What face are we looking at?

In the beginning of the Exodus story we read of Moses on the Mountain and is afraid. Moses hides his face from viewing God (Ex 3:6). 

As the story goes on and Moses confronts Pharaoh, Pharaoh gets so angry with Moses that in Exodus 10:28-29 you have this exchange:

Then Pharaoh said to him, ‘Get away from me! Take care that you do not see my face again, for on the day you see my face you shall die.’Moses said, ‘Just as you say! I will never see your face again.’

And from that day onward Moses no longer looks at the face of Pharaoh. But more interesting is that as the Exodus continues Moses comes closer to seeing God's face until at the end of the entire story of Moses you get this:

Never since has there arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. - Deut. 34:10

Converting to anything is really just a series of 'turnings' through one's life. Over the course of Moses' life there are a series of turnings from the face of Pharaoh to the face of God. 

The invitation to Christianity is an invitation to turn toward a different face. 

Conversion is not a one time thing. It is a process. Few are able to make the total turn. Christians are invited to turn toward God through the ways of Jesus. This is why Christians identify Jesus as the "way". We can turn all sorts of ways in our lives, but we come to understand God when we turn toward the way of Jesus.  

I have no doubt that God can be known in many other ways - I mean Moses did not proclaim Jesus as his Lord and Savior and yet the scripture says that Moses was the only person to be known by God face to face. 

This is a reason I follow the ways of Jesus. I trust (have faith) that his way is a way that will lead me to be like Moses, and be known by God face to face - here and now. 

More than 2 creation stories in the Bible - yep

When you read the opening chapter of the first book of the Bible, Genesis, you will read about God creating the world in seven days. It is a very poetic and liturgical story of God creating. Genesis chapter two is another story of creation of a very anthropomorphic God who creates Adam from dirt and then Eve comes on the scene later after Adam is unable to find companionship with any animal. 

These two stories are like the Christmas narrative in which there are two stories (one in Matthew and one in Luke) which are different but when we see the Christmas plays in December, both stories are pushed together making it seem as they are really just one story. 

This post is not about the first two chapters of Genesis. This post is, however, about another creation story in the Bible. 

Exodus.  

Exodus is the story of the people of God being created. It is the story not so much of a pre-scientific understanding of the natural world order, but a story of a pre-enlightenment understanding of human nature.  

While the pre-scientific mind might not have gotten the story of how the big bang works, the pre-enlightenment mind seems to have hit the nail on the head when it comes to understanding human nature. 

For as much as we like to think we are free and rational beings, it is clear that everyone is enslaved. Some are physically so and that is horrific. Others are enslaved to Pharaohs of their own making and still others are held prisoner to a Pharaoh that is far less obvious to identify. 

We are all enslaved to the Pharaoh of the crowd. 

From conformity experiments to scapegoating an innocent person, it is clear time and time again that human beings are held captive to the Pharaoh of the crowd. We get whipped up in a frenzy when our team wins the championship and we are manipulated to walk by and ignore a child hit by a car. We are all enslaved to the Pharaoh and this is why the story of the Exodus is, perhaps, the greatest creation story of all. 

It is in this setting of a people enslaved that God creates a new people. A people who would no longer be enslaved to the crowd mentality. A people no longer held hostage to having to blame others. A people that would not be like the Pharaoh they just left. A new creation, if you will. 

And yet, here we are. Still enslaved to the Pharaoh of the crowd.  

I am not interested in the debate of how the world came into existence or how old the earth is. I am far more interested in the conversation of how it is that we are set free and yet, even after all these years, continue to long to be back under the rule of Pharaoh? 

Light from Sound?

Sonoluminescence is an interesting thing in which light bursts from bubbles in liquid. 

Yep. Light from sound. Check out the video. 

And guess what? We have no idea why this happens. 

Sure there are theories. There are some people who believe one or some combination of the following reasons: hotspot, bremsstrahlung radiation, collision-induced radiation and corona discharges nonclassical light, proton tunneling, electrodynamic jets. 

All of these are theories to help the world better understand a beautiful mystery. Each theory has it's own authority of its own. Each theory has its own disciples and its own teachers. Each theory is held by a group of people who are working attempting to grasp at something we can barely put words to. Each theory is incomplete. Each theory is a glimpse. Each theory is willing to "fight" for its own understanding, while at the same time not demonizing the other theories as dumb or evil or misleading.

You may be asking yourself, "are you still talking about Sonoluminescence theories or are you talking about something else?"