Art to Heart Call to Worship

Joseph Wright of Derby: An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump

©2002 by Jeff Dugan

This painting from 1768 is all about the new frontier of science.  A scary, grey-haired old man is conducting an experiment that removes the air from a flask holding a dove.  The dove collapses and struggles to breathe as a demonstration of the material properties of air.  The physical principles the old man is teaching end up being used by scientists to save the lives of people who find themselves in challenging environments.  But the audience shown here is anything but eager to embrace the opportunity for enlightenment.  Each one faces his fear of the unknown in a different way.  It’s a dramatic portrayal of our innate distrust of new ideas, even if they offer the promise of great benefit.

Since there has been such friction in the past between science and religion, it is interesting to see that the fear of science shown here is similar to the innate fear many of us have for an authentic encounter with God.  Just as we’re comfortable with science we can control, like turning on the lights at home, we are also comfortable with a God who conforms nicely to our preconceived notions of who He should be.  It’s flattering to know that God created us in His image, but we’re more comfortable when we can create Him in ours.

But God tells us, “I am that I am.”  It doesn’t matter what cute and furry little animal we want God to be, He is that He is.  And if we trust the stories in the Bible, we might well expect an authentic encounter with God to be turbulent – traumatic – even fearsome.  Dare we actually claim that we hope to be transformed by Him?  If so, we cannot hope that we will remain in control. 

As we seek just such an encounter with God today, we seek a power infinitely greater than the meager powers of science.  But that encounter is also infinitely more able to save our lives.

So take courage!  And fasten your seat belts!