scouts and boy scouts, up through Eagle Scout. I had great outdoor opportunities, including portaging across many lakes in Canada twice, as we carried EVERYTHING with us. But I never thought about the creator and extreme intelligence and creative design behind our vast universe.
What first got my attention were just a couple of students at Rice Institute in Houston that went out of their way to help and be kind to others. Most students were so focused on their own concerns that they did NOT have any time to look out for others. But these guys were so different I wanted to find out what made them tick. They invited me to a gathering of Christian students at Bastrop State Park, so I planned to attend and find out their secret.
The Sat. of that event the ROTC called a drill practice, but I cut it because I had to get some answers. My friends went dutifully to the drill practice, but I caught a ride with a student from the U. of Houston. I learned what the difference was – Jesus. I had known ABOUT Him, but did not know Him personally. So I invited Him into my life as my Lord and savior, and things began to click. The Bible I had read academically became alive and personal, like a love letter from God.
It helped me connect the dots to the awesome creator behind the creation I had taken for granted. It explained so very much, like vividly painting how terrible sin could be in its pride, selfishness, and deadly effects on me and others. The probabilities of the conditions that combine together to allow life to exist on our planet are incredibly beyond any statistics achievable with other “scientific experiments.” May God’s evidence dawn on you and your reckoning as you observe with more skill, and overwhelm you into experiencing Him personally, along with a brand new spiritual life!
John Hoelzel Sr.
