faith...

professor: you are a christian, aren't you son.

student: yes sir.
professor: so you believe in God?
student: absolutely sir.
professor: is God good?
student: sure.
professor: is God all powerful?
student: yes.
professor: well, my brother died of cancer even though he prayed to God to heal him. most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. but God didn't. so how is this God good then? hmm?
(student sits in silence)
professor: you can't answer, can you? let's start again young fella. is God good?
student: yes.
professor: is satan good?
student: no.
professor: where does satan come from?
student: ... from... God...
professor: that's right son. tell me son, is there evil in this world?
student: yes.
professor: evil is everywhere, isn't it? and God did make everything, correct?
student: yes.
professor: so who created evil?
(student does not answer)
professor: is there sickness? immorality? hatred? ugliness? all these terrible things exist in the world, don't they?
student: yes sir.
professor: so who created them?
(student has no answer)
professor: science says that you have five senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. tell me son, have you ever seen God?
student: no sir.
professor: tell us, have you ever heard your God?
student: no sir.
professor: have you ever felt your God, smelled your God, tasted your God? have you ever had any sensory perception of God for that matter?
student: no sir, i'm afraid i haven't.
professor: yet you still believe in Him?
student: yes.
professor: according to empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your God doesn't exist. what do you say to that, son?
student: nothing. i have only my faith.
professor: yes, faith. and that is the problem science has.

student: professor, is there such a thing as heat?
professor: yes.
student: and is there such a thing as cold?
professor: yes, of course.
student: no sir, there isn't.
(the lecture theater becomes very quiet with this turn of events)
student: sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. but we don't have anything called cold. we can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat, but  we can't go any further after that. there is no such thing as cold. cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. we cannot measure cold. heat is energy. cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.
(there is a pin-drop silence in the lecture hall)
student: what about darkness, professor? is there such a thing as darkness?
professor: yes. what is night if there isn't darkness?
student: you're wrong again, sir. darkness is the absence of something. you can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light. but if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and it is called darkness, isn't it? in reality, darkness is not. if it is, well, you would be able to make the darkness darker, wouldn't you?
professor: so what is the point you are making, young man?
student: sir, my point is that your philosophical premise is flawed.
professor: flawed? can you explain how?
student: sir, you are working on the premise of duality. you argue there is life and then there is death, a good God and a bad God. you are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. sir, science can't even explain a simple thought. it uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. to view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. death is not the opposite of life, just the absence of how we understand it. now tell me professor, do you teach your students that they are evolved from a monkey?
professor: if you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course i do.
student: have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?
(the professor shakes his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the argument is going)
student: since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion sir? are you not a scientist, but a preacher?
(the class is now in an uproar)
student: is there anyone in this class who has ever seen the professor's brain?
(the class now breaks out in laughter)
student: is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor's brain, felt it, touched it or smelled it? no one appears to have done so. so, according the established rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain sir. with all due respect sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir?
(the room is silent. the professor stares at the student, his face unfathomable)
professor: i guess you'll have to take them on faith, son.
student: that is it sir... exactly! the link between man and God is faith. that is all that keeps things alive and moving.

by the way, the student was einstein.

(nyc)