About a year ago, whilst I was deployed to the Middle East, I was doing some writing “research” about satellite orbits. Basically, I wanted to see how a space station orbits the earth and what it looks like from the ground.Thankfully, we live in a day and age when humanity has actually built a space station. Like so many other examples, the science fiction of yesteryear has become established fact. Congratulations, humanity! Achievement unlocked!
We live in a day and age where just about the whole sum of human knowledge is available to me in seconds, appearing on a device I slip into my pocket. We recently landed a rocket on a small boat to prove the concept of reusable launch vehicles. We’ve placed probes on the surface of Mars and sent them outside our solar system. And we’re grasping at the very first stages of space travel, putting humans in low earth orbit for a year at a time to better understand the effects of prolonged exposure to zero Gs and all the other issues that come with life beyond the terrestrial boundaries.
This is pretty heady stuff!
Back in the Desert, in the course of my procrastinating under the guise of Googling, I discovered NASA has a site that tells you when the International Space Station (ISS) will be passing by your area. You too can Spot the Station!
They only provide results around sunrise and sunset, so that there’s the best contrast of dark sky with bright space station (as it reflects the sunlight still brightly shining on its surfaces but not brightly shining in the spectator’s eyes). So there may not be what they consider a good sighting for some time in your particular area. (I checked a few months ago for Naha, Okinawa, and got “no results found.”)
But they will also provide you email or text alerts if you sign up for the service.
A year ago, I also discovered the next sighting near my base would be in a few days’ time. So when that date came, I stepped outside, stood between two buildings to minimize light interference, and watched the sky.
The site gives you all the details on where to look and how to guesstimate degrees in the sky. If you hold your fist straight out and rest it on the horizon, that’s roughly ten degrees. So when the site tells you to look to the northwest at 17 degrees, you can figure out roughly where to expect a bright shining light to mystically appear in the sky.
Sure enough, at the appointed time, in the appointed place, a dim object appeared in the sky, cruising across the field of stars. In seconds, it grew brighter than the rest of them, moving too fast to be an airplane, too slow and steady to be a meteor. I watched it cross the black until it faded and vanished in the middle of the sky.
Tonight it will be visible from Okinawa from 8:20 to 8:22 PM. So my kids and I will take a car ride out to a nearby hill to see if (clouds permitting) we can spot the station.
And I’ll try to impress upon them the wonder and the significance of the thought that there are human beings living in that motley assortment of modules floating across the heavens.
I hope that to some degree I’ve impressed it upon you as well.
If you’re on Okinawa, maybe try 17 degrees northwest.
What if Abraham Lincoln was really a vampire hunter?
Oh, they’ve done that, have they?
A “What If?” comic
One of my favorite comic series growing up was “What If?” comics by Marvel.
They’d take key story lines from their most popular characters’ series, and then change one decision, one action, one coincidence. The rest of the book would tell you what would happen if, say, the popular jock got bit by the radioactive spider instead of nerdy Peter Parker… or if Wolverine’s girlfriend(s) never died… or if Victor Von Doom was part of the Fantastic Four instead of being the villain.
Sci-fi shows like Star Trek often use time travel to create a “What if?” of their own. There are series of novels exploring what-ifs. What if World War II was interrupted by an alien invasion, and the various powers of the world had to come together to fight back?
If all of that is too geek-chic for your tastes, a perfect example is It’s a Wonderful Life. George Bailey explores the question, “What if I was never born?”
Maybe it’s all the Chick-Fil-A and Jim Henson Company pics on Facebook…
But I have been thinking about a “What If?” for a while now.
What if it is scientifically proven that homosexuality is a genetic trait?
Now, I know many of those who might read this are probably convinced that it is genetic, or at least, not a choice.
I also know many people who are convinced it is a choice – at least on some important level.
Individuals being the strange and unique creatures that they are, I doubt that there will ever be conclusive universal proof one way or another. Our internal motivations are a whole mix of genetics, environment, outside influences, and past experiences.
But my point is, even though there’s no “conclusive” evidence on the subject yet, the consensus is forming quickly that in many cases, sexual orientation isn’t something we up and choose.
What does the church do with that?
I think we have a few options.
If I don’t believe it, it’ll go away.
1) Go full ostrich. This, I fear, is our default position. “Science is a conspiracy of well-meaning but misguided atheists who were trained in liberal colleges to reject God and accept whatever the Leftists tell them.”
But you’re reading this on a computer or perhaps a cellular phone, accessing my published rants across streams of information being transmitted over fiber optic cable or simply through the air from your 4G network… all brought to you by the advances of, yes, science.
“That science is ok. The science that appears to disagree with the Bible is bad.”
It should go without saying that ignoring reality is a poor plan. But I’ll use a biblical example to make a point about healthy faith instead. Look at Abraham: he knew what God said about him having a child was nigh impossible. He considered his aged body and that of his wife. But he also knew that God promised, so he trusted what God said. (See Romans 4:17-21 or so… or read in Genesis from chapters 12 through 22 for the full story.)
Abraham didn’t ignore reality or “faith” it all away. Neither should we.
2) Abandon our position. We could always edit our Bibles, stop preaching about homosexuality, and give up political causes concerning “defending” traditional marriage. I’m sure some would appreciate this greatly. If we’re not vilified for “hate speech,” we’re mocked for backwards, ignorant, Bronze-Age religious standards. Forty years from now, the church’s crusade against homosexuality today may look like how we now view those who railed against interracial marriage in the sixties.
That said, our calling is not to adjust ourselves to whatever the majority believes. We’re not to be conformed to the world, but transformed by God so that we can show His love to the world.
3) Examine our position. There are several theological arguments concerning translation and context for verses that, on the surface, condemn homosexuality. It can’t hurt to double-check our sources and see if maybe we’ve missed something along the way. We may claim that God’s Word is perfect, but we also proclaim that we are not. As we learn more about the world around us, it makes sense to consider how that might affect what we have always “known.”
Religion is notoriously difficult (as in impossible) to prove. Much as we’d all desire it, God hasn’t shown up on CNN and Fox to announce His presence and put all the debate to rest.
For the Christian, we’ll say, “The Word of God and the incarnation of Christ is all the proof people need.”
But it’s not.
It’s more than enough for some, and rational arguments can be made. But God isn’t known for cooperating in scientific experiments or providing empirical proof, and that is what some people genuinely expect.
If we’re convinced we know it all, to the extent that we don’t ever need to question or reconsider any subject, then we’ve missed some of the mystery and majesty of the God we claim to serve. Check the “Love chapter” in 1st Corinthians 13. We only know in part. We haven’t achieved perfection, and we don’t know God the way He knows us. So if you have been led to believe that “the perfect” in that chapter is the Bible, well… look around. We’re not there yet.
Hey bud, God’s against gluttony too. So… three fingers pointing back at you, I guess.
4) Adjust our priorities. Maybe this issue could stop being the focus of so much political or cultural effort. We don’t picket against fat people, even though gluttony is a sin. (For many of us, myself included, the hypocrisy would be too obvious.) We don’t picket against nonbelievers, be they atheists or adherents of some other religion. We don’t hold rallies against arrogance or greed (two sins that probably deserve a lot more hellfire-n-brimstone preaching in the West).
Perhaps we could stop caring about whether someone is gay, and start caring about that someone.
“But they have to know what the Bible says about their sin!”
First, it’s not a secret. Second, I know a lot of proud people, and selfish people, and angry people. I know rude people and promiscuous people. I know people who steal and people who lie and people who just don’t care about anyone else. That doesn’t mean I rage against them. I’m supposed to love them regardless, and I try to do so.
Third, and most important, the Lord knows I still struggle with a bunch of my own sins, and I do know what the Bible says.
I find I benefit more by learning about the grace and mercy of a holy God that reaches out to me in spite of my sin. That inspires me to live better.
I assume the same is true of others. It’s that whole Golden Rule thing.
Hey, I thought of another “What if?”
What if we cared more about people than about what those people do?
That would be a story worth telling.
The home of David M. Williamson, writer of fantasy, sci-fi, short stories, and cultural rants.
