Practical Atheist
Dear Faith Family,
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity; there is none who does good, (Psalm 53:1)
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity; there is none who does good, (Psalm 53:1).
It’s quite the live video. No less than nine pieces of heavy equipment clearing the lot across the street from Faith Church. They resemble chess pieces moving to and fro on a small board. (The board is not that small. It’s just that the size and number of those pieces make it look small.) It’s a fascination to watch (and you wondered what I did between Sundays!)! And how do they not collide? Trees down. Chipper fed. Sawdust piles raised. Dirt delivered. Earth moved. No collisions!
In the words of a friend of mine, “ain’t that lucky”?! Here’s my theory. That heavy equipment just happened to appear at the same location at the same time. And the heavy equipment operators are all doing what’s right in their own, individual, eyes. It’s just sheer luck that they’ve not tried to occupy the same space at the same time!
Ok, so that’s not my theory. In fact, if you look closely, you will observe a site manager traveling the chess board on a four-wheeler. Somewhere there is a general contractor in charge of the whole live video. In other words, chance has nothing to do with what’s going on across the street. All of it is carefully planned and choreographed.
To the fool belongs the assessment that there is no General Contractor, no Creator, no Choreographer of the goings on in this world. Instead chance, and luck, and coincidence somehow rule. Organization and purpose defy such foolish thinking. Many of us would insert a hearty “amen” about now, thus declaring, “I’m not an atheist!” We’re thankful that passages like Psalm 53 exist for those that “need” them. And we’re even more thankful that such passages don’t apply to us.
But…are we practical atheists? Like, if we leave God at church on Sunday and not take Him to work with us on Monday? If we leave God in the next room while we turn on the television or the computer? If we leave God out of our social media posts, refusing to prayerfully consider what He would have us say? If we leave God in the garage when we choose to drive as we do? If we leave God out of the bank account?
In fact, there is a God! Let’s live all day every day in His presence!
Comments