Reflective Morning

Today’s blog post comes from guest blogger Kirsten Pfeifer, grad student at University of Minnesota, recalling her early morning adventure in Minneapolis.

bridge sunrise
“The sun comes up, it’s a new day dawning. It’s time to sing Your song again.”
– 10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord), by Matt Redman

Waking up early in the morning, before the sun is plenty high in the sky is not particularly a priority in my life. However, one cold December morning I challenged myself to get up early enough to see the sunrise. I enjoy taking any type of nature photos, so knowing that the sunrise would present some ideal shots served as motivation for me to abandon my blankets for a few warm layers and a pair of running shoes.

I left my apartment building and began  running towards the Mississippi River. The sky was dark grey. It still felt like nighttime, yet I was dodging commuters on the sidewalk heading toward the University hospital ready to start their work day.  I ran along the riverbank, wasting time until the sun was ready to break free from the horizon. I turned to my left where there is a sandy area that I had visited a couple times before, and was surprised to see about fifty geese floating in the water, as still as statues. I stopped to appreciate the stillness and serenity of this scene before continuing along the path.

Minnesota sunrise

The sky began to light up with streaks of yellow and orange, and I captured the colorful array to the best of my Kodak’s ability. Soon, I was lost in the process of discovering new camera angles to shoot from, finding a variety of natural elements to include in the foreground, and experimenting with the reflections on the water. Before I knew it, it was time for me to leave the riverbank and return to reality.

However, this hour allowed me to enjoy my hobby of photography and my love of exploring nature, all while appreciating the beauty of God’s creation.

This morning, I learned how valuable a single hour of time for oneself, before jumping into another hectic day can be.  Getting away from the hustle and bustle of the city commute, and finding solace in the trees by the river helped remind me that every minute of that day was a gift from God. He had given me the ability to rise early from my slumber in order to experience these quiet moments and to see the colorful sunrise he had painted. Therefore, I wanted to take in as much of its beauty as I possibly could, and face the day with the only attitude that is suitable for a blood-bought child of Christ; an attitude of gratefulness.

“I won’t take it for granted, I won’t waste another second. All I want is to give you a life well-lived to say ‘Thank you.’”  – Good to be Alive, by Jason Gray

 

 

 

We’re Here Breathing

Time out. Take a deep breathe. Do it again.

Recently, Bill Nye came out to slam creation and exploit his view of things. His take is “We need scientifically literate voters and taxpayers for the future. We need engineers that can build stuff and solve problems”. This is true, we need those things and the fact is those literate voters, taxpayers for the future, and engineers to solve problems and build stuff will be living on a planet God created.

Hebrews 11:3 states “By faith we understand the universe was formed at God’s command…” (In fact, read all of Hebrews 11.) Notice, it’s by FAITH. Just as it takes faith to believe in God and the Holy Bible. It takes faith to

Hebrews

believe that the world came about by the big bang, random events, and evolution. And it takes faith to believe the world is billions of years old. (side note: from my christian perspective, the earth could be billions of years old, or it could be thousands. God never said how old the earth is. It remains a mystery to me. Some things we won’t know, we are not God, until we’re in heaven and get to ask God.)

 

Yes, I am offended at Bill’s remarks. I’m going to be because I believe in God with all my heart, my soul, my mind. I am a christian who solves problems, who is a literate voter. Furthermore, evolution is already taught in public schools, creationism is not. Does Nye realize this? So the majority of kids in this world are already being taught evolution, it’s also printed in scientific text books. Nye also needs to realize that those who believe God created the universe and everything in it are scientifically literate voters and taxpayers for the future, and they can be engineers to solve problems and build stuff. You do not need to believe in the big bang theory to solve problems and build stuff.

Not all science is bad; but science is not God, cannot be God, cannot replace God. There is right and wrong. Science can be wrong, and Science does not have all the answers. God does. And because we, you and I are humans, we are not going to know all the answers in this world, however, there is an answer to who created this world, God. Christians will reject certain scientific beliefs. This is why Christians reject evolution and the big bang theory. It’s why there is a clash between science and religion.

I believe God created the world in which we live, the world I am sitting in today typing this blog post. It’s the world that Bill Nye lives in. The air that Bill Nye is breathing in the video? God created that too. Nye has chosen not to believe in creation, his belief comes from man. Mine is in God, the Father almighty the maker of heaven and earth.

God gave us his Word in the Holy Bible that we may believe in him. We can learn how the world became to be in Genesis. It’s literally how the world became to be. Please don’t make it more complicated, for God’s word says what is means and means what it says. God wants us to know about him and what he has done for us. God keeps his promises and means what he says. As Christians we take God at his Word.

genisis