Modern man is a worshiper of certainty. He places his trust in reason more than anything else. And math and science are reason’s essential implements and resources. What does not stand to reason is not true. And what cannot be proven by science does not exist. And anything that exists can be reduced or expressed with certitude in a mathematical formula. Much of today’s thinking is based on Aristotelian logic and Aristotle’s theory of the syllogism: All men are rational animals. I am a man. Therefore, I am a rational animal. By extension, if I am a rational animal, then I am not an irrational animal. If I am here, I cannot be there. If I am white, I am not black.
And yet many things in ordinary life flies in the face of this rational approach. There are certain things that cannot be explained by science or math. One and one is not always two. It can be four or even more. Science has led to the conclusion that parallel universes and dark matter exist. And yet, science cannot prove their existence.
And reason and science are totally at a loss in explaining the paradoxes in daily life. There is both good and evil in me. It is in my emptiness that I realize the abundance in my life. It is in my deepest sorrows that I discover my most intense joys. There is a longing in me that is bigger than my present moment. There is no rational explanation to the kindness and generosity of people who give without counting the cost or expecting a reward. There is no mathematical explanation how good things and resources are multiplied where these are shared in love; or how troubles and problems are divided and eventually dissipated when shared with people we love.
I cannot rationally explain why I would believe in a God who personally cares for me. Yet, I know in my heat of hearts that he has been there all my life, He is here with me right now and I will spend an eternity with Him in the future.
Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
Now a week later his disciples were again inside
and Thomas was with them.
Jesus came, although the doors were locked,
and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.”
Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands,
and bring your hand and put it into my side,
and do not be unbelieving, but believe.”
Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me?
Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”
John 20:26–29