A science professor begins his school year with a lecture to the students, ‘Let me explain the problem science
has with religion.’ The atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his class and then asks one of his new
students to stand.

‘You’re a Christian, aren’t you, son?’

‘Yes sir,’ the student says.

‘So you believe in God?’

‘Absolutely.’

‘Is God good?’

‘Sure! God’s good.’

‘Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?’

‘Yes.’

‘Are you good or evil?’

‘The Bible says I’m evil.’

The professor grins knowingly. ‘Aha! The Bible!’ He considers for a moment. ‘Here’s one for you. Let’s say
there’s a sick person over here and you can cure him. You can do it. Would you help him? Would you try?’

‘Yes sir, I would.’

‘So you’re good…!’

‘I wouldn’t say that.’

‘But why not say that? You’d help a sick and maimed person
if you could. Most of us would if we could. But God doesn’t.’

The student does not answer, so the professor continues.

‘He doesn’t, does He? My brother was a Christian who died of cancer, even though he prayed to Jesus to heal
him. How is this Jesus good? Hmmm? Can you answer that one?’

The student remains silent.

‘No, you can’t, can you?’ the professor says. He takes a sip of water from a glass on his desk to give the
student time to relax.

‘Let’s start again, young fella. Is God good?’

‘Er…yes,’ the student says.

‘Is Satan good?’

The student doesn’t hesitate on this one. ‘No.’

‘Then where does Satan come from?’

The student falters. ‘From God?’

‘That’s right. God made Satan, didn’t he? Tell me, son.
Is there evil in this world?’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Evil’s everywhere, isn’t it? And God did make everything, correct?’

‘Yes.’

‘So who created evil?’ The professor continued, ‘If God created everything, then God created evil, since evil
exists, and according to the principle that our works define who we are, then God is evil.’

Again, the student has no answer. ‘Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things,
do they exist in this world?’

The student squirms on his feet. ‘Yes.’

‘So who created them?’

The student does not answer again, so the professor repeats his question. ‘Who created them?’ There is still
no answer. Suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace in front of the classroom. The class is mesmerized. ‘Tell
me,’ he continues onto another student. ‘Do you believe in Jesus Christ, son?’

The student’s voice betrays him and cracks. ‘Yes, professor, I do.’

The old man stops pacing. ‘Science says you have five senses you use to identify and observe the world
around you. Have you ever seen Jesus?’

‘No sir. I’ve never seen Him.’

‘Then tell us if you’ve ever heard your Jesus?’

‘No, sir, I have not.’

‘Have you ever felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus or smelled your Jesus? Have you ever had any sensory
perception of Jesus Christ, or God for that matter?’

‘No, sir, I’m afraid I haven’t.’

‘Yet you still believe in Him?’

‘Yes.’

‘According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol,science says your God doesn’t exist.
What do you say to that, son?’

‘Nothing,’ the student replies. ‘I only have my faith.’

‘Yes, faith,’ the professor repeats. ‘And that is the problem science has with God. There is no evidence, only
faith.’

The student stands quietly for a moment, before asking a question of His own. ‘Professor, is there such thing
as heat?’

‘Yes,’ the professor replies. ‘There’s heat.’

‘And is there such a thing as cold?’

‘Yes, son, there’s cold too! ‘

‘No sir, there isn’t.’

The professor turns to face the student, obviously interested. The room suddenly becomes very quiet. The
student begins to explain. ‘You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat, unlimited heat,
white heat, a little heat or no heat, but we don’t have anything called ‘cold’. We can hit up to 458 degrees
below zero, which is no heat, but we can’t go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold; otherwise
we would be able to go colder than the lowest -458 degrees.’

‘Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body
or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-458 F) is the total absence of heat. You see, sir, cold is
only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal
units because heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.’

Silence across the room. A pen drops somewhere in the classroom, sounding like a hammer.

‘What about darkness, professor. Is there such a thing as darkness?’

‘Yes,’ the professor replies without hesitation. ‘What is night if it isn’t darkness?’

‘You’re wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something; it is the absence of something. You can have low light,
normal light, bright light, flashing light, but if you have no light constantly you have nothing and it’s called
darkness, isn’t it? That’s the meaning we use to define the word.’

‘In reality, darkness isn’t. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn’t you?’

The professor begins to smile at the student in front of him. This will be a good semester. ‘So what point are
you making, young man?’

‘Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed to start with, and so your conclusion must
also be flawed.’

The professor’s face cannot hide his surprise this time.
‘Flawed? Can you explain how?’

‘You are working on the premise of duality,’ the student explains. ‘You argue that there is life and then there’s
death; a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can
measure. Sir, science can’t even explain a thought.’

‘It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as
the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the
opposite of life, just the absence of it.’

‘Now tell me, professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?’

‘If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young man, yes, of course I do.’

‘Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?’

The professor begins to shake his head, still smiling, as he realizes where the argument is going. A very good
semester, indeed.

‘Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an
on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a preacher?’

The class is in uproar. The student remains silent until the commotion has subsided.

‘To continue the point you were making earlier to the other student, let me give you an example of what I
mean.’

The student looks around the room. ‘Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the professor’s brain?’ The
class breaks out into laughter.

‘Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor’s brain, felt the professor’s brain, touched or smelled
the professor’s brain? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of
empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, with all due respect, sir.’

‘So if science says you have no brain, how can we trust your lectures, sir?’

Now the room is silent. The professor just stares at the student, his face unreadable.

Finally, after what seems an eternity, the old man answers. ‘I guess you’ll have to take them on faith.’

‘Now, you accept that there is faith, and, in fact, faith exists with life,’ the student continues. ‘Now, sir, is
there such a thing as evil?’

Now uncertain, the professor responds, ‘Of course, there is. We see it everyday. It is in the daily example of
man’s inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These
manifestations are nothing else but evil.’

To this the student replied, ‘Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the
absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God.
God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God’s love present in his
heart. It’s like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light.’

The professor sat down.

The other night as I was going up to bed I noticed that the ottoman was out of place. Instead of it being in the middle of the living room, it was right by the stairs. I could have easily taken 2 seconds to move it to the right place but instead I brushed the task of for tomorrow.

A few hours later in a hurry to get my day started I ran down the stairs and right into the ottoman. After grimacing in pain for a moment I started to laugh at myself. I was laughing because it was my fault. If I took the time to move the obstacle yesterday, I would have reached my destiny (the kitchen) more smoothly.

That humbling experience reminds me that I can reach my goals a lot more smoothly if I only remove the obvious obstacles today. The most obvious obstacles that hinder success are the television, the internet, addictions, poor time management, disorganization and the most deadly of all is fear.

If you want to reach your destiny smoothly I recommend you examine your life. Are any of the obvious obstacles hindering your success. If so then move them. Move them today that way you can arrive with less bruises.

Today I’d like to share with you an aspect of my life that is a work in progress. That aspect is my ability to listen. I know that it is a work in progress because I am reminded of the fact.

The Merriam-Webster’s definition of the word listen is to pay attention to sound or to hear something with thoughtful attention.

That’s my flaw, I neglect to give thoughtful attention. My process of listening is to hear what my wife has to say and quickly respond with a solution.

I can now see that I wasn’t really paying attention. You see how can you possibly pay attention if you are already thinking of a solution.  In my goal to be Mr. Fix a-lot, I forget to just listen.

I think that is why God gave us two ears and one mouth. He wanted us to listen more and talk less.

I’d like to leave you with this quote. “The world belongs to the man who is wise enough to change his mind in the presence of facts.” God’s Little Instruction Book for Men