There is a certain direction to life.

You can “see” this direction when you notice that an egg can become an omelet, but an omelet cannot become an egg; hot water can get cold but cold water cannot get hot; milk can spill but spilled milk cannot unspill; and people – you and I – are born, then we age, and then we die. We always grow older, never younger.

There is a certain direction to life

And it is always forward.

In Physicsspeak, a low-entropy system – over time – tends to become a higher entropy system. In human language, simple things tend to become more complex. And this direction, of moving from simple to complex, is something physicists call “the arrow of time” – a principle underlying the Second Law of Thermodynamics.

You can see this at work in the Big Bang. Scientists theorize that at the beginning of time the entire universe was compressed down into a “singularity” smaller than a centimeter. All the stuff of the cosmos – all the building blocks of life – energy, plasma, gases, subatomic particles, etc. – were packed into this extremely dense and hot state of low-entropy.

Then something happened.

Science calls it “the Big Bang” but what happened was really not so much an explosive Bang as it was a breathtakingly rapid expansion of that original less-than-a-centimeter “singularity” into an increasingly complex system of particles, energy, etc. forming stars, planets, galaxies – the universe as we know it. And this amazing universe in all its glory is still expanding along the Arrow of Time to this very day! We can thank Edwin Hubble of Hubble Telescope fame for proving that the universe is expanding – and faster and faster all the time! Thanks Ed!

The universe continues to expand. The Arrow of Time marches on!

And that is why your faith has changed!

Didn’t see that one coming, did ya?

Isn’t it true than when you were a little kid your faith was a lot simpler than today? Back then you may have pictured God as an old man with a white beard, sitting on a throne “somewhere up there”, sometimes reaching into the world to bless some people – and to curse others. And you thought as long as you toed the line things would go okay for you. But then your dog Buddy died and you couldn’t figure out why God would make Buddy die when neither you nor Buddy had done anything wrong – well, except for Buddy crapping on the hardwood floor once in a while.

For me, it was my grandfather’s death when I was 12 that shook my faith. I mean, I had prayed that God would not let grandpa die. I even bargained with God, offering to never steal cigarettes from my sister Karen’s room again – if He would just let my grandfather live!

But Grandpa Johnson died.

Pissed me off.

Did you ever experience a Godly disappointment like that?

Over time, many of us experience our “low-entropy” simple faith becoming a whole lot more complicated. Your prayer to pass that test, or make that shot, or get a date with that special person goes unanswered. Or at least not answered the way you wanted. Your new friendship with the kid down the street who doesn’t go to church tests your belief that only God-fearing, church-going, Bible-believing, born-again Christians will go to heaven when they die. “Cripes, God, Freddy is a good kid…and he’s my friend! He may be a little shady but Freddy doesn’t deserve an eternity burning in the flames of hell!”

Then you meet Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, agnostics, atheists and others who are better Christians than most Christians. But they don’t believe Jesus is the Holy Spirit-conceived, Virgin Mary-born Son of God. Is salvation about how you live or what you believe? And while we’re at it, that virgin birth stuff?…I’m not sure I buy that ever since Mary Alice Smith got knocked up in high school and told her parents it had to be a miracle because she hadn’t had sex with anyone.

Has your faith changed over the years?

Of course it has!

Because the Second Law of Thermodynamics is at work in this universe (of which we are a part). The Arrow of Time moves along, taking us with it to an increasingly more complex world of new places, experiences, ideas, and discoveries.

So your changing faith is a good thing! A normal thing! A natural thing! You are not a heretic to be burned at the stake or have your head chopped off. By the way, if you ever have a choice between those two methods of execution, choose to be burned at the stake – because a hot steak is always better than a cold chop!

And back to the question that ended my last post:

“Why did God make the universe this way and what does it all mean for how I understand faith, interact with the world, and live my life?”

I think the answer to all those questions is LOVE.

God made the universe the way it is because God IS Love and Love is endlessly creative and limitless. Look out to the farthest reaches of space through the Hubble telescope and take in the almost indescribable color and beauty of the cosmos. Breathtaking!  Look through a microscope at the petals of a tiny flower and see all the colorful artistry of its design. Do you realize what you are looking at?

LOVE AT WORK!

The universe is a living portrait of God’s Love actively flowing outward, embracing all things, constantly expanding, filling space-time to overflowing.

And if that is true, then the way you and I must understand faith, interact with others, and live our lives is through living with the same expansive and always growing love that is our Creators.

I think Jesus said something about love being the first and foremost commandment, didn’t he?

So today, in this new world in which we find ourselves – far removed from the simplicity of our childhood and way beyond the world of the Bible – we face many challenges never imagined by our forbears.

That’s why we need to release our faith to the Second Law of Thermodynamics and hop aboard the Arrow of Time. It is necessary to “let go” the past and “take up” the present.

What does it mean to practice God’s Love today, 13.7 billion years after God kickstarted the universe?

In my next post, I’ll take up some ways my own faith has changed and is changing. I’ll share about some current issues in today’s world that require a new theology that builds along God’s Arrow of Time.

You see Love – like the universe itself – is always stretching forward!