Today's Scripture Reading (July 1, 2023): Ezekiel 23
In 1905, Albert Einstein made a guess. Yes, it was
just a guess, but a good one. So, Einstein woke up one morning and decided his
guess had to be correct. It was a good guess but also a radical one. Until this
moment in 1905, we believed that mass and energy were two different phenomena
in the universe and were utterly unrelated to each other. But Einstein didn't
believe the prevailing theory about mass and energy was accurate. He played
around with the two phenomena believing that the two phenomena were interconnected.
So, Albert made his guess, and the equation E=mc2 sums up the
relationship that Einstein somehow knew had to be true.
Albert Einstein published his guess in an obscure
scientific journal. He wrote a three-page article on his discovery, but it wasn't
as if the world was waiting for his discovery. Most scientists didn't even have
a possible relationship between energy and mass on their agenda. They were
comfortable with the present models that described mass and energy as
qualitatively different. But not Einstein. Somehow, Einstein knew that what
others believed was wrong.
Fast forward a century, and a first-year university
physics student understands E=mc2 better than Einstein did in 1905
and probably better than the scientist understood the equation when he passed
away in 1955. And we all have some understanding that mass and energy are not
different but rather related states that can be changed into each other. In the
years since Einstein published his guess, E=mc2 has been integral to
many technological advancements. And scientists today are incredibly grateful
for Albert Einstein's guess because it has allowed them, following Einstein's
example, to stand on his shoulders and make other advancements in the field of
physics. But, if they had ignored Einstein and written off E=mc2 as nothing
more than a guess, science would never have moved forward. Much of our
scientific knowledge would be stuck where it was in 1905, and the scientists
would be worthy of ridicule because Einstein gave them an essential piece of
information, which they promptly ignored.
God tells Ezekiel a story of two sisters, Oholah and
Oholibah. And God tells Ezekiel that these two imaginary sisters represent
Israel and Judah. And Oholah (Israel) becomes a prostitute even though she
belongs to God. Therefore, God gave her over to her customers, a penalty that
was carried out publicly in front of the world, including her sister Oholibah. Yet,
even though she had seen her sister's punishment, Oholibah followed the same
path as her sister. She had Oholah's example in front of her, had watched her
sister's punishment, and yet decided to walk the same path anyway.
If there was one way that Judah was worse than Israel,
it was that, despite having the example of Israel and her failure in front of
them, Judah decided to follow the same path anyway. Judah ignored the example of
Israel and took the same path, knowing they would likely receive the same
punishment as Israel. Judah's reaction didn't make sense and proved how stubborn
the people of Judah really were.
Tomorrow's
Scripture Reading: 2 Kings 25
Happy Canada
Day
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