I shared with my congregation recently an experience of an MIT professor, which I read about in Christianity Today. I am reprinting it for you below in case you are one of those who believes Christians hold beliefs which are without a foundation.
MIT Professor Encounters God
Dr. Rosalind Picard, founder and director of the Affective Research Group at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), was once convinced that she didn’t need God or religion. So, she declared herself an atheist and dismissed believers as uneducated. But, as an educated person, she figured at least she should read the Bible. Picard said, “When I first opened the Bible, I expected to find phony miracles … and assorted gobbledygook. To my surprise, the Book of Proverbs was full of wisdom. I had to pause while reading and think.”
She read through the entire Bible twice. She said, “I felt this strange sense of being spoken to. Part of me was increasingly eager to spend time with the God of the Bible, but an irritated voice inside me insisted I would be happy again once I moved on.”
In college, another student invited her to his church. The pastor got her attention when he asked, “Who is Lord of your life?”
She said: I was intrigued. I was the captain of my ship, but was it possible that God would actually be willing to lead me? After praying, “Jesus Christ, I ask you to be Lord of my life,” my world changed dramatically, as if a flat, black-and-white existence suddenly turned full-color and three-dimensional. But, I lost nothing of my urge to seek new knowledge. In fact, I felt emboldened to ask even tougher questions about how the world works.
Today, I work closely with people whose lives are filled with medical struggles. I do not have adequate answers to explain all their suffering. But, I know there is a God of unfathomable greatness and love who freely enters into a relationship with all who confess their sins and call upon his name.
I once thought I was too smart to believe in God. Now, I know I was an arrogant fool who snubbed the greatest Mind in the cosmos – the Author of all science, mathematics, art, and everything else there is to know. Today, I walk … with joy, alongside the most amazing Companion anyone could ask for, filled with desire to keep learning and exploring.
Dr. Rosalind Picard, “An MIT Professor Meets the Author of All Knowledge,” christianitytoday.com (March 15, 2019, Vol. 63, No. 2)
ED. NOTE: Spencer is the pastor at First United Methodist Church, in Court House.
