The Bungee Cord. 4-29-24

Hello,

Those of you who have visited me know that I live on top of a hill with a winding half-mile drive off the main road. This afternoon after I had made my ascent, I was greeted, as I always am in the spring by this beautiful dogwood tree. I don’t know how long it has been standing there. Long before we bought the property and built our house. But I would guess that for decades it has grown on the top slope of our hill, exploding, like an ariel firework bringing people who see it to say, as on July 4th, “Ooooh…….. Aaaaah.

Its beauty lasts only a week or so and then the bright white flowers begin to fade and eventually disappear as the petals fall off. In the summer it provides shade for small animals and plants. In the fall its leaves turn brown, and in the winter, it is nothing but dark branches and trunk. As I consider the yearly stages of this tree, I find myself realizing that each stage is important and essential to the life tree. It would not serve the tree well if it were only abloom, only greed leafed, only shedding leaves, or only leafless. Much can be learned about the tree as it reveals itself differently.

Of course, every analogy has its limits, and for the one that I am about to offer that is certainly true. Consider how we see life and the world around us. There are those who say that faith and science are enemies and battle one another for the truth. As a Christian, I do not find myself to be one of those thinkers. For me, science and faith are essential and important aspects of life. When I look at life with scientific eyes, I find myself awestruck by the wonder of life and creation. I am amazed at the formulas that span the universe, the structures of things both great and small, the rules that permeate all that exists. Like my dogwood tree in the winter, the amazing trunks and branches of life and creation are laid bare to see them clearly with scientific delight.

And when I see my dogwood tree in all it flowered glory, I find myself overwhelmed in awe that formulas, structures and rules. I experience beauty that adorns the structure. I find myself swept up with emotion that enliven formulas and rules. It is what the artist does with a canvas, that the canvas maker cannot do. It is the same thrill that I remember having when I first saw my favorite cartoons in color, and not just black and white. For me, this is the realm of faith. When I see in my mind’s eye Jesus hanging on the cross and walking out of the Easter tomb, I see a dogwood tree of an explosion of grace and mercy that is completely riveting like the finest perfume.

I know that people far wiser than I have noted that empiricism is the driving force behind science and that story is the driving force behind faith, and although there might be some who conclude that those differences are insurmountable. I wonder if that is true. It seems to me that these are both important and essential avenues for discovering the wonder in which we find ourselves…..like a dogwood in the spring: a solid structure of trunk and branches, and an incredible beauty of blossoms and bloom.

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

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