If you fly on an airplane
or travel any distance by ship, your safety hinges on what is unseen. This may
not sound accurate, since the pilot flying the plane looks through a window and
the captain of the ship stands on the ship's bridge to view the waters ahead.
But visual recognition, particularly on long journeys, is not the most helpful
means of navigation. In fact, trusting what is seen in these situations often
leads to disaster. (It is true that ocean-going ships can use the stars for
navigation, but modern electronic positioning is the more dominant form.) For
successful and safe directions on long trips in this modern era, trusting what
is unseen is vital. For a journey to have a pleasant end, it is important to
know where you are in reference to where you want to go. Determining the
longitude and latitude of one's position is a safe way to determine where you
are. If you use a GPS form of electronic navigation, the longitude and latitude
coordinates are readily available from your GPS device. This topic becomes more
interesting when you understand that these lines of longitude and latitude are arbitrary
and unseen.
In 1884, 0 degrees
longitude at Greenwich, England, was determined to be the Prime Meridian for
the world and the official basis for the international time zone system. As
this line continues upward from Greenwich and crosses the North Pole, it
becomes 180 degrees longitude, or the International Date Line. Modern time
keeping and global positioning systems are dependent on this imaginary line
that circles planet Earth. This line was not discovered by excavating until a
visible line was found with the words Prime Meridian written on it. A British astronomer,
George Airy, established the location of the Prime Meridian in Greenwich in 1851. But Airy did not excavate to
find this line; he established its location by his own decision. It was an
arbitrary choice that others agreed to follow. So, why is this line so
important?
Well, for example, let's
say that the United States Congress determined that the Prime Meridian should run through Washington, D.C. Thus, all of the
maps and time zones for U.S. purposes would be based on this new location of
the Prime Meridian. Then, suppose
that the leaders in India should decide that the Prime Meridian would run through their country. Finally, what if each
of the world's 200 plus countries should determine that the Prime Meridian would run through each of
their countries? Incredible chaos would result from these actions. It would be
impossible to navigate or tell time with each country demanding that theirs be
the one that establishes the Prime Meridian.
So you see that the establishment of an unseen line is essential for travel and
time keeping worldwide.
The acceptance of the Prime Meridian by all the countries in
the world leads to stability, at least for measuring time and space. But for
issues of lifestyle, ethics, morality and purity, the world has chosen to use whatever
standard suits individual needs at the moment. From the standpoint of morality
and social conduct, the resulting chaos is just as devastating as if each
country had its own Prime Meridian. Issues
of sexuality, abortion, murder and others are seen not from one moral compass,
but from a composite of many conflicting views. People, governments, and sadly,
many church leaders then attempt to form a consensus based upon divergent and
often opposing perspectives. Chaos.
You have the blessing of being
able to teach your children that the Bible is God's Prime Meridian for knowing
how to navigate the troubling waters of life. The One who set this standard is
totally trustworthy. Though he cannot be seen he can be trusted. The
establishment of one Prime Meridian allows mankind to travel, tell time and
provide direction for safe journeys throughout our planet. God has established
his truth in written form in the Scriptures. This is the one and only way to
truth and life. Rejoice in it!
This article has been tagged with:
Leave a comment