Whether we acknowledge it or not, it’s a battle we all wage. All our lives, we are bombarded with a variety of ideas regarding our planet, our existence, and even our future. We see science reports regarding new discoveries in biology, astronomy, physics and chemistry. We hear of archaeology finds that suggest tales from the Bible may or may not be accurate. And we have to decide what to believe.

There is no question that our ever-increasing fountain of knowledge seems to be in constant conflict with the Bible texts. Old Testament tales in particular, seem to be hard to swallow in light of contemporary scientific knowledge. Adam and Eve, Noah’s Ark, Jonah and the whale – all seem to be a bit far-fetched. The consequence is that our questions about those biblical events cause us to doubt the entirety of the Bible.

What is missing from our personal debate is the failure to differentiate between what is “true,” and what is “truth.” Once we accept that stories from the Bible represent “truth,” we can appreciate the value even if the story itself is possibly distorted or exaggerated. If the story illustrates a profound truth, whether or not it is completely accurate is less important.

Likewise, the discoveries of archaeology and science that suggest the story of creation is in conflict with science, may be a moot point. The chronology of the Genesis version of the beginning of life on earth is not much different than the scientific description. Except for the issue of timing, the sequence of events is pretty much spot on.

Ultimately, we encounter the challenge of evolution. To that, we need to acknowledge that a Creator of all we observe and experience could certainly uses any tools or techniques He chooses – including the “tool” of evolution.

What is more difficult to justify as it is in conflict with faith is superstition. Black cats, four-leaf clovers, Friday the thirteenth, walking under ladders – the list goes on. While most superstitions are easily disregarded as harmless quirks, when they become incorporated into church rites and beliefs, they can become disruptive and destructive, and distracting. When shadows of superstition slip into church proceedings, they can act as a barrier to embracing alternate denominations.

Fortunately, there is one ultimate test that can address all these conflicts.

Is it “true” or “truth?” There is a difference.

Today we heard that Kaylee died. Kaylee the miracle-worker dog.In dog-lover terms, she had passed over the Rainbow Bridge.

Kaylee was the first of the many dogs we fostered over several years. It was the success we had with Kaylee that inspired us to foster many other dogs until they were placed in their “forever homes,” but Kaylee was the first success story.

My wife worked in a unique business environment. Employees routinely brought their dogs to work, and as long as they were well behaved, they were welcomed by the whole crew – with the possible exception of Rob. Rob was a talented and skilled video editor, but he was regularly crabby. He was nicknamed “Cranky Rob.”

Shortly after Kaylee came into our care, my wife took her to work, and introduced her to the staff. Together, they went from office to office, workspace to workspace, until they came to Rob’s cramped office.

Then, the miracle began.

When it came time to move on, for some unexplainable reason, Kaylee refused to leave Rob’s office. Kaylee settled in as if to say, “I’ve found my human.” Cranky Rob and the orphan dog had immediately bonded. By the end of the day, Rob approached my wife and announced, “I want to adopt this dog.”

And the rest, as they say, is history. The love that they shared transformed Rob. As much as Kaylee needed Rob, he needed her, and Rob seemed to rediscover a softer, more loving side of himself that had somehow gotten lost. He became much more agreeable, more outgoing. All because of a dog.

Many of us who have shared our lives with a special pet know the feeling. The affection we feel from our special companions, and the love we develop for them, reflect the image we imagine, but fail to accomplish, in our efforts to live a Christian life.

We all have a mental image of what we hope a heavenly existence should be. Perhaps the rainbow bridge concept is closest to our hopes. When we lose one of our treasured companions, we cannot imagine the love that we have experienced just ceasing to exist. We believe that a love that pure must somehow continue to exist.

But logic raises its ugly head. Does that love survive death?

Over the years, we too have suffered the pain of losing a special pet, and my wife, who seems to have a special ability to sense energies from beyond death’s door, has had a brief encounter with two of those who have traveled over that bridge. Twice, she has had a moment when an image appeared to her of two of those special pets who appeared to visit long enough to reassure her that they are well – on the other side if that bridge.

That bridge may not exist in a physical form, but it surely exists in the form of a message from our Creator in a language we can understand. Love survives, and exists in its purest form – just over that bridge.

If we consider all the languages spoken in the world, and all the efforts to bring God into those lives, it would appear that God must have quite the vocabulary. Add to that mix, the tens of thousand of prayers that could be offered  up at any moment. Does God really understand all those languages? It’s enough to make you question the idea that God hears all prayers.

Unless you know the secret.

The truth of the matter is that we all speak God’s native language. Most prayers are silent. We mentally engage in a one-way mental conversation with the invisible, silent God. We may construct our prayer in our own language, but that language was itself, a translation of God’s language. It is a language of mental thoughts and images to which we have assigned words in our own language.

And that is the secret.

Perhaps God’s native language is actually the total vocabulary of emotions, images, music, hopes, dreams, and  love that is available to each of us. In our prayers, we unconsciously translate our pleas into those non-verbal messages that are part of God’s unique vocabulary.

In our written communication, we might write our text in bold or italic characters to emphasize a point. Perhaps God’s native language has similar traits. Perhaps God’s language is emphasized by emotional elements. While many of our prayers are pleas for mercy or relief of pain and seem to go unanswered, it may be that our connection is too weak to inspire God to act on our behalf. Or it may be that, like any caring parent, God allows us to experience pain so that we may more fully appreciate joy.

Perhaps we can strengthen our connection to God by super-charging our prayer connection with strong emotions of gratitude and praise.

Hardly a day goes by that our science community doesn’t announce some new discovery. One day it’s astronomy, another day it’s chemistry, and another day it’s physics. Bit by bit, science seems to be unraveling the secrets of the universe.

And, while we find ourselves amazed at some of these revelations – including those that are beyond our comprehension – we are so focused on the incremental advances in scientific knowledge that we lose sight of the big picture. Likewise, those who believe that the universe, and our existence, is the result of some random series of events, have failed to fully comprehend the true complexity of all that exists.

When the question of life existing on other planets comes up, one of the factors that is considered essential, is the existence of liquid water. Living on a planet where the surface is 75% covered in water or ice, we seldom give water a second thought unless there is a drought situation or the well runs dry. We have become so accustomed to simple formula of 2 parts hydrogen combined with one part oxygen that we fail to recognize the miracle that it represents.

And that’s just the beginning.

It’s almost as if the elements of our world were custom-designed for our use. Oxygen, even without its hydrogen companion, seems to be the critical fuel that powers all animal life. Iron, alone or in the mix we refer to as steel, is probably the most commonly used building material. In its purest form, iron is also critical to our blood cells.

And the list goes on.

Copper, a soft, pliable metal, is a nearly perfect conductor of electricity. Gold, the most non-reactive of all metals, is becoming essential in electronic devices.

Most importantly, it is the use we put to those elements that cements the concept that these elements are not merely accidents of nature. These elements, alone or in specific combinations, become the products that we use daily, without giving them a second thought. Look through any window, and you are witnessing a miracle in action – a solid, brittle substance that light passes through. Turn on your furnace on a cold day and experience the heat and light that is the result of combustion. Flip on a light switch and enjoy the product of electromagnetic action produced by nuclear fuel, water flow, wind power, or combustion of gas, coal, or other fuels.

As the years pass, our science finds more and more uses for more and more of those occupants of our periodic table of elements – with many more yet to be discovered.

To those nay-sayers who deny the existence of a Creator, we might ask – “How many miracles, how many coincidences are needed to prove intelligent design?”

It’s almost as if the universe, and everything in it, were part of a master plan – a plan that only a loving God could envision.

( The following is an excerpt from the book – Finding Faith in a Logical World.)

The Bible suggests that God has no beginning and no end. That will be the first test of our attempt to apply logic and science to prove God’s existence – to know the truth.

The idea that there is an entity that has an infinite existence is contrary to our human experience and is, therefore, in conflict with our logical learning. After all, we all have experience with the beginning and end of a lifespan. Our grandparents or great-grandparents were born, lived a lifespan and died, even if we were not direct witnesses to those events. We know when we get that new puppy, that he will not live beyond so many years. Each year, each season, each day has a beginning and an end. It is the nature of the world as we know it. How then can we believe in a God who has no beginning and no end?

We do, in fact, have personal experience with that concept, although most of us have never thought to apply it to the existence of God. It’s called the circle.

If we use a compass to draw a circle on a piece of paper, there is, of course, a beginning point. Once that circle is drawn, however, there is no clear beginning or ending point. The orbits of the planets have no beginning and no end. The rotation of the earth has no beginning and no end. In fact, no circular object, design or orbit could be described the same way. What’s more, it seems to be a fundamental aspect in nature. Electrons orbit the nucleus of the atom. The walls of living cells have no distinct beginning or end. The rotation of each star, planet, moon – even entire galaxies. No beginning. No end.

Who is to say that time – one of the most common, yet elusive concepts – cannot claim no beginning, no end. Science attempts to identify the beginning of the universe as that moment they describe as the “big bang.” Even if their speculation is correct, what was the moment before that event? How many moments existed before that event? Try to wrap your head around that one. There is only one answer – infinity. No beginning, no end.

( For a deeper dive into this topic and other logical questions about faith, click on the image below)