In our blog post on wisdom, emotional intelligence and an appropriate godly fear one of the definitions we used for an appropriate godly fear was the phrase “wonder-filled bold humility”.
Fear in today’s time and culture is a strange word to use as it can conjure up images of being bullied or terrorised. That is a million miles from what we are trying to convey by the phrase ‘appropriate godly fear’. However, explaining appropriate godly fear as wonder-filled bold humility carries with it an enormous richness and depth about what we have been given in this life. In many ways it is the only logical response as we try to make sense of the wonder and enormity of the life we have been given and the universe that we belong to.
The short 6 minute video below beautifully illustrates this.
I encourage you to stop for the next few minutes and drink in the message being presented:
The point being made is the amazing gift of life that we enjoy each day. It often takes a tragedy or misfortune to make us realise this. How much better to see that now or sooner rather than later!
The narrator in the video powerfully states:
“You think this is just another day in your life. Its not just another day – its the one day that has been given to you today. Its a gift. Its the only gift that you have right now and the only appropriate response is gratefulness. If you do nothing else, but cultivate that great response to the unique gift this day is; if you learn to respond as if it were the first day in your life and the very last day, then you will have spent this day well.”
He then proceeds to challenge us about the many things we take for granted – the gift of sight; the vastness of the sky; the richness of human relationship and the ready availability of resources like electricity and drinkable water.
There are so many amazing facts about our existence:
Sir James Jeans, a famous British astronomer, once said: “The universe appears to have been designed by a pure Mathematician.” For him, as for many, the order of the earth and the solar system points to a master planner. So take, for example, the fact that the earth is tilted at an angle of exactly 23 degrees. Scientists tell us that if the angle were even slightly different, the earth would gradually be encased by an ice cap. It has to be exactly 23 degrees to work.
Furthermore, in his book, ‘The Reason for God,’ Tim Keller quotes the scientist Francis Collins:
“When you look from the perspective of a scientist at the universe, it looks as if it knew we were coming. There are 15 constants – the gravitational constants, various constants about the strong and weak nuclear forces, etc – that have precise values. If any one of these constants was off by even one part in a million, or in some cases, one part in a million million, the universe could not have actually come to the point where we see it. Matter would not have been able to coalesce, there would have been no galaxy, stars, planets or people.”
How does the video above and these comments resonate with you?
How can we keep an attitude of wonder-filled bold humility in the busyness and stress of day to day life?
It would be great to have your thoughts below:
Dr Sunil Raheja
Many seasoned leaders realize they've lost their direction in life. Through my coaching program, leaders are equipped with a personalized plan for meaningful purpose and better days ahead.
Hi Sunil, with reference to Tim Kellers’ quote above, yes it is astounding how everything we perceive has come to actually be, that through us the universe is somehow perceiving itself, but it could in my opinion be explained scientifically (not that I’m a scientist of course, I know how much I don’t know!!), but in an INFINITE universe, there are infinite possibilities, so we are one of those infinite possibilities that would’ve come to fruition, just as there are infinite dimensions where we don’t exist, or something else exists, in fact, every single action that has happened, will happen or could’ve happened exists somewhere in some infinite conceptual dimension (perhaps I’m going to deep here). In response to your other question, thankfully at least once a week I notice something amazing that is ‘normal’ or that I have not normally noticed, such as witnessing little birds feeding at 0630 in the morning, jumping around in a unique way, something which will never be duplicated again ever in time.
Thank you very much for your comments Karl. Yes it is amazing how each day is unique – never again to be exactly repeated.
It is also interesting that in Tim Keller’s book ‘The Reason for God’, he makes a very interesting response to what you have described. It is called the Fine-Tuning Argument. Let me quote from Keller’s book near the top of page 131:
“Though there’s not a shed of proof that that there are many universes, there’s also no way to prove that there aren’t….
Alvin Plantinga gives this illustration. He imagines a man dealing himself 20 straight hands of 4 aces in the same game of poker. As his companions reach for their six-shooters (guns), the poker player says, ‘I know it looks suspicious! But what if there is an infinite succession of universes, so that for any possible distribution of poker hands, there is one universe in which this possibility is realised? We just happen to find ourselves in one where I always deal myself 4 aces without cheating!’This argument will have no effect on the other poker players. It is technically possible that the man just happened to deal himself 20 straight hands of 4 aces. Though you could not prove he had cheated, it would be unreasonable to assume he hadn’t.
The philosopher John Leslie poses a similar illustration. He imagines a man who is sentenced to be executed by a firing squad consisting of 50 expert marksmen. They all fire from 6 feet away and not one bullet hits him. Since it is possible that even an expert marksman could miss from close range it is technically possible that all 50 just happened to miss at the same moment. Though you could not prove they had conspired to miss,it would be unreasonable to conclude that they hadn’t.
It is technically possible that we just happened to be in the one universe in which organic life occurred. Though you could not prove that the fine tuning of the universe was due to some sort of design, it would be unreasonable to draw the conclusion that it wasn’t. Although organic life could have just happened without a Creator, does it make sense to live as if that infinitely remote chance is true?’