I would like to submit that proof of the existence of God is all around us. But it is often missed due to lack of ability to perceive rather than due to lack of evidence.
What do I mean by that? Let me explain. When most atheists say they will not believe in anything they cannot see, hear, taste, touch, smell, or feel... they are telling the complete truth. Their experience is limited to the 5 organic senses. They believe in nothing else and allow for no other kinds of senses. I think this is an incredibly limited point of view. First of all we know the 5 senses can be fooled. Ever go to a magic show? Ever see Criss Angel's shows? He's really good (And he constantly tells people it is just a trick). Setting this aside, the human 5 senses are very different from the senses of a honeybee who can see colors in ranges that are beyond ours, or an eagle who can see much farther, or a wolf who can hear higher pitches. And what about colorblind people? How can they be sure that everyone isn't lying to them that there is a red and a green - that they really aren't the same color? (We could call it the Santa Claus conspiracy). Let me take it a step further. For ages people were unable to see microbes before microscopes were invented. Without the development of certain machinery we were unable to detect any colors within light beyond human sight. And without the invention of the radio no one would have been able to send, capture, and hear what was on the airwaves as human ears just can't do that. So, let me ask, if they could not be detected earlier, did they lack existence? Because we could not see germs did that mean they really were evil spirits? (which is what people thought they were)
This is the proverbial "If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, did it make a sound?" Do things still exist without an observer? Or more plainly, "Am I the center of the universe? And do things lack existence if I am unable to perceive them?"
Uh, you see how self-centered this thinking is. I think it can be safely said that that there are things that exist beyond the regular 5 senses that we are unable to detect.
I like this film, Kate and Leopold. It displays this kind of disbelief. It is a sci-fi romance, so if you don't like sci-fi, tough cookies. One clip with Liev Schreiber that illustrates this concept.
So, you can only see what you are able. And there may be those more able than you to perceive an event or phenomenon. I like to think of this this way...we may all be created equal. But we aren't all created the same.
Ok, so....maybe there are other senses beyond the 5 organic senses that we are unaware of.
Is there ESP?
I don't know. I don't have it.
But have you ever had a moment where you have a strong feeling to bring an extra sandwich to work, or to turn off something that you don't normally turn off, or to get something in your car checked that you had not been thinking about at all? Or have you ever shared a dream with someone - as in you had the same dream that they had almost down to the last detail? Or have you ever heard a voice or been given a strength to do something important, and it saved yours or someone else's life? I have. And I don't think this is ESP. I am not psychic. At. All. But a large majority of human beings have had these little quiet, sacred moments that they instinctively hold secret until they find out someone else had a similar experience...or that they were with someone they knew they could trust not to mock them. Because incredibly loud atheists say these are delusions, hallucinations, or mental illness. But I will submit that this is another human sense - non-biological - that some people call a gut feeling or Intuition, and others call the whisperings of the Spirit. This is a sense discounted by many atheists, therefore not used by many atheists (Not ALL, as I don't know all atheists, now do I?).
Intuition isn't logical. However, it is very human and part of who we are. It is also a sense that can be used or ignored. Like an artist who develops the ability to see details in a painting; like a musician who can pick out notes and name them; like a chef who can detect distinct flavors in their creations; like a masseuse who can pick out particular knots in the muscles under his fingers; like the aroma therapist who can tell the distinct smells of certain oils and what they can do for you...this other sense can be trained and honed. It can also be lost. People go blind, deaf, lose all sense of taste, smell, and feeling. And there are plenty of people who survive on nothing but cold facts. It is a flat life without the 5 physical senses. Those who do not know the other spiritual sense live a life a shade darker than that of those who have and use it. And they don't comprehend it. Like the dogs who refuse to believe in rainbows (re-watch film clip above if you don't get this).
Ok, what if our ability to sense is also limited to our Point of View? For example, I once read this great novella from 1884 called Flatland (funky digital film version) which talks about dimensions and perception. It was an allegory (from a 1884 POV, so ladies he describes women as dangerous. Take that as you will) about our existence and the existence of other dimensions. In it, A Square (the protagonist) ends up meeting a three-dimensional being (A Sphere from Spaceland) along with a one-dimensional being (Lineland) and a zero-dimensional being (Pointland). He can only perceive of the sphere in his limited 2-D view...a line with grades of shading. But he is taken out of his POV to see Spaceland for what it really is. During his journey he comes to the conclusion that there are in fact infinite dimensions. That is to say, if a point is mathematically no dimension at all, a line is the first dimension, a square is in the second dimension, a cube in the third dimension, then (he asks) what is the next dimension? Some scientists have said it is Spacetime (which Liev Schreiber's character in the above clip can see but others can't). But others say it is a tesseract. (A tool of another sci-fi novel called A Wrinkle in Time). Ok. Then what is the 5th dimension? The 6th? 7th? 8th. Etc. I've noticed while researching this that particle physicists are particularly fascinated with attempting to create models for additional dimensions. However, they do not discuss what kind of beings may exist within them except (possibly) as part a joke - such as the mice from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Let me put it plainly. In the religious sense, we use the term Eternal Beings. Think about it.
Here's another cheezy video, same story. Great concept.
Quantum Physics in general causes a lot of questions and philosophies... including that our observation influences existence, something we can get into at another date.
Ok, here is one more.
What you focus on is what you observe. You may have perfect vision, great hearing, amazing other senses, but if you are not really looking proof that God exists, but looking to disprove - that is all you will see. From my first blog, #44 in the list, "People choose what they see and believe."
Don't believe me?
Let's try a test.
How'd you do? Be honest.
Here is another one we used to do as a kid. It is usually told orally. You might recognize it.
You are the bus driver. Three kids get on the bus at the first stop. At the next stop 2 more kids get on. At the third stop one gets off and four get on. At the fourth stop three get on and two get off. At the fifth stop, three get off and two get on. What is the color of the bus driver's eyes?
Remember that one? The first time you encountered it, how easy was it to answer the question. Really. Be honest. You were searching for the trick now. You didn't want to be embarrassed that you got distracted by something else. There are a lot of mind-bending games out there. Where you focus determines what you remember and what you see. Human beings are often distracted by what is flashy, loud, and material. God isn't that kind of guy. If you aren't looking for it, you could easily miss it.
So with all this before us... Let's add it up. Shall we?
1. The 5 senses are limited as well as easily fooled.
2. There is a possibility for other ways to sense the universe.
3. Our dimensional POV is physically limited to this dimension.
4. Our focus truly determines what we observe.
Thus, can it be safely concluded that people can easily miss evidence of God that could be all around us? I think so. If you are ignoring your spiritual sense, using only a 3-D POV, and focusing on anything but God, you're gonna miss him.
Lastly, I think the evidence of God's existence is so everywhere that we simply take it for granted ... like a newborn takes for granted that there will always be food, someone to keep them warm, clean, and dry. Its POV puts itself at the center of the universe. A good parent would care for its offspring, wouldn't she/he? A bad parent would abandon, neglect, beat, and even kill their offspring. Look around yourself. The world is still here.
Good thing God is good, right?
Now you can go back to # 3. ...
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