In
the consideration of beginning a blog, I asked myself the question: what would my blog
look like? If I am going to sit down and write, what am I going to take the
time to write about? And most importantly, who would I be writing to?
One of the first things they teach you in communications class is that every communication must have an intended receiver - an audience. If you read the Bible, you know each book in it - all considered inspired by God - began with a writer and an audience, and that audience was not you (at least not to begin with). So if I am going to take the time to write a blog, there must be an intended reader.
Carl
In 1980, PBS released the miniseries Cosmos, a critically-acclaimed voyage through space and time in search of answers to the mysteries of the universe. Cosmos became the most watched miniseries in the history of PBS. Along with the success of Cosmos, its writer and host, Carl Sagan, became a household name. Sagan became known for his distinctive manner of speaking - and certain phrases like "billions and billions of stars" - but what Sagan was most well-known for was his passion for science and astronomy.
Some kids grow up riding bicycles and learning how to fish and shoot BB guns. I grew up watching Carl Sagan. I remember watching Cosmos when I was very little, though I was too young to appreciate most of it. Recently, in preparation for a sermon series on the origins of the universe, I watched all 13 episodes of Cosmos again. I was surprised at the breadth of material covered, much of which I did not remember: astronomy, yes; but also biology, anthropology, history, chemistry and even some religion.
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| Carl Sagan (c) 2000 Cosmos Studios, Inc. |
It was Sagan's personality and passion that drove Cosmos. The viewer felt a certain connection with him - as a guide, a teacher, someone sharing his knowledge with you in the hopes you would become a more enlightened person. Yet what I found even more remarkable as I journeyed through Cosmos was that a man who had every bit as much passion and wonder for the known universe as I did could have such a fundamentally different perspective on what lies behind it all. There was little room for faith in Sagan's Cosmos.
Watching Cosmos made me want to go back in time and sit down and have a conversation with Sagan. I wanted to learn more from him, to hear more of the "hows" of science that he could teach me. Then, I wanted to have the time to do some speaking of my own. I wanted to ask Sagan about some of the "whys" that the purely scientific perspective can't touch. Some of it was there - in Cosmos - references to beauty and love and even to God, but the deal couldn't be closed. The wonder and majesty, yes, but the reason...
One of Carl Sagan's great interests was searching for intelligent life in the far reaches of the universe. He knew the odds - we were sending transmissions out into space, but it was extremely unlikely that we would ever hear anything back in his lifetime. Funny that Sagan's famous science-fiction novel Contact, written in 1985 and later made into a movie, had as its preeminent theme: the necessity of faith.
Carl Sagan died in 1996. He went to his death an agnostic, believing "the cosmos is all that is or was or ever will be." As much as I'd wish, I can't go back in time and talk with Carl Sagan. I can't persuade him to believe. That opportunity is lost - in the great ordering of things I was never given the chance. But of this I am sure: there are other Carl Sagans out there. They are lovers of creation, lovers of science, lovers of learning, and skeptics about faith. Maybe one of them might be listening to this conversation. Perhaps something that is shared here, maybe through some insight discovered, we might be able to bridge the gap. Maybe we'll discover there really is a reason for the cosmos.
So for all the Carl's out there, welcome to the blog! And even if your name isn't Carl, and even if you aren't a skeptic, and even if you didn't spend $6 million producing the most watched PBS documentary in history, you're welcome here. Consider, study, examine, discuss. "We wish to pursue the truth, no matter where it leads."
