#262: Of Toddlers and Tides

EXCERPT: The rising tide always evokes for me the vast complexity of creation—and reminds me of something about how creation reflects its Creator.

The Abrahamic traditions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) share a common belief that God is the power behind all creation. Among Christians, this includes the long-standing belief in "Providence" -- the idea that everything that happens is part of a Divine Plan. For me, this is a rich but risky belief, and reflecting on the tides helps me appreciate the richness while avoiding the risks.

You see, “Divine Plan” can be quite misleading.

It's tempting to think this means God has a kind of "blueprint" for all that happens. In this view, God is the cosmic "architect." But blueprints are static, and an architect’s work is literally set in stone, steel, glass, brick, or wood.
One look at the rising tide tells us that creation is way too fluid, interactive, and dynamic for that. How could any blueprint chart the incredible complexity of my fifty-foot stretch of coastline for even one tide, let alone all the coasts for all the tides of history and pre-history? Clearly, "blueprint" cannot fill the “Divine Plan” bill that the concept Providence calls for.

But what if we think of the tides reflecting a computer program? What if we think of God as cosmic programmer?