{"id":24485,"date":"2024-12-03T08:53:42","date_gmt":"2024-12-03T13:53:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=24485"},"modified":"2024-12-03T09:29:16","modified_gmt":"2024-12-03T14:29:16","slug":"24485","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=24485","title":{"rendered":"The Faith of Scientists"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Forrest Clay - Recover Official LYRIC VIDEO\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/eLfbpgaUHJQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Father Richard praises modern science for its emphasis on \u201cpractice\u201d and openness to new questions and discoveries, which seems more like faith than the certainty embraced by many Christians.&nbsp;<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The common scientific method relies on hypothesis, experiment, trial, and error. We might call this \u201cpractice\u201d or \u201cpractices\u201d! Yes, much of science is limited to the materialistic level, but at least the method is more open-ended and sincere than that of the <strong>many religious people&nbsp;<em>who do no living experiments with faith, hope, and love,&nbsp;<\/em>but just hang on to quotes and doctrines.<\/strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Under normal circumstances, most scientists are willing to move forward with some degree of not-knowing; in fact, this is what calls them forward and motivates them. Every new discovery is affirmed while openness to new evidence that would tweak or even change the previous \u201cbelief\u201d is maintained. In contrast, many religious people insist upon complete \u201cknowing\u201d at the beginning and being certain every step of the way. It actually keeps them more \u201crational,\u201d \u201cfact-based,\u201d and controlling than the scientists. <strong>This is the dead end of most fundamentalist religion, and why it cannot deal with thorny issues in any creative or compassionate way. Law reigns and discernment is unnecessary.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The scientific mind has come up with what seem like beliefs: for example, explanations of dark matter, black holes, chaos theory, fractals (the part replicates the whole), string theory, dark energy, neutrinos (light inside of the entire universe even where it appears to be dark), and atomic theory itself. Scientists investigate and teach on things like electromagnetism, radioactivity, field theory, and various organisms such as viruses and bacteria <strong>before they can actually \u201cprove\u201d they exist. They know them first by their effects, or the evidence, and then work backward to verify their existence.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even though the entire world has been captivated by the strict cause-and-effect worldview of Newtonian physics for several centuries, such immediately verifiable physics <strong>has finally yielded to quantum physics. While it isn\u2019t directly visible to the ordinary observer, it ends up explaining much more\u2014without needing to throw out the other. True transcendence always includes!&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It feels as if there are some scientists of each age who are brilliant, seemingly \u201cright,\u201d but also tentative\u2014which creates a practical humility that we often do not see in clergy and \u201ctrue believers.\u201d <strong>A great scientist builds on a perpetual \u201cbeginner\u2019s mind.<\/strong>\u201d <strong>Many scientists believe in the reality of things that are invisible, and thus the active reality of a \u201cspiritual\u201d world, more than do many believers. <\/strong>Thus, although they might be \u201cmaterialists,\u201d they actually have the material world defined with an openness to a \u201cspirit\u201d that they themselves often cannot understand. Is this not \u201cfaith\u201d?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Maybe this is all summed up in these words of Saint John Paul II:<strong> \u201cScience can purify religion from error and superstition; religion can purify science from idolatry and false absolutes. Each can draw the other into a wider world, a world in which both can flourish.<\/strong>\u201d [1] So let\u2019s walk forward with wide and rich sight!&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Friday &#8211; Tuesday &#8211; Five from our friend, John Chaffee<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/hostedimages-cdn.aweber-static.com\/MTgzODQxMA==\/original\/286b3b10bd924dd9a454a453038c4172.jpeg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>1.<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>&#8220;Joy is the simplest form of gratitude<\/strong><strong>.<\/strong><strong>&#8220;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>&#8211;&nbsp;<\/strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/clicks.aweber.com\/y\/ct\/?l=7brA&amp;m=i8qt4rCbnf0RJVk&amp;b=WyaU2.lkDg26dgiLEX3.wA\"><strong>Karl Barth, Pastor-Theologian<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since I struggle with a scarcity mindset, I easily overlook things that I should be grateful for. &nbsp;However, Thanksgiving is an annual celebration of gratitude that causes all of us to slow down for a moment. &nbsp;It is no wonder that if we increase our gratitude, we thereby increase our joy.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>2.<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>&#8220;When a system is not dominated by anxiety, everyone is free to speak truthfully, everyone is free to listen curiously<\/strong><strong>.<\/strong><strong>&#8220;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>&#8211;&nbsp;<\/strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/clicks.aweber.com\/y\/ct\/?l=7brA&amp;m=i8qt4rCbnf0RJVk&amp;b=ASo7BSqDdi67nBzUo._mFQ\"><strong>Chuck DeGroat, Therapist and Pastor<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When a system (be it a family, workplace, faith community, or something larger) is dominated by anxiety, there are a few things to take note of&#8230;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol>\n<li>Specific questions are not allowed to be asked.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Truth speakers are considered troublemakers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The system caters to the emotionally immature rather than telling them to shape up.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>There is often an inner circle of people &#8220;in the know,&#8221; and that same group may not even have titles or formal roles.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Risk-taking is not valued or encouraged.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The system is prone to repeating habits\/behaviors rather than imagining new ways of doing things.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The leadership may prefer short-term, symptomatic, and surface-level solutions to a deeper problem rather than long-term, effective ones.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>3.<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>&#8220;Ah, fondest, blindest, weakest,<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>I am He Whom thou seekest!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Thou dravest love from thee, who dravest Me<\/strong><strong>.<\/strong><strong>&#8220;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>&#8211;&nbsp;<\/strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/clicks.aweber.com\/y\/ct\/?l=7brA&amp;m=i8qt4rCbnf0RJVk&amp;b=2T.xhtae9Oh5yznZoL9UHQ\"><em><strong>The Hound of Heaven<\/strong><\/em><strong>&nbsp;by Francis Thompson<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These are the closing lines of the epic English poem,&nbsp;<em>The Hound of Heaven<\/em>. &nbsp;It was written in response to Thompson&#8217;s own life failures and addictions while homeless in London in the 18th century. &nbsp;It is a lovely poem highlighting God as &#8220;the Hound of Heaven,&#8221; who has our scent and is in a relentless pursuit\/chase of us even as we run from the very Love we yearn for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you have time today, take a moment to read the poem (the blue link above will take you to it) as a devotional practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>4.<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>&#8220;Christ reigns in order to save<\/strong><strong>.<\/strong><strong>&#8220;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>&#8211;&nbsp;<\/strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/clicks.aweber.com\/y\/ct\/?l=7brA&amp;m=i8qt4rCbnf0RJVk&amp;b=pns.6JxTmqSQwJmZQuuRnw\"><strong>Origen, Early Church Father<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While doing formal church work, I felt pressured to maintain a specific line in the sand. &nbsp;<strong>A paycheck attached would be threatened if I said something that challenged a status quo or would eat me up inside if I did not say something that I felt necessary.<\/strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;You may be reading this and not understand that struggle, but to others who have gotten a &#8220;peek behind the curtain&#8221; to the life of professional ministry, I know they resonate with this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All that goes to say, Origen was correct in many ways. &nbsp;He was an Early Church Father who was controversially deemed a heretic centuries after he passed away because many of his students took his teachings in directions that he may not have done himself. &nbsp;His writings influenced the significant figures we still highly esteem today (especially<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/clicks.aweber.com\/y\/ct\/?l=7brA&amp;m=i8qt4rCbnf0RJVk&amp;b=AchVIL9hE6YVa_2Nkx2CHw\">&nbsp;the Cappadocian Fathers<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>For Origen, the Gospel was always about the restoration of everyone and everything from all of time. &nbsp;The wrath of God was more purgative than punitive, and the power of Christ to save utterly eclipses humanity&#8217;s ability to doom itself. &nbsp;I believe that we have utterly shifted away from the Gospel of the Early Church because, with every generation of humanity, we all begin with disbelief that the Gospel could actually be that good until we relax and allow the Good News to disarm us, to let go the need to take vengeance and to acquiesce to being rescued.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>5.<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>&#8220;Be a lamp, a lifeboat, a ladder. Help someone\u2019s soul heal. Walk out of your house like a shepherd<\/strong><strong>.<\/strong><strong>&#8220;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>&#8211;&nbsp;<\/strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/clicks.aweber.com\/y\/ct\/?l=7brA&amp;m=i8qt4rCbnf0RJVk&amp;b=mNdeu45YJdcDntvft0VOmg\"><strong>Rumi, Sufi Poet<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is a classic quote that I have shared before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is a timeless and universal mantra that all of us could benefit from living out.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Lyrics from the song. <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lyrics<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Deconstructed these walls to find a business<br>Where the company line was the only way to get paid<br>We built a church on certainty that fears everything against it<br>Where the refugee suffers and the white man has it made<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I won&#8217;t do it anymore it&#8217;s taken me too long to recover<br>I&#8217;ll go feed the sick and poor and try to help the world to recover<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I sat myself in your pews every single week<br>And I gave you my money so you could tell me what to think<br>And I learned from a book that you had taken the heart out of<br>And that&#8217;s how I learned to make exclusion look like love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I won&#8217;t do it anymore it&#8217;s taken me too long to recover<br>I&#8217;ll go feed the sick and poor and try to help the world to recover<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Come, come as you are, take up your cross, and use it to build a wall<br>Reach across the aisle and fire your gun so you can keep them<br>Love, love how you want, if we approve, and you&#8217;ll be undefiled<br>Come, accept our gift, of salvation from sinners<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I won&#8217;t do it anymore it&#8217;s taken me too long to recover<br>I&#8217;ll go feed the sick and poor and try to help the world to recover<br>I won&#8217;t do it anymore it&#8217;s taken me too long to recover<br>I&#8217;ll go feed the sick and poor and try to help the world to recover<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gonna take a while to wade through the fear and the hurt<br>But I think there&#8217;s a way for us to love and heal the world<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Father Richard praises modern science for its emphasis on \u201cpractice\u201d and openness to new questions and discoveries, which seems more like faith than the certainty embraced by many Christians.&nbsp;&nbsp; The common scientific method relies on hypothesis, experiment, trial, and error. We might call this \u201cpractice\u201d or \u201cpractices\u201d! Yes, much of science is limited to the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24485"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24485"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24485\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24492,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24485\/revisions\/24492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}