An interesting thing happened on the way to school

Today, my daughter, Deanna, asked me to come into her history class and show a few of my favorite magic tricks.  It is only a half-day of school before Christmas vacation, and there really aren't any assignments being handed out or getting turned in.  Why magic tricks in a history class?  Because Deanna's history teacher also does some magic in the classroom, and when Deanna told him what I do for a living, he suggested she bring me in some time.  So I did.

Why do I tell you this?  Deanna feels challenged by this teacher on more than one level, mainly because of her faith.  But when Deanna told him I was a professional magician, he said "prove it", and bring me into class sometime.  

Apparently this teacher has also asked Deanna to defend her beliefs from time to time.  From Deanna's recollections, this teacher is not a Christian.

This teacher asked her "how can you believe in creation, when you can't prove it?"  She said he asks other similar questions, regarding God, Jesus, Christianity, etc.  Not because he believes, but more as if he's asking, "How can you possibly believe THAT?!"

My first reaction was to think, "How dare he question her belief system, when he can't prove his own beliefs, such as species-to-species evolution, entropy is regards to higher evolution and other small things like that."  But then, things changed.

In MY mind they changed.

I realized that the quote by Friedrich Nietzsche stating, 

"That which does not kill us makes us stronger"

 is true in this situation.  I think EVERYONE, regardless of what they believe should be questioned and challenged about WHAT they believe, WHY they believe it and what the BENEFITS of their belief system are. If you don't understand your OWN faith, then why believe it in the first place?

I think that if this teacher is simply challenging her to explain her beliefs, and not belittling nor condemning her for them, then I think it will deepen her understanding of her Christianity.  It's not going to kill her to be faced with those questions, so my hope is that it will MAKE HER STRONGER.

Does this mean I can explain every little nook and cranny of knowledge about God and Jesus and Christianity? Obviously not.  But neither can scientists explain every nook and cranny about how the universe came to be, how species evolved from one to another, how if the universe is slowly running down how can there be higher life forms "evolving" from lower ones.  I understand the evolutionary process involving "survival of the fittest", and how lions get to be stronger lions, giraffes get to be taller giraffes, but not how an iguana "evolved" into a dog.

I believe what I believe because 1) it makes the most sense to me, 2) it brings a hope and peace that I couldn't have if I trusted only in my own self for my survival, and 3) it has changed my life.  If studying evolution brings those things to someone else, that's wonderful.  For them.  For now.  But I hope he/she is ready to defend what they believe the same way that I am challenged to defend what I believe.  

In the end, I have put my hope in God and the promises that he has laid out before me in the Bible.  Am I an idiot?  Some people would say so. But I'm sticking with it.  

Oscar Wilde summarized it this way:

A man who does not think for himself does not think at all.

Think about it...

...and have a merry Christmas.

DonB!