Suppose you build a slide spanning the length of a football field, 3 inches wide at a slight incline of 25 degrees. You then cover the slide with splashes of red, green and blue paint. At the top, you position a fan generating a draft just heavier than the breeze on a cool summer day. If a series of tennis balls were to be dropped on the slide the path of each ball could easily be predicted. The draft would create sufficient thrust propelling them down, one-by-one.

Imagine the universe acted in similar fashion: as a function.

There is an entry point of birth, a progression that follows and a definite end, which we call death. The only difference between our slide and the universe is the multiplication of its parameters. But, in an experiment, expanding the parameters does not disqualify prediction. It simply calls for more math.

For instance, if we decided to double the width of our slide to 6 inches we would likely see the tennis balls jostle from side-to-side as they made their way down. But if we knew enough about the properties of each ball, the force being generated by the fan and the exact starting point of where they were dropped, their charted paths could be predicted with 100% confidence.

What’s more, both of our slides hold in common that no matter the placement of the input, each tennis ball will engage primary colors through its progression and come out white. It doesn't matter the brand, the coat of yellow, whether it goes straight down the first slide or sporadically down the second: each ball will be changed.

Each ball will be white.

The universe has a beginning and is continually expanding. This is the holding of people on both sides of the fence: those who believe there is a God and those who do not. If there is a God who occupies the incomprehensible vastness preceding and exceeding time, what constraints would such an Architect possibly face? Is there a level of planning or coordination too difficult for Him?

I’m a believer. Before I became my Creator knew me. Many years ago the universe, its motion and myriad parameters were set such that my birth into the system was on purpose. My Designer had me in mind when He laid the foundations of the world: a beginning, an extraordinary progression and grand finale, already mapped out. He intimately knows the characteristics of my frame and the forces that will pull me through every room until at last I see Him face-to-face.

What if I am on a slide? What if my experience is not the result of my choice? What if there’s a God who loves me so immensely, He would much prefer I just enjoy the ride?