Lem growled, “When did you last shoot the sun?”
“About three days ago.”
Lem gulped. “Three days? Seventy-two hours? And since then?”
“It’s simple mathematics, Lem. At such a speed, in so many hours, you log so many miles in a given direction…”1
Human beings are a fascinating species. We have been able to calculate and discover so many things. Take Nathaniel Bowditch for instance. As a boy in early America, 1779, he was enthralled by long and difficult math problems. They occupied his thoughts for hours at a time. I’ll admit, I’m weird, I like math, but I am not as fanatical as Nathaniel Bowditch. His genius served him and his family well, however, as he became bookkeeper apprentice at a ship chandlery, basically a ship retail store. For nine years he struggled through his apprenticeship and once free of that, he became a second mate on a merchant ship. That started his carrier as a sailor. In Carry On, Mr. Bowditch, on the last voyage referenced, Nathaniel was Captain on a ship embarking to an island in Indonesia, Sumatra. The most enticing part is the last few hours of the voyage home. Nathaniel Bowditch was able to calculate the distance that their ship needed to travel to make it to Salem, Massachusetts. Remember, this was waaayyy before GPS. In fact, this was also in a time when calculating the Longitude of the earth was rather difficult. Arduous calculations had to be performed in order to pinpoint exact locations, time had to be precise to make the calculation perfect, and most times, it took the men days to do the math.
Nathaniel Bowditch used speed, time, and his knowledge of their position based on a three-day-old calculation. It’s simple mathematics. Man is genius. But we can’t account for everything. Nothing went wrong with the voyage for Nathaniel Bowditch, he made it home safely along with all of his men. He proved that mankind could tame the elements and that with his mind, he can work around the barriers placed before him. Just look at modern science and technology. Yet, as man learns more and more, we realize, we know less and less. Any time a scientist comes up with a valid hypothesis, the solution is never close. More research than is ever possible must be taken. Variables beyond our human control effect every outcome. As our knowledge becomes more complex, so does the world. With such a complex world, there is a question that arises: How does it all sustain?
Consider that for a moment: How does it all sustain? Why do the pine cones of a Lodgepole Pine tree only spread seeds after the intense heat of a forest fire? Why do hurricanes dissipate only after they climb upon ground? Why do wild animals, who only hunt and live by instinct… share food? We are man, we have everything at our finger tips, yet we are outrageously greedy! But a lioness will share her kill with the whole pride, why? That defies survival of the fittest. Wouldn’t the fittest say, “Forget it! This one’s mine, go get your own!” With all of that, I cannot escape the notion of Someone holding all things together. And, if there is Someone in charge, then He must know all of the variables and hold the whole equation in place.
“It’s a simple matter of mathematics, sir.”2
—Rupert Anndelle
“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.”
—Job 38:4 (ESV)
1 Jean Lee Latham, Carry On, Mr. Bowditch (New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1983), 250.
2 Jean Lee Latham, Carry On, Mr. Bowditch (New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1983), 114.
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