Today science and technology has created so many marvels that have life more enjoyable and easier all around. But it has also bred a culture of cynicism and utilitarianism. What cannot be observed and measured cannot be managed and often dismissed as non-existent. For anything to be of value, it has to have some use and the question is always, “Of what use it is to me?” Reason and logic have been deified in the cathedrals of science and technology.
And yet, there is more to life than science and technology. Emotions and feelings are reduced to mere electro-chemical reactions among cells when put under the microscope of science. And yet it does not explain the extreme joy and happiness a mother feels when she cradles her baby in her arms or the pride of a father seeing his son’s accomplishments or the determination of a lover to please the beloved. Under the electron microscope, there is no difference to the particles that make me up and those that make up a table or a beast. And yet, I breathe and can move about which a table cannot do. I am conscious and free while a beast is not.
Christ came as one of us and many met Him with a cynical and utilitarian attitude. His own town-mates wondered, “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? What authority has He saying the things He is saying?” And the pharisees griped, “Show us a sign that you are indeed the Messiah?” This, in spite of the many works of wonders that he wrought.
There were those who believed in Him, despite all the logic and reason. A father asks Jesus to heal his son. Jesus asks him if he believes that he can do this. The father humbly replies, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” And that is also my prayer.