I run the official timer during swim meets at work. Normally this job is really exciting as I get to have a front row seat to swimmers qualifying for the Olympic Trails. Except this weekend was a children’s swim meet, and if you have never seen an 8-year-old swim a 400; well you aren’t missing much. With this much boredom I began to think about the BIG questions in our life. Questions about science, creation, and religion.  The three biggest things that subconsciously influence all of our daily lives. Stephen Hawking has spent his life trying to prove there is no God, but his work has done the exact opposite.

Everything is made of atoms, this is widely known and universally accepted in the scientific community. These atoms bond together depending on properties and build molecules that bond with other molecules to create the physical things that we can feel and touch in our world. These atoms are made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons. Depending on the number them and how they interact, determines if you are breathing life giving oxygen or life ending carbon monoxide. But what are electrons, protons, and neutrons made up of?

One of the more plausible (but not proven) explanations is String Theory. Now most of you don’t have an advanced understanding of physics so I will try to keep this simple. The fundamental bases of string theory is that electrons, protons, and neutrons are all made up of strings. And these strings vibrate and interact in a manner that gives electrons a negative charge and protons a positive charge. And these charges continue to build and interact into the things you can see with the naked eye.

Now an electron is theorized to have hundreds if not thousands of strings within it; and for those of y’all that do not know, electrons are really small. So small that their mass is irrelevant when measuring the mass of an atom. And atoms are not all that big.

So if strings make up electrons and protons, what makes up strings? Is there something even smaller than a string to be the building blocks of strings? We are already operating on such a microscopic scale (more like attoscopic or zeptoscopic) that you cannot easily make an analogy about the size of an atom, proton, electron, and string. At what point does the endless chain of smaller things making up larger things end, and how infinitesimal are we as a scientific community going to get? The logic of atomic building blocks is proven and makes sense. But the origin of the building blocks, the smallest unit and starting place, is very ambiguous and un-clear. This lack of understanding the fundamental beginning of our scientific theory is seen in more things than string theory alone.

Take gravity for example. I can give you an equation that will explain the force of gravity and model how fast it will take something to fall, as well as any force that will be acting on that falling object. But why does gravity happen? Why is it when two things (yes any two things) get close, they have a gravitational attraction? Albert Einstein has taken steps to explain the phenomena of gravity, but his theory of relativity does not explain the root cause, the fundamental reason we orbit near the sun and don’t float away from our light and life source.

It does however do a decent job trying to explain time, and how everything is relative to its surroundings. Suppose you are on a train and you see someone walking down the aisle. This person, let’s call her Suzie. Suzie is walking down the aisle at 5 mph. But her velocity (speed) is relative to the train that you are also riding on.

Now let’s suppose the train is driving past Brian who is in his stationary car at a railroad crossing. And the train is traveling 30 mph in the same direction as Suzie is walking. Relative to Brian, Suzie is traveling at 35 mph (30mph from the train floor Suzie is walking on + 5mph of her walking in the direction the train is moving = 35mph.) This is true because Suzie’s velocity from walking combines with the trains to give her total speed relative to Brian.

Now to spare a 500 page physics textbook, this idea is also theorized to affect our perception of time. If you have seen Interstellar and recall the scene where they stay on a planet for 8 minutes but in earth time that was over 20 years, this is the same principle. But what is the base piece where all time in all of the universe is relative to? And when did this idea of time begin? And how does something like time begin?

Time relative to a swimming race makes sense. Before the time starts there is no race, only the idea of a race. Which is perfectly acceptable and easy to understand. But what about the time relative to the whole universe before the Universe was made? Everything has to have an origin so what is the origin of all things? Simply put, what is the Universe relative to?

As you can see there is an extremely vague, and impossible concept to grasp about the start of time within the context of the Universe. If you’re thinking about this concept like I am, you probably also have a headache of confusion because of it.

But this is where the idea of an all mighty, an all knowing being comes in. A type of higher power that is smarter than we are (even you Stephan Hawking) and can understand and comprehend the beginning of all time. A God as most people would say. It’s okay that we do not understand these types of questions about the root cause and fundamentals of all science. Science happens, and we know how to manipulate and interpret these natural phenomena to make to cool stuff like the internet. And a larger being, a great creator set things like gravity in motion so that we may live and be taken care of without worrying about floating away from earth.

Science doesn’t have to explain everything. It won’t explain everything because the root cause of science may just be too complicated for humans to understand. But that’s okay. Because God created science, he said atoms would be made of positive and negative charges so that we may live and exist on this Earth.

God isn’t like Pixar’s movie Inside Out. He isn’t sitting at a massive control consul directing every detail of our lives. God is a mighty creator that put forth things like science to interact in a manner he decided which is all a part of a larger plan. A plan he guides in a big picture sense, not in a detailed manner like God told me to write this blog at a Blue Baker while drinking a Diet Coke at exactly 8:39.

Now why is this God a Christian God for me? That question has to deal with historical  evidence <for two papers on this click here and here>, as well as the virtues involved within Christianity. My God is a God of understanding and acceptance, an all powerful, and ever redeeming God that is filled with love for me and love for you.

So I invite you to get to know my God, to see his love, acceptance, and life changing forgiveness. For more information about all of this seemingly crazy stuff I just said click here. As always make good choices, share if you like what I said, comment if you have something to add, and I will see you on Tuesday.