In Joy and Awe

"The most beautiful and profound emotion we can experience is the sensation of the mystical. It is the source of all true science….
“To know that what is impenetrable to us really exists, this knowledge, this feeling, is the center of true religion.
“Science without religion is lame…religion without science is blind.”
~Albert Einstein.

Einstein was, arguably, the most influential thinker of the last century. His theorems and postulates paved the way for space travel. His ideas inspired a new generation of thinkers and now we live in a world of cell phones and computers and nuclear submarines.

The everyday of today was scarcely a dream in the 1920’s when Einstein won the Nobel Prize in physics. But his most important contribution—in my opinion—was his reverence for the mysterious. Einstein knew there are limits to human know-ledge, but that reality didn’t disturb him. His declaration that imagination is more important than knowledge gives us the encouragement to hold a cell phone in one hand and our bible in the other.

According to Matthew, two women made their way to Jesus’ tomb three days after his execution. It was early morning. As they neared the tomb an earthquake shook the ground. The stone covering the entrance to the tomb rolled away. The Roman guards stationed there fell to the ground terrified. An angel, descended from heaven, spoke to the women: “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him….’”

“He has been raised from the dead….” The post-Easter proclamation is the essence of Christian faith. “He is not here…he has been raised….” The women, in joy and terror ran to tell the disciples. And the world has not been the same since. We still tell that story today with a mixture of joy and awe over the mysterious.

We live in a post-Modern world, a technological age. There are limits to our knowledge. We live in a post-Easter age. And there are no limits to what God will accomplish with us and through us, “on earth as it is in heaven.” Go quickly then, in joy and awe. Declare the Good News. “He has been raised from the dead,” the world and all things in it are changed! Thanks be to God!

~Harrell