A Christian reflection on Darwin

"In the beginning was an explosion in the cosmos, followed by evolution and natural selection, followed by the survival and extinction of certain races”

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made”

I was an atheist for about five minutes when I was younger. I then realised that I believed in the non existence of God because some really "cool" people around me held these beliefs, not because I had ever truly thought through whether this way of looking at things made any sense or whether another viewpoint might be more logical and explain more of the world or my experiences. Among other things, it left out experiences that I knew to be real; ignored the power of spirituality; and failed to explain the limits of what my human mind was capable of grasping.

Years later, after becoming a Christian, I held an interesting conversation with a Russian atheist colleague on the subject of science and religion. We got along well as colleagues, don’t get me wrong, but when I told her I was a Christian, she looked at me as if I believed that it is the stork that brings babies. I asked her how it is possible for dead matter to suddenly become dynamic organisms. “It’s not possible”, she replied “but no new evidence suggests otherwise so that’s what we believe” “The existence of God cannot be proven either”, she added, and so the conversation kept going around in circles.

I was talking ‘religion’, and she was talking ‘science’.

Any questioning was seen as negative argument and would not be accepted by her unless new evidence proved otherwise. It was like a criminal defendant not allowed to present an alibi unless he or she could also prove who committed the crime.

Darwinist literature is full of anti-theistic ideas such as that the universe has no intelligent creator and that human beings are the product of a blind natural process. Richard Dawkins, an Oxford Zoologist, is very explicit about the religious side of Darwinism. His 1986 book “The blind Watchmaker” is at one level about biology, but at a more fundamental level it is an argument for atheism. In it he writes “Darwin made it intellectually possible to be a fulfilled atheist (...) it is absolutely safe to say that if you meet somebody who claims not to believe in evolution, that person is ignorant, stupid or insane”.

Charles Darwin published his first major literary work in 1859 called “On the origin of species by means of natural selection or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle of life”. Now more than 150 years later its contents are being taught in schools and is still widely controversial. Darwin was also described as “the man who killed God”. His theory suggests that all living species are the result of an explosion in the cosmos, followed by evolution and natural selection, which in turn determined the survival and extinction of certain races. For example, if a small population of birds happen to migrate to an island the inbreeding might cause this population to develop different characteristics than those left behind on the mainland.

Do we really know for certain that there exists some natural process by which human beings and all other beings could have evolved from microbial ancestors or from non living matter? Science seems to be understood in two ways. As a discipline based on observable data, and as a naturalistic philosophy that attempts to explain the reason for our existence.

I think the problem lies in this polarised perception. The idea of an intelligent creator suggests supernatural and religious subject matter, typically the point at which Darwinists lose interest. Christianity is perceived as sentimental because no one can see and measure God, and if it cannot be measured then it doesn’t exist. Yet, our conscience exists even though we cannot see it. The scientist Gould argued “Darwin himself exclaimed that science could not touch the problem of evil and similar conundrums. He himself stated, a dog might as well speculate on the mind of Newton. Let each man hope and believe what he can”.

Why does it matter? It matters because our beliefs determine our outlook toward our world, ourselves, other people and God. I am writing as one participating in the debate, sorting out of bits of knowledge, ideas, and while I am quite certain of what I believe in, I am also open to learning from others of varying beliefs. I believe that the complexity of our planet points to an intelligent designer who not only created our universe, but sustains it right now. I'm no scientist, but I think it takes a lot of faith to believe that 'something' can come from 'nothing'. The universe has not always existed. It had a beginning...and something must have caused that beginning. Think about it.

Jars of clay

I woke up this morning to the sound of waves crashing against the shore, and the smell of mum's freshly brewed coffee. Its’ gone be a good day. It’s on days like today that I like to write. There is no need to wolf down my breakfast or rush to catch a train. But today, as I begin typing, I realise it’s been the longest time since I’ve written anything other than academic papers.

I have been on placement in a mental health organisation since November, which has been a steep learning curve for me as I’ve little experience from the mental health sector. Nevertheless, empowering others is an amazing feeling, especially when done genuinely. Skills are important, but, sometimes, I wonder if I am relying on God less and less in the areas where I think my own capabilities suffice. I sense that, sometimes, I am trying to fit God into a box of my own making, telling Him what needs to be done to make me happy. It’s in this place that Paul’s words ‘we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us’ really come to life for me. I am an empty jar. He is my treasure. And as for those flaws and cracks in my clay pot, they are not to be frowned upon, because they are there for a reason. The cracks allow the light of God to stream through.

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

Grace is one of those wonderful things I don’t have to earn. I know many Christians who embody ‘grace’ yet somehow throughout history the church has managed to gain a reputation for it’s lack of grace. Sometimes Christians are so at ease with the language of religion, moral values, church talk, that they sometimes, inadvertently, claim to own God. As if Christianity can be narrowed down to two or three issues; as if the Holy Spirit can be bought and sold. I will not explore or debate the historical examples here, but my point is that Christianity isn’t as simple as ‘text book’ answers. What does it mean to be a Christian today? Is it about going to church and being a “good” person i.e. someone who loves the right kind of things in the right kind of way with the right kind of love? Or about something else entirely?

A friend of mine passed away this year. There were no farewells or chances to express how big a difference her life made to mine. I went to Copenhagen to spend some time with her family who were grieving the loss of a sister, daughter, mother, friend. I didn't know what to say; just joined in with the family in the hope that, at some small level, my presence was a support to them, and helped them to know that I, too, would miss her an awful lot. All of our experiences with her can be remembered, celebrated or regretted, but they can never be retrieved. Life is one of those things in which you can only move forward, but the good news is that you can take the love with you. I can honestly say, that it was God who helped me in coming to terms with her death. You know those moments when a beam of light reflects through the clouds and you go ‘wow’? I know without a shadow of doubt that every ounce of healing I have ever received has been from the boundless healing fountain of God. The God that keeps on giving and doesn’t withdraw, even though I have turned my back on Him a thousand times.

It’s not about going to church or being morally superior. Neither is it necessarily about striving to have more; because when God establishes His upside-down Kingdom ... less is more. Christianity is about relationship, intimacy and newness of life (Romans 6:8).

At the same time, I am also aware that I need to examine myself daily for pride and a self centeredness that often motivate my thoughts and actions, but even then ‘His eye is on the sparrow’. As John Ortberg highlights, trying and failing, learning from failure, and trying again works so much better than waiting for perfection. And, for me, this process is fuelled by the knowledge that the grace of God sustains me throughout.

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 8:38-39).

It’s one of my favourite scriptures because it speaks of a God who wants to restore us to intimacy. Philip Yancey tells a story about the shocking accessibility that the word ‘Abba’ contains. One time during JFK’s presidency, cabinet members were debating world politics seated around the president’s desk when, suddenly, a toddler, little 2 year old John-John crawls on top of the presidential desk completely oblivious to protocol. No one could barge into the Oval Office to see the president without an appointment, but John-John was simply visiting his ‘daddy’ much to his father’s delight. Restoring intimacy.

So being ‘authentic’ is good. Not having to always say the ‘right’ thing is great. We are all cracked jars of clay. Don’t try to fix them, just allow God to use them. Releasing hurt is healing. Forgiving others is liberating. If you find yourself in a situation where you’re holding on to pain or hurt, consider letting go, or forgiving if that’s what your situation calls for. “When we genuinely forgive” Lewis Smedes says “we set a prisoner free and then discover that the prisoner we set free was us”.

Throughout, the grace of God sustains...

I leave with you one of my favourite songs (just because!)

You Are For Me

Redefining Value

"If we did all the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves" Thomas Edison

In school, after being taught the history of the Vikings, and how they settled across Asia and America, we were taught about the wonders of self help mantras. A sandal wearing curly-haired guest teacher came along and encouraged us to always think positively, because apparently positive thoughts would give us the power to attract financial wealth.

On the cusp of graduation, we were pondering future career paths and, being impressionable, it seemed like we held the keys to success with new age lady lending us her pearls of wisdom. Being hormonal teenagers we knew we couldn’t remain permanently blissful as if having undergone extreme face lifts, but gave it a whirl anyway. We imagined the massive graduation parties we could throw and the great food we could treat our guests to. In this spirit we began uttering self help mantras whilst looking in the mirror.

I am strong. I am powerful.

Our dreams imploded in a puddle of recrimination and sulking as we digested the harsh reality that this supposed money spinner wasn’t going to turn us into millionaires. We became angry teenagers grade one, when normally we were only a grade three.

Why? Because when you’re loooking for purpose, and someone promises to give you that but doesn’t deliver, it’s just. not. cool. The self-help industry is a billion dollar enterprise that claims to sell hope, as though some divine blessing comes included. But it’s not hope it’s selling, it’s despair. This is why I can understand when young people get angry today. We all know that crime doesn't pay, but young people are not born angry. They don’t just spontaneously combust on a lazy afternoon. Their views and beliefs develop as they grow up. Many have been at the receiving end of unfulfilled promises for quite some time, feeling unheard and misunderstood. Young people love to discuss their hopes and dreams with each other – most parents and teachers encourage them to reach their full potential. However something happens somewhere along the line, and they stop believing big. The only way they know to cover up their hurts is to stop caring, and eventually they can’t stand the agony of trying to connect again so they shut down.
In the wake of the recent riots, theories of roots and causes abounded. The thing is that riots tend to tell us something important about society and what is going on. The train of thought I found most interesting focused on reasons why we tend to define ‘value’ in terms of economic contribution and status, when human beings have value that doesn't depend on external factors. We have turned the word on its head; calibrated it from every angle; wrestled with it until daybreak yet if we look the word up in a dictionary - definitions tend to be centered around monetary value. And when human value is mentioned, an uncomfortable silence ensues, like just before women reject compliments from men they dont' know because they're concerned about their motives.

There is a sense of injustice among many young people that they cannot trust the ‘suits’ as they read the headlines about banks paying ridiculous bonuses, MPs claiming on houses that do not exist and police being paid by newspapers. Surely these are just glorified forms of ‘looting’ and they see themselves as following suit. It's not about the riots, rather, it's about the symptoms of a widespread sickness in our society. It should unsettle us, where we are part of fuelling a tendency that disenfranchises people who have very little to lose. Because everyone loses out in the end. Because what is natural is God-given and beautiful; what is cultural is learned and sometimes needs to be unlearned. King David was chosen as King over all his brothers because he was a man after God's own heart, not because he was the strongest or the smartest.

“But God told Samuel, "Looks aren't everything. Don't be impressed with his looks and stature. I've already eliminated him. God judges persons differently than humans do. Men and women look at the face; God looks into the heart." (The Message - 1 Samuel 16:7)

I am created by the God who has created all things and given everything its form and its purpose. So are you. Let that truth settle in your heart.

The urban beatitudes

Blessed are not just the winners that society thinks are deserving

Blessed are not just the supermodels and the super-rich

Blessed are not just the conglomerate businesses, or those dripping with diamonds

Blessed are not just the nuclear families with 2,5 children

Blessed are -also- the penny scrapers, the city dwellers and the hustlers

Blessed are the prostitutes, the shameful, the forlorn and the addicted

Blessed are those who never dealt in social power, the marginalised and those who never felt they belonged in high school

Blessed are the brave, the wall flowers, the single and the married

Blessed are the pillars, the black sheep, the parents who can’t afford a nervous breakdown

Blessed are those who fail but keep trying

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness...

For they shall be filled.

Acts of kindness

Apparently this is the coldest December in the UK since records began, and along with many other people I was bedridden with a really nasty virus! I had to think of ways to entertain myself when I was unable to move around, such as counting the dots in the ceiling. This was a bit of a culture shock especially since life seems to happen in a blur of non stop busyness. One day merges into the next, there’s the hectic work culture, fast food, and coffee shops on every street corner with the promise to satisfy our much needed energy fix. Being sick in bed made me feel like I was missing out on all the action. It was kind of similar to watching Beckett’s play ‘Waiting For Godot’- it’s slow moving, doesn’t make sense or have any deeper meaning.

I think if I knew I could get away with running around like a headless chicken I probably would, only to discover when was too late that there’s a price to pay in poor health. I heard on the news that work related stress costs the UK around 500 million pounds and 14 million working days every year. I know stress is bad, but I’ve always thought that some stress is necessary in order to get things done. For example, the other day I was late for an appointment. I was standing in a long queue at Tesco’s being served by a slow cashier, and the person in front of me couldn’t find the correct change. The last thing I wanted to do was think about effective ways to manage my stress. Instead I looked around for a shorter queue, and thought that I should have looked for the more efficient-looking cashier. Preferably the one with a talent badge. But the moaning just made me feel worse, because I really had no right to moan about something so trivial.

I think trivial moaning is a demotivator. For example, when the Israelites were being led out of slavery and oppression, it took them some 40 years of wandering in the desert to make an 11 day journey because they couldn’t stop whining and complaining about being stuck in the desert. An abundant stress-free life doesn’t mean an absence of adversity, it’s more about how we grow in the midst of it. No longer do I want to learn the hard way through stress & illness. So when I have deadlines, I try make extra sure that I don't jump out of my bed in the morning without spending quality time with God first. I don’t go to bed so late that I’m on the train so exhausted I begin imagining things. I stop myself from getting annoyed when the person next to me has his iPod leaking the not so dulcit tones of 80's electronica.

Some perspective is needed:

“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” Mark 8:36

Sometimes the little things help maintain perspective. Little random acts of kindness help give life to us and others, a smile on a long and tiresome train journey, a kind word in season, or help with a heavy suitcase.

Hope, courage and the stories we tell

When you think about it, everything we know comes in the form of a story with a beginning and end; from the stories told by our parents at bedtime, to the stories communicated to us by newsreaders everyday. Stories are like glue, they bring us together across class and culture and give coherence to our many, and sometimes confusing, experiences. When I go to the cinema or theatre I can know that, for a few hours a separate world exists where predictable patterns can be relied on. There is a way of knowing how things will work out in the end.

Perhaps that’s why stories hold such appeal? They can inform us about how the world works, and how we’re meant to feel about the world. They can give a sense of security because, paradoxically, they exist apart from us. And though we are welcomed in as observers, we are not responsible for the story’s ultimate outcome because the protagonist’s success or failure doesn’t rest on our shoulders.

I also think we’re drawn to stories because we spend a large part of our lives in uncertainty. We’ve been reminded, by birthdays, that moments race by like bullet trains, the years fly past, and we can’t control them at all. It seems like only yesterday I was in college about to turn 17. Soon I would be an independent woman, have a successful career, get married and have children. Then I’d comb my daughters hair thinking soon I wouldn’t be able to do this anymore knowing that the little ponytail would inevitably have to give way to hair straighteners and tousled locks. I tried to plan the outcome of my future so much so that there was no room for surprises. I think we all do at some point in our lives. Yet still there is no absolute guarantee that we can know how things turn out in the end. Institutions crumble, savings evaporate and careers come to an end.

That’s why I am encouraged when I hear people be honest about life, without glossing over the gloomier realities. I need to hear the good, the bad, and the ugly, because then I discover I am not alone. Most films have happy endings, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but when they say so little about the reality of life, they inadvertently suggest that things are better than they actually are. The optimism that isn’t necessarily rooted in reality, but in the wishful thinking of fantasy and make-believe, can be deceptively misleading.

Our highlights, struggles, prayers, silences, laughter, weeping and praising are part and parcel of walking a path that has quick turns and hidden corners. Life is unpredictable. It throws its curveballs and not every story has a typical happy ending. 

Real life stories are living, organic things like clouds forming or shifting tides. They do not always do the things we want them to, or have a beginning and an end.

I remember a conversation I had with a Rwandan man about the genocide in the 1990s. It was hard to know what to say to someone who had suffered such loss. His first instinct was that the perpetrators should suffer the same fate that they had inflicted on his family. He said that he thought forgiveness was a lovely idea until he was faced with forgiving the unforgivable. Yet still somehow in his extreme loss, and profound confusion as to why God had allowed such a thing to happen, he was able to forgive them. This didn’t mean that the pain didn’t turn up from time to time. It didn’t mean that he felt immune to someone sparking a bad memory. It meant that he had entered into the ongoing process that forgiveness sometimes is.

Stories like these carry something with them that enriches my own life experience. As a Christian, I draw hope from people like the Rwandan man, who have learned how God can meet them in the midst of their struggles, and bring hope is seemingly hopeless situations. And I am inspired by women, like the Big Sistahs, who have had the courage to use their difficult pasts to help others out of poverty. I can hardly compare myself to these people, but I see an authenticity in them that stirs me beyond powerful rhetoric.

Their hope and courage is a reminder that there’s a Grand Narrative that doesn’t rest on my shoulders, and which doesn’t begin and end with my ability to keep things together. Rather it invites me up into it to take part. It invites us all.

So...

I believe that everybody has a story to tell. A story that’s perhaps waiting in the back of your mind to see the light of day. You never know what could happen! True life stories have the power to inspire people around us. They can help children beyond the theory of what is taught in schools. If you haven’t yet figured out what your story is, I hope you will very soon.

The church on the frontline

I can’t imagine what it would be like to have my entire livelihood swept away in one fell swoop. I don’t even like changes to my routine and think life is great long as its trundles along unhindered. Then life throws an unexpected curveball and brings a different perspective on things. It’s wise to plan for the future, and it’s much easier to handle challenges when you’ve been taking care of business along the way, but sometimes events are just way beyond our control.

Imagine one minute driving home in your car, the next minute you are being carried away by flash floods. A few weeks ago Pakistan was affected by the worst floods in living memory, killing at least 1,400 people. It left hundreds of thousands injured and homeless; more than 20 million people were affected in different ways.

Natural disasters can be incredibly unpredictable. Changing rainfall patterns, floods, drought affect the poorest hardest because they are the least able to adapt to these climatic changes. For example in Pakistan, many of those affected by the floods were people dependent on agriculture and the destruction of their crops and livestock left them facing hunger and uncertainty. They now face the soul wrenching task of having to rebuild their lives from scratch.

I work for Christian relief agency Tearfund UK and I’m in daily communication with supporters on all aspects of Tearfund’s work. Our phone lines have been red hot for the past few weeks. What started out a gentle stream soon turned into a raging river. A lady couldn’t go on her holiday unless she’d done something to help the flood victims; an older gentleman donated despite barely even having enough money for himself; and a young man gave despite his recent redundancy. Hearing these stories was a humbling experience for someone like me. I flinch whenever I have to share my last piece of chewing gum and I seem forever preoccupied with work that needs to be done.

However, it’s not necessarily about striving to have more; because when God establishes His upside-down Kingdom....less is more.

And while these phone calls were happening, and while people across the globe turned on their TV’s and thought about whether or not respond, the church was already right there at the epicentre of the disaster distributing food, clothes, temporary shelter, carrying out door-to-door visits and identifying people in need. They reminded me of the early church, a community where members voluntarily shared their possessions with one another, even selling their personal property as required when funds were needed to help the poor. Things happened just because Jesus was among them. They didn’t have iPhones or flat screen TV’s, but simply lived with a love for Christ and each other and proclaimed the gospel with their lives not just with their mouths.

I simply love that about the church. In many parts of the world the church is the first place people run to in times of trouble because it’s at the heart of poor communities. It’s there for the long term with a promise of sustainable development and doesn’t haphazardly parachute down into theatres of poverty and suffering only to disappear the following week. This means that as the focal point of many communities, it has consistence and stability when other NGO’s fail or governmental structures prove unreliable. Crucially the local church is rooted in culture and local history, and therefore has the credibility, knowledge and expertise to maintain trustful relationships. People are empowered to shake off charity dependence, and to once again experience the dignity of earning their own livelihoods. Poor communities are equipped to identify root problems and build ownership of development initiatives to help them solve those problems themselves. Secular NGO’s might struggle to match this.

It got me thinking, what would happen if we, the church in the West, rolled up our sleeves, got our hands dirty, got to know people’s struggles and let our own struggles be known?

Through my work I have witnessed, over the years, how God has called seemingly ordinary people to extraordinary action. Time and time again I hear about life transforming ideas beginning with only a few inspired individuals. Their visions became tangible movements that spread across local and national boundaries like wildfire. And the successes of those visions have not solely depended on their gifts and training or even available resources, but on a connectedness to their community and a desire to use their God given passions to reach out to their neighbours.

A recurring pattern starts to emerge. It’s a question about relationship, not merely a question about money, power or social justice. It’s about knowing the names and faces of our neighbours and letting these relationships change us from the inside out because Jesus did not just leave changed individuals, He left supernatural community, a group of changed individuals together operating in the power of the Holy Spirit.

They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. Acts 2:42–47 (NIV)