The Fish That Doesn’t Believe In Water
Suppose I try to convince you in the existence of Martians.
Right now, as we speak, they inhabit Mars, going about their business making babies and debating politics. But, they hide. No one has seen them because they live under the surface of the planet.
Of course, I can’t prove it. But you can’t disprove it either.
I started to think that faith was like this. Because just like subterranean martians, God hides. You can’t prove he exists. And you can’t disprove it.
That’s the funny thing about faith. By definition, it is in things unseen. And it says in the Bible that without faith it’s impossible to please God. It can all start to sound kind of ridiculous when you think about it. It’s like someone is pulling one over on us. Why would we want to please someone that we can’t even prove is real in the first place?
It’s like telling us that without faith it’s impossible to please the martians. Why would I want to please the martians?
Then one day I realized that the God/martian comparison just doesn’t hold water.
Let me direct your attention to the fish…
Do you know it is possible for a fish to not believe in water? In fact, I think it is possible for a fish to go its whole life without acknowledging water’s existence.
This may sound ridiculous to you at first. But if you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. They don’t see the water, simply because its everywhere and they look right through it. They keep on swimming, never realizing that in it and by it and through it they move. Many of them would feel they have no reason to talk about it. It’s all around them, but it in a very real sense has nothing to do with them. They go on about their business, making babies and debating politics, swimming through the water that they don’t even know is there.
But there are unexplained things. Like bubbles, rip tides, and the Eastern Australian current. And there is a mysterious myth of a surface, which some have claimed to have seen, even broken through.
And those who have seen these or experienced these are sure that there is more than meets the eye…
God is not like the martians. He is more like… water.
A fish may not believe in water, but that doesn’t change the fact that everything around him is swimming in it.
How is it that two people can look at the same thing, and one finds reason to believe and the other finds reason to disbelieve? It is because God is like water. We move right through him, going about our business, making babies and debating politics.
The entire universe is swimming in God.
Here is the beautiful thing: even though God hides, he hides everywhere. There is no where he can not be found. And if we don’t want to see him, we won’t, and if we want to, we will.
There are unexplained things. Like miracles, happy accidents, and rumors of resurrection. And there is a mysterious myth of an afterlife, which some have claimed to have seen, even broken through.
Believing in God is not like believing in the martians. Nothing is swimming in the martians. I can’t look at the sunrise and think, wow, what amazing martians. That doesn’t make any sense.
Consider, once a fish’s eyes are opened to the existence of water around him, he can’t not see it. How did I miss this? he would think to himself. How could I have been so blind?
