Super Bowl XLV or a day of hiking?

This past week I tossed an idea around in my head:  wow, wouldn't Sunday be a great day for a hike?  After all, there is rain in the forecast, and it's Super Bowl Sunday.  Surely the crowds on the trails would be smaller, right?  Hmmm likely many hiking enthusiasts are making that same prediction.  So, my guess?  Oregon hikers do not stay home on rainy days.  And most of the serious hikers probably don't watch the Super Bowl.

But, after much negotiating with family and friends I realized that I can have it all - an early morning hike, and Super Bowl XLV in the afternoon.  Sweet!  Sounds like a balanced day.  So it looks like tomorrow I get a chance to get out and get some fresh air in the woods.  And fill up on junk food later.

This evening I took a peek at the past few months of blog posts that I've made.  Packed with emotion, conviction, frustration, excitement and some very personal stuff, my posts surprised me quite a bit.  I've always enjoyed expressing myself with words.  If I were to label myself I'd say that I am a complex person and a deep thinker.  There are several odd dichotomies in my personality.  Contradicting traits and ideas that somehow make up the singularity that is me.  Am I crazy?  Maybe.

I try very hard to keep an open mind.  At the same time, I am deeply committed to my principles.  In my mind I really do see that in life and in the world there are absolutes - right and wrong, good and evil.  Yet I also see that every time we think we've got it all figured out, something comes along that blows our theories out of the water and makes us re-think what we have held as firm truth for years.

But I wonder - how far does this idea go?  Could it apply to religion?  In my mind, yes and no.  Most of the world's religions are largely creations of man.  Flawed and unable to satisfy, religion by itself does not fill the void in our souls.  Yet religion binds us together, and joins like-minded people in worship.  Can that be bad?

I really do try to be open-minded.  During discussions about the existence of God, a Creator, I find some people's explanations of their beliefs in God to be very... narrow.  For me, it is hard to 'box' God in, to compartmentalize the Creator into a space that fits well with my religious beliefs.  Can the Creator be less than omnipresent and omnipotent?  Thomas Jefferson said it best: "Question with boldness even the very existence of God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear!"  I believe in God.  Our Creator.  Do I place limits on God?  No. 

Okay, the flip side: atheism?  Sure.  Did I mention recently that I really, really like hiking in wilderness areas?

I find it impossible to imagine that the conditions present in the universe that allow us to enjoy the perfect climate and conditions on Earth happened by accident.  Our galaxy, our solar system, and our planet are all perfectly poised in space and time to allow for life to exist on the Earth.  The heavenly bodies move in harmony, perfectly in sync with each other.  It is a truly awe-inspiring arrangement.  How could this all be happening by accident?  I see a divine hand at work, somewhere-some way-somehow.

When I get out in the woods hiking, and I see the balance in nature, the changing of the seasons that cleanses and renews the world around us - chance, fate, an accident?  Impossible, I say.  It is God's Hand at work, God's plan set into motion and existing at his pleasure.

Did God create the world in seven days?  Has the Earth only been around for 6,000 years?  What about the dinosaurs?  Was there really a 'great flood' that wiped out everything?  Is the Bible truly the Word of God?

I will not put limits on God.  Any being capable of causing everything around us to come into existence and function with such harmony is more than capable of deeds far exceeding my comprehension.  Yet I do have a mind.  I've seen dinosaur bones.  I've seen the eons of time revealed in deep canyons.  I've seen the fossil records and evidence that the Earth is very old.  My answers?  I have only one:  we do not have all the answers.  And we need to keep seeking the truth, while at the same time realizing and recognizing the truth that is all around us.

I toss crazy ideas around in my head all the time.  Has God created other worlds and populated them with humans, or other self-aware beings?  Would He do so?  Has God created and/or destroyed humans or other beings in the past?  If so, what happened to them?  Can God be compared to an artist?  Imagine God as an artist, expressing Himself through His creations?  Possibly wiping the slate clean when His creations turn out to be less than he hoped?  What will happen to us in the future?

Anyone who has navigated to this post accidentally, or with purpose (which one are you?) is probably wondering what direction I'm trying to take this monologue.  Honestly?  Tonight I really felt compelled to write.  Lacking a solid topic or event or subject to write about I decided to just start typing, and see what came out.  Well, there you go.  More of Jim's ramblings, and a deeper peek under the lid of his mind.