Cosmic Encounter

Most scientists acknowledge the fact that randomness rules the universe, from the continuous galactic explosions that give birth to new stars to the quirky spin of sub-atomic particles shooting off hither and thither. And yet, in the world of Newtonian physics in which we live, the law of causality reigns supreme. In his classic laws of motion, Newton postulates that an object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction, unless acted upon by an outside force and that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. There is always a reason for anything happening.

I experience the same disconnectedness in my life. On the one hand, my birth seems to have been a random event. There is no particular reason why I am here. And my death will probably be a random event, with me not knowing the time nor the hour of my demise. But everything else in between my birth and my death can be explained by a reason. And many of the things I do, I have done because I had a reason for doing so. More importantly, I have a free will when using reason to decide what to do.

So how can reason and free will come or emerge from such quirky and random events as sub-atomic particles? Come now two highly regarded Princeton mathematicians, John Conway and Simon Kochen, who claim to have proven that if humans have even the tiniest amount of free will, then atoms themselves must also have some form of free will and thus behave unpredictably.

It seems to me then that I can view my life as a random event, a one in a million chance happening, never again to be repeated; or, I can view my life as part of an intelligent cosmic design and plan and that I am here for a reason. Between randomness and reason, I find the latter a more logical and simpler explanation. I choose to believe that I am here for a reason.

The leap of faith is as much a conundrum as the phenomenon of randomness. My faith tells me that the Author of the cosmic plan is a God who is a person interested in me in particular. He has loved me and planned for me to be from the very beginning. It may not be clear to me now but He has a role just for me to perform. He took on our form and mode of existence to teach us all of these truths. He meets us when, where and if we are ready to encounter Him. I only need to look deep inside me to know Him and feel His presence. In prayer. Unceasing prayer. And not losing heart.

Blessed the man who fears the Lord.
~Psalm 112

Then Jesus told them a parable
about their need to pray always and not to lose heart.
He said, “In a certain city there was a judge
who neither feared God nor had respect for people.
In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying,
‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’
For a while he refused; but later he said to himself,
‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone,
yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice,
so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.'”
And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says.
And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night?
Will he delay long in helping them?
I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them.”
Luke 18:1-8