Scripture - Daniel 2

Daniel is a fairly well known book of the Old Testament. We know and love the story of Daniel interpreting the king's dream. We love the story of the fiery furnace. We especially love the story of the lion's den. Those three stories are a bit like the stories of Genesis. Impressive main characters and full of action and faith.

I want to talk about a few verses of a prayer Daniel offers after he saves his life by interpreting the dream.

When Karly was here, we were talking about Astronomy. I took an Astronomy class when I was at Dixie and loved it. I am still easily irritated when people think Astrology is the same. Astronomy is the science; Astrology is the superstition, prognostication, and fortune telling.

Somehow we got to why there is a Leap Year. That extra 1/4 of a day each year that needs to be accounted for. I explained the importance of the Gregorian Calendar. Why the Zodiac is important for the science, and why it is silly in the superstition. I talked about the wobble of the Earth's rotation and the fact that the North Star hasn't always been in the North.

Karly asked an interesting question. Did God create the Earth with intentional imperfections? And why would He do that?

Those are good questions. I have never really thought about it that way before. My answer was something like, 'Because we, as humans, will ask questions and the questions will lead to discovery and knowledge.' Honestly, I'm not sure that is the reason, but I still like it for now. As we notice the little irregularities, we search for reasons.

With the knowledge gained, we have made huge leaps forward in science. However, I wonder if we haven't lost something precious.

We understand Newton's Laws that begin to define the physical world and we forget, or dismiss, what was once common knowledge. God holds the Earth in its orbit and rotation. He controls the seasons and the climate. He is the ultimate holder of knowledge. 

We have discovered a fraction of the Natural Laws that He uses in His work, and we forget that He is the Lawgiver.

We are curious about the creation and ignore the Creator.

We have dismissed the Master Scientist in favor of imperfect scientific theories.

There is so much that we have learned. But in the learning, we have turned our back on the Master Teacher.

A challenge - keep knowledge in perspective and to seek to walk in the Light.