The other day I was telling my 19 year old daughter, who is a self professed atheist, that my newborn was having some jaundice issues which were wearing us a bit thin and she said to me, "I'll think happy thoughts for him". I asked if that was her version of prayer and she said it was. That response made me wonder. Why is it that some people who deny the existence of God still feel the need to seek some greater power?
Call it karma, chi or whatever other name you can come up with for the power that is somehow greater than us yet somehow attached to us, making an impact for good or bad in our lives, we still reach out for that contact. I find it interesting when I hear someone who feels that they must deny the existence of God reach out to a higher power for help. I hear well intentioned people who feel that they just can't accept the existance of God tell me that they are "good people". I ask, "good by what measure"? If there is some way to measure the good of man, where does this measuring stick come from? Is this moral compass what so many people refer to as their "conscience"? It's hard to deny that all of us have a moral compass, or a conscience, right? Why, even a child knows if they are doing good or bad. Why be concerned for our fellow man at all if there's no such thing as a conscience?
I believe that we all have this moral compass because we're all created from the same source. Yes, there are those who can push that compass aside in order to justify their actions, but deep down they know the difference between right and wrong. Those who don't, the criminally ill is the term we use for them, are considered to be insane or broken in some way. We keep them locked away because they don't have the capability to be guided by that moral compass any longer. If we can use the ability to use that moral compass as a measuring stick for a person's sanity then we must place it in pretty high regard. So why is it that we can't acknowledge where that moral compass comes from?
I think that most people who don't want to acknowledge where their moral compass comes from are merely trying not to acknowledge a higher power. Perhaps, by acknowledging a higher power they are somehow faced with the dilemma of giving that higher power control over themselves and they can't imagine giving up the reins of their own lives. For some, this is the scariest part of acknowledging God's existence. To me, the mere fact that I have this moral compass is enough for me to know that I must acknowledge my maker. My conscience compels me to do so.
I remember well when I was 19 years old. I decided that God didn't exist as well. I look back on those years now and can see that I really didn't believe that. I just didn't want to acknowledge Him, because to do that would mean that I would have to acknowledge that my lifestyle and choices were wrong. I didn't want to be told what was right and wrong. The only problem with that theory was that my own moral compass was telling me something different. Try as I might to push it aside and ignore it, I found that I couldn't deny the truth any longer. Faced with that truth, I had to decide to follow Him or to rebel against Him. I found that rebellion led to so many heartaches and so much pain that I couldn't bear it any longer.
I'm hoping that my 19 year old can get to that point much quicker than I did, but I have a feeling that she won't. She's so much like me; stubborn to a fault, too smart for her own good and as headstrong as a mule. Still, despite all that, I made it and I always hold out hope that she will too. In the meantime, I'll take those happy thoughts.
Until next time...
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