This morning I stared at a maple frosted sprinkle-covered doughnut pondering one of life’s great dilemmas – to eat or not to eat. Just then I spotted an ant. It wasn’t one of those big guys. This was one of the really tiny ones you can barely see with seventy year old eyes. He also came to the doughnut and stared. He was an ambitious fellow for he decided to eat it. It must have been like you or me finding a doughnut that is fifty feet high. There was enough doughnut there to feed him forever. I wish I could have experienced his joy as he climbed up the side and came out on top. There was the thick layer of maple frosting with red, yellow and blue sugar logs scattered about. I felt like singing Big Rock Candy Mountain for him. There was so much to eat and such limited capacity.
I feel that way when I read Romans. There is so much to eat, so much to comprehend, so much to ponder while trying to crawl inside Paul’s mind. Like the ant’s stomach’s limitations, my brain is so limited beside this mountain of inspiration. Recently I heard someone say Paul was a great philosopher but had limited if any scientific knowledge. I’m not so sure. He was educated in occidental thinking as well as eastern. He had access to Aristotle’s works which contained the best science of his day. Should Paul be alive today he would despair at the so called conflict of science and faith. God is a scientist. God created us not with magic but with knowledge that He Himself allows us to learn and advance in His sciences. The best minds of the day, when standing by the works of God’s hands, are like my ant standing beside my (not his) doughnut.
Written by Roger Bothwell on June 13, 2014
Spring of Life, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
Rogerbothwell.org