Understanding

Dear All,

I had a fever that started on Monday.  By the evening, it was 102.6F.  I decided to tough it out for the night (not a very wise decision).  By Tuesday afternoon, it was 103.4F (39.7C). I called the doctors and was told to go in immediately. Blood counts were done and they were good enough, which means my immune system should be able to fight the infection off. Blood samples were taken for culturing.  A chest X-ray was ordered to rule out pneumonia and other respiratory infections.  Since the culturing could take up to 5 days, a shotgun approach was employed with two complementing antibiotics (one for Gram positive and the other for Gram negative bacteria).  I was then sent home and told to go to ER if I begin to feel sick over night. Although the doctor said I could take Tylenol, I did not take any because fever is part of our defense mechanism against infections.  (Most bacteria can’t thrive in high temperature.)  I tough it out for another night knowing that the antibiotics will kick in eventually.  Fortunately, the fever was mostly gone by Wed. noon.  My doctor and I decided it would be the best to push back the next chemo cycle by a week so that my body has an opportunity to recover.  My surgical wound has not become smaller but it is now only half as deep as before.  With an open wound like this, infection control is critical to my survival and keeping the chemo on schedule.

Fine-tuning of the laws of physics:

Romans 1: 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

When one looks at the universe, it is almost impossible not to be awed by its wonder, beauty, elegance and mystery.  As we learn more about it, it is natural to ask the following question:  How can the universe possibly have obtained the unique set of physical properties it has, so exquisitely fine-tuned for life as they are, except by a purposeful design—design with life and perhaps humanity in mind (Swinburne 1998, Ellis 1993, Ross 1995)?

In this first part of the series, we will look at examples of fine-tuning of the laws of physics. (While having had Modern Physics and Chemistry would have been helpful, I have tried to write the following for lay-persons.  It is possible that I have failed miserably. Please let me know if there is any error or room for improvement.)

According to modern physics, there are four forces in nature – the strong nuclear force that holds protons and neutrons together in an atom nucleus, the weak force that controls e.g., the decay of a neutron into a proton, electromagnetism, and gravity.  If strong force did not exist, protons and neutrons could not bind together and hence no nuclei other than hydrogen nucleus would exist; and if the strong force were not a short range force, all matter would either undergo fusion or bind together; if gravity did not exist, masses would not clump together to form stars and planets and hence the existence of complex of life forms; if electromagnetic force did not exist, nuclei and electrons would not form atoms; if the weak force did not exist, no neutrons would decay to protons, which would make hydrogen-containing molecules much less abundant, and hence little fuel for the nuclear processes in stars (hydrogen has one proton in its nucleus).

If there were no quantization principle, which dictates that particles such as electrons can only occupy certain discrete allowed quantum states, there would be no atomic orbits for electrons and hence no chemistry since, for example, no two hydrogen atoms would even be alike.

Moreover, life depends upon the operation of certain principles in the quantum realm. For example, the Pauli Exclusion Principle, which states that no more than one particle of a particular kind and spin is permitted in a single quantum state, plays a key role in nature. It guarantees the stability of matter and the size of atomic and molecular structures and creates the shell structure of atomic electrons. In a world not governed by this principle, only compact, superdense bodies could exist, providing little scope for complex structures or living organisms.

In the next part of this series, we will look at examples of fine-tuning of the constants of physics.

May this find you and your loved ones in good spirit and health.

Dear All, My blood counts were good enough on Monday, and hence it was a go for both the chemo and the surgery. As is the 2nd week of the cycle, I received my two chemo drugs on Monday which by themselves are enough to make me sick from Wednesday to Friday. But this was the double whammy week, I underwent the surgery at 12:45pm Tuesday for about an hour and was discharged around 3pm next day. The surgeon took a culture, cleaned out the wound, cut away the dead tissues and left the wound open. With a special vacuum dressing which has to be changed every other day by a visiting nurse, I am now attached to a continuous vacuum pump 24/7. The negative pressure supposedly will promote the wound healing in 4-6 weeks. The leg is no longer painful for walking and standing. A switch to a portable pump was done Friday morning to give me mobility. I am thankful that the chemo side-effects have not been as bad as they could have for this double whammy week. Honestly, I did feel somewhat overwhelmed about this week at the beginning of it. With His abundant grace, it turned out to be better than I expected. Please pray for the speedy wound healing and no further infection. May this find you and your loved ones in good spirit and health. Previous updates can be found in http://highspirit.blog.com/

Dear All,

My red blood cell count held its ground without dropping further, and I got my chemo on Monday as scheduled. Last time, I was wrong to say that it was the first time it dipped below the normal range.  It has been low for a while.  However, it was the first time that it became low enough for my doctor to become concerned and for her to do something about it.

The bad news is that my open wound is now infected, and I will need to go through another surgery to clean it up next Tuesday. I suffered from fever from the infection and hence didn’t feel well from Tuesday through Thursday.  The fever was mostly gone by Friday, probably because the antibiotics kicked in. The infection has made standing up and walking around painful. Please pray for the infection to get under control, for a successful surgery and for the speedy and complete healing of the wound which has been elusive so far.  I will probably be off-line for a little while. Please also pray for His uplifting of my spirit.

Why do we believe?

On the outset, I want to briefly state my opinion about evolution with the hope that there will be little confusion about it.  Just like any opinion, my opinion could be wrong, but my belief wouldn’t be shaken even if it turns out to be wrong.  While evolution has been used by atheists to explain how complex life forms can come from simple ones without a creator, I don’t consider it is mutually exclusive with believing in God.  It is a beautiful theory and there is bountiful evidence for micro-evolution.  Extending it to macro-evolution requires a leap of faith similar to believing in God.  If and when macro-evolution is proven to be true, it is still powerless in explaining how our complex and marvelous universe, which requires fine-tuning of about thirty parameters such as the strong nuclear force constant, came to existence.  Finally, it may just be an instrument of God to shape His creatures.  In fact, it is not unusual to find evolution scientists who believe in God.

In “The God Delusion,” which was published in 2006 and is still on best-seller lists, the Oxford evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins stated that “Religious behavior may be a misfiring, an unfortunate byproduct of an underlying psychological propensity which in other circumstances is, or once was, useful.” Dawkins’s conclusion that “religion is nothing more than a useless, and sometimes dangerous, evolutionary accident (Darwin’s God, New York Times, 3/7/07),” can be refuted by the observation made by Scott Atran, (an atheist) “… no society ever survived more than three generations without a religious foundation as its raison d’être (the basic reason to exist)”.  Obviously, religion is not only useful but also critical in terms of group survival.

Scott Atran, an anthropologist at the National Center for Scientific Research in Paris, with joint appointments at the University of Michigan and the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, sometimes presents students with a wooden box that he pretends is an African relic.  He then proceeds to tell them, “If you have negative sentiments toward religion, the box will destroy whatever you put inside it.” Many of his students say they doubt the existence of God, but in this demonstration, they act as if they do believe in something. When he tells them to put in their pencil into the magic box, the nonbelievers do so without a thought. Put in your driver’s license, he says, and most do, but only after significant hesitation. Put in your hands, he tells them, and few will.

Why do so many people, everywhere in the world, believe in God? There is countless evidence of religion everywhere we look in almost every culture, ancient or contemporary. There seems an innate human urge to believe in something transcendent and otherworldly. Personally, one element of my belief is the spiritual awe I found inside of myself which has been well expressed by poets, philosophers and spiritual giants. Are we hard-wired to believe in God? And if we are, how and why did that happen?

In the 1990s, when religion invaded the domain of science with attempts to bring the theory of intelligent design into the biology classroom, scientists responded with counter-invasions.  Among the hard scientists, the debate over why belief evolved is between the adaptationists and byproduct theorists. Adaptationists think there is an adaptive “god module” in our cognitive function. (In evolution, the word adaptive means the module provides a survival benefit). On the other hand, byproduct theorists think that belief in God is a byproduct of a set of adaptive cognitive functions such as agent detection, causal reasoning and theory of mind. In other words, religious belief might be associated with something else that was adaptive.

(Agent detection is the ability to infer the presence of organisms that might do harm. If there is motion out of the corner of our eyes, we are better off presuming that the motion was caused by an agent (an animal or person) and something to run from, even if we mistake a large rock for a bear.  The core of religion is related to supernatural agents.  Causal reasoning is the ability to come up with causal narratives for events. Because “things just happen” is not a viable explanation, we look for an explanation of why things happen to us. Gods make ideal candidates for causes of events because of their mysterious superpowers. Theory of mind is the consciousness to recognize the existence of minds, our own or others’, and then imagine ourselves in other people’s heads.  This leaves the separation of the visible body and the invisible mind open to belief.)

While the aforementioned are interesting theories, the bottom line is that hard scientists such as adaptionists or byproduct theorists are now subscribing to the idea that we are born hard-wired for belief.  The verse “… He has also set eternity in the hearts of men;” (Ecclesiastes 3:11) was written more than 2,000 years ago without the benefit of modern day science.  It says two things: there is eternity in the hearts (hardwired or not) of men, and it was God who put it there.  As the former has become more and more obvious, the debate over the latter is far from over. If we are indeed hard-wired for belief, it might be a product or byproduct of evolution or might not be.  If it is, it is also possible that evolution is just an instrument used by God to hard-wire us.  

May this find you and your loved ones in good spirit and health.

Dear All:                     

As it is the 3rd week of the cycle, my platelet and white cell counts dipped as usual, with nothing alarming aside from the occasional nose bleeding.  My red cell count has fallen below the normal range for the first time.  In other words, I have chemo-induced anemia which could cause lack of energy and shortness of breath.  I was given iron supplements and a red-cell booster shoot and the blood test on next Monday will show if these measures help.  In spite of persistent diarrhea, I have been trying to eat more to gain back the lost weight from last week and to get ready for the next cycle starting Monday.

30th week: Our value system

Simply speaking, a value system is a ranking system of ethic values that an individual or a group holds.  For example, does one place family above professional advancement, human life above political power, customer safety above profit?  All individuals and organizations are driven by their own value systems.

Values are different from virtues in that they are less absolute and more temporal. They are also more specific.  For example, being forthcoming is desirable under normal circumstances.  However, it could kill under a different circumstance, e.g., when somebody was hiding Jews from the Nazis.  In this case, one’s love for thy neighbor, a virtue, should prevail.

To navigate the journey of life, we need a good value system to guide our day-to-day choices and decisions. Wrong values, like a bad map, can lead us down wrong ways and render us ineffective or even bring death to our physical and spiritual lives. Take the 9/11 terrorists for example; as opposed to having been some mindless barbarians without any values as we might like to think, they not only had values, but held values with convictions so strong that they were willing to die for them. They even called their acts of terror, “holy war (Jihad)”.  However, their wrong values brought much harm and destruction to themselves and to those around them.

Many maps can be made to describe the same territory, but only those that describe the territory correctly are useful.  Like maps, there are many different value systems.  Almost every one could have and does have his/her own value system. But there is only one reality, i.e., God’s standard of right and wrong, and only value systems that are aligned with that standard can guide us through the journey of life just like a good map would.

A good value system has to be firmly rooted on virtues such as love, integrity, trustworthiness, kindness, honesty, fairness, etc., which are timeless and universal.  Take Paul Rusesabagina, whose story I shared last week, as an example: his value system is rooted in his love for his neighbors.  By placing first things first, i.e., saving the lives of his fellow human beings, and being stubborn about his beliefs, everything else fell into place pretty naturally. He used the money of his employer to purchase the lives of his neighbors.  He pleaded, intimated, coaxed, cajoled and negotiated with murderers.  He acted friendly with despicable people. He kept evil persons in his circle so as to find and play upon their soft spots. He flattered and bribed them shamelessly.  He said whatever he thought would keep those people in his hotel from being killed.  At the end, he single-handedly saved almost 1,300 lives.

In contrast, Rwanda’s leaders tried to grasp more power by sacrificing the lives of an entire ethnic group, Rwanda’s ordinary citizens allowed themselves to become either passive bystanders or active participants for fear of alienating their peers and those in power, or for fear for their own lives, and the UN and her powerful members decided not to act, sacrificing human beings for political convenience- all examples of wrong value systems that killed almost a million people.

A good value system begins with humility.  Humility allows us to look up to God to see the absolute standard of right and wrong. For example, Jesus commanded us to ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ (Matthew 22:36-40) Rusesabagina saved lives because his value system was aligned with this commandment.

An integral part of God’s laws are the consequences associated with them.  Obedience brings life and blessings, while violation brings death and destruction as we see in the aforementioned example.  God’s laws ultimately are in control regardless of our awareness of them or our obedience to them.  We are free to choose our actions, but we are not free from the consequences of our actions.

Another aspect of humility is to be aware of the fact that we usually won’t and can’t practice the value system we profess when it gets inconvenient.  No genocide can happen without the permission and participation of ordinary men and women like you and me.  The fact is that, regardless of the value system we profess, we are all capable of much more evil than that we would like to admit, particularly during a collective insanity.  

When we say that we are aspiring to a value system, we are merely saying that we are aiming at it and hence are not quite there yet.  When we pride ourselves on a value system, we should become suspicious, for we often choose the value system because it is or it sounds better than the one we actually practice. Do we really understand what is entailed by the value system? Do those who know us think that we actually live according to it?  Do we have a strong conviction for it?  Many who participated in the Holocaust were regular churchgoers.  The German church and her leaders, with few exceptions, did not condemn the killings.  In Rwanda, the great majority of priests and pastors did not protect those who sought refuge in their churches, and the church mostly remained silent.  In fact, the victims would have been better off without the churches, as hundreds of people were lured into them by a false sense of security, which only made it  easier for murderers to slaughter them in wholesale.

What it takes to practice a godly value system is a heavenly character which was discussed on June 24th. http://highspirit.blog.com/1878174/

May this find you and your loved ones in good spirit and health.