Charlotte Doan sent me an article I had seen passed around a while back about how each of the 50 state constitutions all tip their hat to God. Using phrases such as "with profound reverence to the God above" or "grateful to God Almighty for our freedoms", each state is represented with its charter documentation making reference to God. I had to laugh for two reasons: one, that if a new state was formed today it's hard to imagine it using the same language (because people are soooo much smarter than needing God to help them!) and two, Massachusetts did not disappoint me. Instead of mentioning God by name, he is referred to as The Great Legislator of the Universe. Ah, those self-reliant people!

In any case, the article dropping in my mailbox was quite timely because as it worked out I happened to be filling out a Boy Scout camp volunteer form on Friday. After answering all the questions as best I could and assuring them I was not an axe murderer, the last question right before my signature at the end was very interesting. You know how you fill out some document and the last question is the one that they really hold you to, that you read a couple times carefully before you sign your name? Well, on the volunteer form I had to affirm that there is a God, that in joining the scouts I would be promoting him, and that he is basically considered an integral part of the Boy Scouts of America. Since I was volunteering to be the chaplain for the summer at camp, I had no qualms about agreeing to that!!!

As if God was NOT part of everyone's day to day life unless we agree to include him! I mean, the world around us is made by him. His "signature" is on everything ever made. There's nowhere you can go to hide from him, and while I am glad the scouts and the states both acknowledge his presence he is the Almighty even if they didn't. And he shows up clearly in places I would never have expected.

For instance. I was watching on TV not long ago a pair of scientists working on some Giant Bison bones that had been found frozen in a glacier in Canada. These bones apparently were from early in the ice age and had been well preserved. The animals no longer exist on the earth, but in the center of the bones old dried blood was found, sort of freeze-dried. The two scientists decided to "just add water" to the bone marrow and put it in with some nutrient and see what happened. After several weeks waiting, they had shown without a doubt that the bone marrow was thriving and creating new blood cells. When asked how they had managed to create life from the long dead/dried up bones, one of them was very quick to give God the credit. "Nothing new was created here" he said. "The life was always there, as God had left it, waiting for us to come along and wake it up. If it had never been given life by God in the first place, it would have been impossible for us to do anything at all." (a paraphrase of what was said)

Kind of like when they found that thousands of years old grain stored in the pyramids and planted it, then it grew wheat! All that time "dead" yet still just as potent and alive as when it was put in there. This is indeed a message of hope, isn't it? We might have a very evil world where it seems as if no one is a true follower of God, but all it takes is for one to read the bible and the seed can become planted, alive, and the persons life rooted in the truth of God. Back even from extinction!

It's great when we affirm the existence of God and his son, Jesus, by confessing his name. He is certainly an integral part of our lives, even if we don't see how. William Penn got it right: "Those people who will not be governed by God will be ruled by tyrants."

Randy