When they were almost to the door, a voice rang out behind them. Martha turned to see Lily Rose running toward them.
She held her hat on with one hand and another to her chest. “My deepest apologies for my late arrival.”
“It’s fine.” Martha shared a glance with Jacob. “Jacob took good care of me.”
Her companion eyed him and lifted her chin a bit as he held the door for them to enter. What on earth was that about? Martha shook her head and followed Lily Rose inside, tipping her head in thanks to Jacob for his courtesy.
An hour later, the lecture was in full swing. So far, while there had been a few heated questions from the gallery, it had gone well. And Martha found each exchange fascinating.
Neither the atheists in the crowd nor Mr. Langford had exact proof of either of their points of view. But Mr. Langford was in much better spirits this time. Probably because he hadn’t been ambushed and the university had provided a mediator.
From everything Martha had studied, the model of a Creator was still her favorite. It made the most sense. Even though the papers and ideas behind other theories also had a great deal of science backing them up, there was still so much they didn’t know. Not yet. In the great big picture of life, they had about as much information as the same space the Earth occupied within the known universe. Which wasn’t a lot.
That’s why she loved science, loved learning. She wanted to continue with her education as long as she could. To explore all the unknowns. Search for truth. Find beauty in every detail of life around them.
The lecture came to a close without a major argument erupting or anyone coming to blows. That was nice. Martha surveyed the lecture hall and noticed that each of the reverends and their wives had stayed. That was good. Good to show the community that they could come together with differing ideas and discuss in a calm, logical manner.
Today, anyway.
Tomorrow was another story.
Their trio walked out after the crowd dispersed. Once they were past the outside doors, Jacob raised an eyebrow at her. “What did you think?”
She paused for a moment. Where should she start? “It was educational. And I agreed with the speaker on many counts.”
“May I inquire which ones?”
She pursed her lips and pulled her shoulders back. “Yes, of course. First, I would have to say that his understanding of the young earth model and the Creator—God—made sense to me. It’s logical. From what I can ascertain as a scientist and paleontologist, a global flood catastrophe—Noah’s flood—accounts for what we see in the fossil record.”
He nodded and the three of them continued walking.
“Second, to back up the Creation theory, it makes sense that God created the eartholdand fully developed. It wasn’t like He plopped a baby planet in our solar system that wasn’t ready for anything yet. I can wrap my brain around that.”
“All right.” Apparently, he was waiting for her to finish expressing her ideas before commenting.
“Third, what I haven’t figured out yet is when the dinosaurs lived. Many believe that it was millions of years ago and then they went extinct long before humans were on theplanet. And I must admit that I can understand their point of view. On the other hand, I’ve read Scripture. And I’ve read lots of historical documents and writings from other cultures around the world that all testify to the world being thousands of years old, they all have an account of worldwide flood, and they each speak of creatures that are massive beyond anything we have now. I’ve seen a fossilized tree upright through multiple layers of geological stratum. What should be a timeline for millions of years and yet the same tree is there. To me, there is science behind both the evolutionists’ and the creationists’ points of view. I can’t explain it. I’ve never heard anyone be able to. Thus, all sides have to havefaithin what they believe is true.”
Jacob nodded. “You’re right. My family was worried about my studies in paleontology, afraid I would be tainted by the world. But I don’t believe science—or the study of it—to be bad. If we believe in a Creator, then He created science for us to discover, learn, and explore. It wouldn’t be all that fun if we were born with all the answers to everything. What would there be to explore? To learn? To discover? I don’t know about you, but that sounds pretty boring to me. In all my years studying Scripture, I never once—”
“Stop!”
Martha started at Lily Rose’s sharp tone. She’d never heard such a tone from her friend before.
Lily Rose’s beauty was marred by two bright red spots in her cheeks. Her eyes were narrowed, and her hands fisted on her hips. Anger made her shoulders rigid. “Stop it. I’m not listening to either one of you spout any more.”
Martha placed a hand on her friend’s arm. “What’s wrong?”
Lily Rose shook her head with such force that Martha was afraid she might injure herself. She pushed Martha’s hand away. “All my life, I’ve endured listening to people who live false lives talk about their artificial faith. Yet they live how theywant to, not caring how they treat others. Or talking about God on Sunday and living however they want every other day. Don’t try to convince me that their sham is worth believing. I’m done. I don’t believe there is a God.” She turned to Martha, her face rigid. “I’ll send Walter over with the carriage. I’ll find my own way home.”
With that, she stomped away.
Twelve
“As usual, I started out with good hopes.”
~Earl Douglass
THURSDAY, JUNE20, 1889•JANKOWSKIMANSION
