Last week I went where perhaps fools rush in and began to delve into the
question of free will. I want to
continue to explore that further this week.
As I noted last week the mathematics which is used to develop Quantum
Mechanics apparently leaves no room for free will. All in the universe is apparently
predetermined if you have all the variables.
At least that is my understanding of what the theoretical physicists are
saying. However, the physicists whom I quoted
last week, Leonard Mlodinow, did concede that that the universe and
human beings are so complex that in effect it appears to us that we do have
free will.
The other factor conceded, if not believed by physicists, is that the
math does not account for an intervention from God or a god-like force
interceding from outside of the structure of the universe. However, as Mlodinow states:
If you believe that there are no exceptions, whether they be big
miracles or minor deviations from the laws of physics, whether you look at the
quantum laws that are fundamental or Newton’s laws, whichever laws you look at,
neither set of laws has room for deviations or choice — let’s say, conscious
choice. So if you believe that the brain follows those laws, as everything in
the laboratory that we’ve ever looked at does, then it’s not a question for
scientists.
So the question is directly in the court of those who believe in a
higher power. If God has given us free,
will which I believe God has, what does that mean for us as Christians and other
believers in a higher power?
As I addressed in this Sunday’s sermon (attached), which wolf of our
nature will we feed; the good one or the evil one? This question is based on a Legend of the Cherokee
people which is provided at the beginning of my sermon. In effect, we have two wolves inside us; a good
one and an evil one. The question posed
is which wolf will win? The answer is
the one we feed.
Even if we do know which is which we do
not always choose good one as St. Paul notes, “I do not understand my
own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate”. If, St. Paul is correct, and I believe anyone
who has any level of self-awareness will agree, do we then have free will? The reality is that we have less free will
that we like to admit or even than we realize.
There are forces within us, symbolized by those two wolves, that
seem to be at war and that at least influence if not control our decisions and
our actions. Carl Jung was the great
explorer of these forces and developed/discovered the concept of archetypes which
are the way that the energy within us is organized and operates to influence
us. These are unconscious forces we
usually are not even aware which are influencing/controlling us; ergo the cry
of St. Paul.
The great gift of Carl Jung was to not only present a psychology
which explains a great deal of how we have been created but to understand it in
terms of how we can develop and mature into the people that God intends us to
be. Jung called it individuation.
The challenge for me as a Christian is to become the person that God intended
me to be when God created me. There are
many aspects of myself which I do not hold to be admirable and which I struggle
to acknowledge; the evil wolf in the legend.
Jung has named these forces The Shadow.
However, these are a part of who I am and unless I acknowledge them and
learn how to relate to them, they will prevent my better wolf from being
fed.
Let us feed the wolf of
our better nature. Blessings on your
journey,
