Job 42:1-6; John 2:11
January 17, 2002
Patrick Preheim
The God Gene
This is the second Sunday after Epiphany and we are continuing with the
themes of light, sight, and God’s revelation through Jesus. I have learned much
about eyes and sight in the last several months. What started out as a routine
call to the optometrist morphed into several protracted visits with a
specialist. At issue was the dubious periphery vision of my right eye. They put
a nauseating ointment in my eyes. They scanned my retina with bright lights.
They made me identify little white specks while staring at a black dot. They
told me something quite interesting ----my right eye is medically similar to the
left, it just never learned to see as well. They told me poor vision has several
sources: sometimes a person is born with a kink in the retina that impedes
vision, sometimes an injury or stroke damage the eye, and sometimes the eye
never develops the template for interpreting information which is seen. What is
true physically can also be true in a spiritual sense. For a variety of reasons,
the spiritual eyesight of many is worse than 20 / 20.
The wedding of Cana is the first of seven major miracles in John’s gospel. The
feature of the story that caught my attention this year was verse 11. The verse
explains that the “water into wine miracle” was the first sign of Jesus and that
it caused the disciples to believe in him (Jn 2:11). My thoughts turned to all
the others at the wedding who still did not believe after the miracle. You see,
in the last month I have had conversations with several different individuals
whose spiritual eyesight is impaired or non-existent. Why is it that some people
(in John’s gospel and our world) do not perceive God’s presence after a single
miracle let alone seven signs? Why is that two people can observe the same event
and one person describes it as a sign while another person ascribes no
supernatural quality to the event? Psalm 36:9 does not have it quite right, I
think: not all see light even though they are in God’s light. My sermon today
explores spiritually impaired vision and God’s response to it. I will conclude
with some eye exercises that may help a person see light or see light more
clearly.
A recent theory on spiritual sight made the bold claim that the capacity to see
spiritual things is genetic. My introduction to this idea came through a
conversation I had with a devout atheist some years back. We were biking up a
very tall mountain in the Canadian Rockies. He was in better shape than I, so he
got to do most of the talking up that hill. He said that he comes from a long
line of non-believers and a book affirmed something he had long thought: belief
is genetic. The book to which he referred is The God Gene: How Faith is
Hardwired into our Genes and it was authored in 2004 by geneticist Dean Hamer.
“The God gene hypothesis proposes that human beings inherit a set of genes that
predisposes them to believe in a higher power...The God gene hypothesis is based
on a combination of behavioral, genetic, neurobiological and psychological
studies” [some of which were published in The American Journal of Psychiatry in
2003]. Hamer claimed to have traced the openness to belief in the supernatural
back to gene VMAT2. This gene acts by altering serotonin levels in the brain,
and Hamer would suggest that higher levels of serotonin help us better perceive
God (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_gene). Like a person born blind because of
genetics Hamer asserts that some people are born without the equipment needed to
perceive the divine. This theory is not one I whole heartedly support, but
neither do I immediately disagree with the possibility. God has permitted all
sorts of genetic abnormalities and genetic diseases to exist, so perhaps it
could be that some have a weaker God gene. Even if there are elements of truth
to the God gene theory, I firmly believe those born with spiritual blindness can
come to experience the joy, purpose, and peace of God. Even if a person has an
underdeveloped gene VMAT2 there is the possibility of good news.
The good news, however, rests upon a person’s desire for divine light. The heart
must long for it and the mind must seek it; unfortunately many who lack
perception of God do not see anything missing in their lives. My biking buddy,
for example, used Hamer’s study to justify a lifestyle devoid of the spiritual
quest and my guess is that most who have never experienced God see no reason to
seek God. Paul Hanly’s editorial on consumer culture replacing religion in the
SP this past week highlighted for me the challenge before people of faith
(“Consumer culture has replaced religion”, (Tues, Jan 12/2010) section C2). A
whole generation is being raised to believe that consumption brings happiness.
This kind of consumerism will destroy our planet and ruin any sense of the
common good. Our religion teaches that meaning comes from relationship: with God
and a community. These relationships, in theory, take precedence over our
cravings and give more meaning than a shopping high. But how will people learn
of a different path? I believe openness toward God, Christ, and the Church comes
through testimony of a person whose life is improved through God’s light. The
touch of Jesus makes the ordinary exquisite; it redeems a failing party; it
brings deep meaning. Our lives are the wedding of Cana and we are invited to
share about the wonder-ful wine that was once water. If a person is born blind
to the light of God they will need to want to see differently for that to
happen, and that want is stirred by exposure to what could be. Miracles do
happen; those born blind do gain spiritual sight. In John’s gospel Nicodemus
does come to see the light, but it is a miracle worked between Jesus, God and
Nicodemus over several years. It takes a desire on the part of a person to
receive different sight, but new light can come.
While some may suffer a weak God gene I think the primary issue impeding
spiritual sight is an incomplete or faulty template. Has it ever happened to you
that while out walking you encounter a bird or animal you think you recognize it
but it isn’t quite right? This has happened to me several times since moving to
Saskatchewan. Last fall Patty and I were walking the trail between Gabriel
Dumont and Diefenbaker parks and we saw a largish brown animal in a tree. I said
something like, “look at that huge opossum in the tree”. But I knew it wasn’t an
opossum because of the size and colour, so I followed that declaration with
another one, “no, it’s a beaver, but what is a beaver doing half way up the
tree?” Patty finally deduced that we were looking at a porcupine. My problem was
that I had never seen a live porcupine in the wild and certainly never seen one
in a tree. My eyes were taking in the information but my brain lacked the proper
template to interpret what was being seen. As a result I tried to fit the
information from my eyes into a category that made sense to me. I described the
large brown animal as a beaver and opossum because those are the animals I
recognize that came closest to the appearance of a porcupine. I chose the
reading from Job 42 this morning because it is short piece of scripture which
reflects the evolving spiritual template of Job. I share with you words of
Biblical commentator Carol A. Newsome.
Job’s observation that he now “sees” (42:5b) is the key to the significance of
his reply to God...Job confesses that he now perceives God in a way that
transforms his understanding of himself and his situation. As Job’s reply
suggests, “seeing” is a complex business, involving much more than simply having
one’s eyes physically open...the brain structures visual stimuli into meaningful
patterns. By means of these patterns, some features are made to appear prominent
and others are virtually screened out, so that the visual stimulus may be
recognized as a meaningful thing--- e.g., an apple, a knife, a face. Without the
templates that organize raw perception, a person could not see in any real
sense...What a person is able to see in a situation depends a great deal on the
organizing and interpretive frameworks that person brings to it....So it was
with Job. He could see only injustice in his situation, because his interpretive
paradigm, based on a legal metaphor, organized his experience in terms of rights
and wrongs....As Job discovered, events do occur that challenge and sometimes
overturn the paradigms that have shaped one’s perceptions. Yet people do not
readily let go of the frameworks that have shaped their vision of
reality.....Sometimes a dramatic confrontation is required to overcome the
resistance people often experience in acknowledging the reality of something
they have tried hard not to see. Leviathan plays that role in God’s speech to
Job. (Carol A. Newsom, “The Book of Job” in The New Interpreter’s Bible
Commentary (vol. IV), p.629-631)
Whether it is a wonderful porcupine or the dreaded Leviathan (the ancient symbol
of chaos) God invites us to expand the template of our vision so that light and
miracles can be seen. I will give some thoughts how visual augmentation might
happen.
First, we must have a spirit of openness. Like I noted earlier---it takes a
desire on the part of a person to receive new light, but new sight can come. We
must acknowledge that we do not know it all, that there is a higher power; that
we too need corrective lenses. The prayer for wisdom spoken at morning devotions
or the prayers for understanding at bed time are not idle words. They express a
longing to see more fully, and I believe God honours that prayer. God honours
that prayer even when spoken from that no man’s land that exists between belief
and doubt (Mark 9:24). To paraphrase a verse from the Psalms and Proverbs:
respect of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom / knowledge (Pr 1:7; Ps 111:10).
On behalf of ourselves and those we love, let us sincerely ask God for the eyes
to see the signs around us.
Another way we learn to identify light in our lives is through story. The
“encounters with God” do this in several ways. For those who share on a Sunday
morning the task of public speaking gives focus to reflection on God’s walk with
us. We are not always as attentive as we might be, and the opportunity to share
helps us pay attention to the water regularly being turned into wine in any
given week. For those of us who hear the experiences of others we are all taught
additional ways to see the light of God in daily living. We learn new models of
sight through story be we children, youth, octogenarian, or pastor.
We also expand our templates when we reflect on the experiences of our lives.
There are many different exercises that can train a person’s capacity for
reflection. Two basic questions which can heighten our awareness of God are the
following: when this week did you feel closest to God?; and when did you have an
opportunity to help another person grow or a chance to grow yourself but ignored
it? “The first question leads to a greater awareness of our experience with God,
and the second sensitizes us to opportunities God is placing before us in any
given week (Maxie Dunnam, “Cultivating Closeness” in Leadership (fall/93), p.
65). Reflections like this help train eyesight.
Perhaps the periphery vision in my right eye is going. Personally, I think I am
fine. I am able to see the children waiting at cross walks while driving; I am
able to see the youth down in this corner while preaching; I am able to see my
partner while playing doubles ping pong. Even when my earthly sight does go,
however, I take great comfort in the spiritual sight I have developed and my
willingness to learn even new ways of seeing. This sight which allows me to see
the water changed to wine gives me great comfort, purpose and peace. I am
grateful for the little signs God performs in our world, and that additional
signs are always coming to reassure us and challenge us. Today we have
celebrated the first sign of Christ, but others do come. May God grant vision to
all who ask for wisdom, understanding, and Epiphany light. Amen.
Patrick Preheim, co-pastor Nutana Park Mennonite Church