The Dawn Treader

Colson shares about his dark night of the soul in a poignant section in Chapter Two, God Is.  His son Wendell was battling cancer and in the midst of chemo treatments.  His daughter Emily discovered a cancerous mole ( melanoma ) and had to have it removed.  His wife Patty was facing major surgery.  Then there were the normal pressure of public life and of a large ministry.

Much like Job, Colson paced at night and questioned God.  He wrestled with the demons of doubt.  Being a rational intellectual type of person, he knew the apologetic answers for God's existence.  The problem was that those were not bringing comfort.  "Where was God when I needed Him?" was the cry of his soul.

That is when he describes the encounter he had with God in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina.  The grandeur of God's creation hit him like a ton of bricks.

"This could not have been an illusion, an accident, or the result of some random process.  While the other planets are sterile and lifeless, this one throbs with life and beauty.  God is.  I knew God exists at a deeper level than I had ever known anything in my life before.  His existence didn't depend on my feelings, either.  I might feel desperate, weary of praying, ready to throw in the towel, but God still is.  There is no other explanation for reality.  What I saw, I realized, was the answer to what I had thought were unanswered prayers."
p.32-33

I really appreciate this.  As a rational person myself, sometimes the apologetic arguments (and there are many) for God's existence don't resonate with my soul as much as sensing the obvious reality of God's existence by looking at his handiwork.  On Monday night, for example, I went outside into the cold Virginia air and looked up at the Orion constellation.  I just stared at it.   Men have been gazing at this constellation for thousands of years.  I looked at the large stars in the Orion cluster.  I looked at Betelgeuse, the red giant that sits at the top ( shoulder ) of Orion.  Then there is the incredibly bright blue-white star of Rigel at Orion's knee.  After a few minutes of soaking in the beauty, I just stopped and threw my hands in the air and said "I love you God."  It was all I could think of to say.  God's presence and his handiwork were overwhelming.

The rational arguments for God's existence are important.  Don't get me wrong.   Colson and Fickett discuss Plantinga's argument about the rationality of starting with the premise "God Is."  It is just as faith based and just as rational as starting with the presupposition that other people have minds.  Other than solipsists, most agree that the assumption that other minds exist is a fair one.  For the same reasons, "God Is" does as well.

Not only do we have a rational starting point, but there is evidence to support the presupposition that God is.  There is ample cosmological evidence (anthropic principle).  There is evidence at the core of life itself.  DNA is a language.  Language requires thought and intentionality.  There are other arguments as well and Colson and Fickett do a nice job of introducing them in a succinct way.  Counter arguments are also given to the arguments raised by Richard Dawkins and others.

The proposition God is not only fits reality, it provides meaning.  We realize that the world becomes a means of knowing God as well as our dwelling place.  For those of us who get to drive through the Blue Ridge Mountains everyday, like yours truly, that can be quite a treat!