The Earth as a Magnet
The response of a compass needle to the force exerted by the Earth shows that the Earth behaves like a giant bar magnet. Its magnetic field extends for hundreds of miles into space.
However, the magnetic North Pole to which the needle points, doesn’t coincide exactly with the geographic North. As the Earth rotates, its liquid iron core rotates with it. Since rotating conductors of electricity produce magnetic fields as they move around, the constant movement of the outer liquid core relative to the solid inner core generates electricity. This in turn produces a magnetic field.
Right now the North Pole of the Earth’s magnetic field is in the Canadian Arctic. However, the Earth’s magnetic field has undergone several reversals in the past, so that the North Pole was once in the south - where Antarctica is now.
One of the enduring mysteries of science is to understand how the Earth could have a steady magnetic field that changes direction every once in a while. Fortunately, however, rocks remember where the Earth’s magnetic field used to be. Discovering frozen magnetic material pointing south instead of north helps us understand that the north pole of the Earth was the south pole when the rock hardened.
So next time you’re lost in the woods, be thankful that the Earth’s field won’t be changing any time soon.
Have you ever felt drawn or repelled by someone you have met for the first time? Or, perhaps it was a place that somehow made you feel uncomfortable, and you wanted to get away from it. Other places have a special attraction and you want to return there often. The earth is not alone in possessing a magnetic field. Humans have one of their own.
Similarly we possess a spiritual awareness that is sensitive to either positive or negative traits in other people. Like a magnet, we react positively to some personality types, and negatively to others. What makes us want to marry one member of the opposite sex, and be neutral about the others?
As children, many of us used to play with magnets. We would take two magnets and draw them closer and closer till we could actually feel the force drawing them together. Or, when we turned them the wrong way, the force would actually push them apart. We could not see the force, but it was there nevertheless.
Perhaps this “magnetic field” we carry with us, is there to remind us we are more than flesh and bone. A spiritual dynamic exists within us that should not be ignored.
The attraction or repulsion we feel toward people, places and things, extends to the realm of ideas as well. Why is the idea of God’s existence repulsive to some people, and so comforting to others? Could it be we reject the idea of God, not because He doesn’t exist, but because we do not want to be responsible to another Being? We want to remain in control of our own lives. We want to do our own thing, without having to give an account of our actions to anyone, particularly a supernatural Being?
We may have many “reasonable” arguments against the existence of God, but sometimes our hearts betray us. Sometimes, when we are being honest with ourselves, the idea of a God who really loves us can be very attractive indeed.
David Humphreys and Ron Hughes
© August 2004
