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 The Sacred in the Common [Title] The Sacred in the Common [Text] John 6 [Use] February 14, 2004 In the summary for this week's lesson, the author said, "In stilling the storm, Jesus sought to show the disciples that He is as capable as the God of the Exodus to supply their needs and free them from fear." On a science web page was the following article. Science: Bible's Red Sea Miracle Is Real? Two mathematicians--one from St. Petersburg, Russia and the other from Hamburg, Germany--have concluded that the biblical story of Moses parting the rushing waters of the Red Sea so 600,000 Jews could escape slavery by the Egyptians was possible scientifically and in concurrence with the laws of physics. Russia's St. Petersburg Times reports that by using a system of differential equations, Naum Volzinger, a senior researcher at St. Petersburg's Institute of Oceanology, and his Hamburg-based colleague Alexei Androsov established the conditions under which the waves might have parted. Here's the mathematics and science behind the miracle: There is a reef in the Red Sea exactly at the documented spot where the Jews escaped Egypt. In ancient times, the reef was unbroken and much closer to the surface of the sea than it is today. The Bible story cites the "strong east wind that blew all that night." So mathematically, the two scientists wrote an equation that considered wind speed, the strength of the storm that would leave the reef high and dry at low tide, how long before the waters returned, and how quickly they returned. Volzinger, who specializes in ocean phenomena, flooding, and tidal waves, calculated that the wind had to have blown at a sustained speed of 67 miles per hour to make the reef. Once the reef formed, he told the St. Petersburg Times, "It would take the Jews--there were 600,000 of them--four hours to cross the 4.2-mile reef that runs from one coast to another. Then, in half an hour, the waters would come back." The story says that when the Egyptian army followed them into the Red Sea, they drowned. "I am convinced that God rules the Earth through the laws of physics," he said. The study, which took almost six months to complete, is titled "Modeling of the Hydrodynamic Situation During the Exodus" and has been published in the Bulletin of the Russian Academy of Sciences. [1] Sometimes our need for a common understanding of what is sacred compels us to search for a natural, rational, physical or scientific explanation for the sacred supernatural. And sometimes when a scientific explanation for a miracle is discovered, we lose the miracle. The wonder is gone. The faith-building challenge to accept a miracle by faith and not with physics formulas, is lost. We may not always be able to find the explanations for life's everyday paradoxes. And when we cannot find the explanation we are looking for, how will we live with the part we cannot describe or define? We need a living, breathing relationship with One who, through the course of our common, everyday experiences, becomes real and understandable. We need the miracle of the sacred in order to face the common and uncommon events of life. --jm |
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