Human
beings straddle visible and invisible realities—the natural and the
supernatural. I thought about these two worlds when I went out in a boat to
watch whales off the coast of New Zealand. A whale would rest on the surface
for a while, then breathe deeply a few times, his exhalations creating a
spectacular spout, before plunging a mile deep to feed on squid.
Despite
having its own lively habitat of marine plants and sea creatures, the whale
must surface for oxygen from time to time or it dies. Though it knows little
about the world above, it needs vital contact with it to survive.
I
sometimes feel like that whale, coming up for spiritual air at regular
intervals to stay alive. But there is no neat division between the natural and
the supernatural. The world we live in is not an either/or world. What I do as
a Christian—praying, worshiping, demonstrating God’s love to the sick, needy,
and imprisoned—is both supernatural and natural.
The same
God who created the world that’s visible to us actively sustains it and has
made a way for us to approach Him, the invisible. Paul wrote, “You, who once
were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has
reconciled in the body of His flesh through death” (Col. 1:21-22).
All our actions take place in the visible world, which we can touch, smell, and see. Yet the Creator and Sustainer of all things has provided a way for us to breathe the spiritual air we need and crave.
