Don't go outside on July 22 ... unless you want to encounter pestilence, terror, and war. Why?

Because there's going to be a solar eclipse, and we all know what happens when the moon covers the sun for several moments ... we who use satellite tv might encounter a brief interruption in service and some might call it an early day because it's dark outside.

Seriously, folks on the other side of the world who will have better seats than us are worried about the implications of the solar eclipse. Check out this story on Yahoo! about how folks from certain religions are interpreting this latest move by Mother Nature.

This is an interesting case study of how religion, science, and life play together. I could call this reaction to the "swallowing up of the sun" for a few moments as something that stems from a pre-scientific worldview. There is a belief that unseen gods are playing with the elements of nature, and this latest play is one that has disastrous aftereffects for us humans. It would be easy to call this pre-scientific. In fact, this looks more like superstition - basing behavior on irrationalistic belief. Some may call this even a religious worldview. After all, the belief is stemming from a major religious system of thought.

Science shows us that the simple rotational patterns of us, the moon, and the sun are simply lining up for this unique event to occur. It's nothing more than patterns within Nature where we find ourselves. Nothing more. And so it's foolish to associate world disorder with what is a beautiful, unique, predictable event. This is a scientific worldview, and it helps alleviate our fears. So, go ahead and have your baby on July 22 -- there's nothing to say that this day will create more birth defects than any other day.

But could there be something more to this? In the pre-scientific worldview, we see assignment of Cause. The Effect is the eclipse, but who causes it? In these certain religions, it's the gods of those religions. In Science, the effect is caused by patterns in nature. But who causes it? Science can only postulate here.

Our Bible has some interesting ideas about nature and how it works. The Ancients believed in a big Dome that covered the sky. God could open certain windows in this Dome and let in the elements -- rain, sun, snow, clouds, wind. We see the Dome a little differently now, especially after our voyages to space where we can see it quite clearly.

But the Ancients had the Cause right -- it was God who created and God who acted in the world. The How was a little off, but the Who was right on.

I guess if I were to run across someone a little superstitious about July 22 and solar eclipses caused by gods, I wouldn't necessarily be led to dismiss them right off for being naive about the ways our world works. They may have gotten the How wrong, but they're close on the Who. And that's a starting point to take us to the True Who of all Creation--the one true God of the Universe.

Psalm 89:6 "For who in the skies above can compare with the LORD ?
Who is like the LORD among the heavenly beings?
(v.11) The heavens are yours, and yours also the earth;
you founded the world and all that is in it."

Check out the rest of the Psalm, here.