|
| The Evolution of ScienceI have long described how watching the movie "Men in Black" destroyed my faith in the inerrancy of science. It didn't invalidate science as a process and a way of studying things. But it certainly caused me to think twice about what we as people hold onto as inerrant truth and "written in stone." Truthfully, the nature of science is that we are ever learning. The things that we "knew to be true" 1000 years ago are no longer true today. Imagine what we will know to be true tomorrow. It can be somewhat terrifying when I sit down in those quiet moments and spend any amount of time thinking about it. Today, I ran across a really interesting article detailing a new discovery. It's an exciting and amazing find that will change the way science interprets history; there is a giant single celled organisim that is large enough to leave a trail in the dirt where ever it goes. They say that it may be the oldest living fossil on record. But don't let the excitement of the discovery overshadow the significance of this finding - it will *change the way science interprets history.* And that's the issue at hand here. Incorrectly interpreted history has been passed of as fact and law since the beginning of time. Whether it's the recounting of an event by multiple witnesses from different perspectives with different stories or it's a detective trying to put together the pieces of a crime scene, there is a ceiling to what we can actually know. There is a limit to how much we can conclude and profess as fact. Take a look at the link to the article. Read some of the comments by the readers who hate creationists. There are people there bemoaning a magic box quote from one of the principle scientists, but they completely miss the fact that everything they believed in before has just been "corrected," and stands to be corrected for the rest of eternity. Take an opportunity to think outside of the box here and leave a comment. http://www.richarddawkins.net/article,3361,Single-Celled-Giant-Upends-Early-Evolution,Discoveryhttp://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/11/20/gromia-cambrian.html | | |
| A question for the agesEvery day, we as people have to wrestle with the question of “how much imperfection am I willing to accept and still stay in relationship and community with this person?” Discuss. | | |
| "The great irony of communication is that we individually struggle so
ardently to be noticed and be heard, but once that has been
accomplished, we are struck with terror and wonder at what actually was
heard." | | |
| "Whatever I may find, I must seek it here."
Eilonwy bowed her head. "You have chosen as you must, Taran of Caer Dallben."
"Nor will I gainsay you," Dallben said to Taran, "but only to warn you. The tasks you set yourself are cruelly difficult. There is no certainty you will accomplish even one, and much risk you will fail in all of them. In either case, your efforts may well go unrewarded, unsung, forgotten. And at the end, like all mortals, you must face your death; perhaps without even a mound of honor to mark your resting place."
Taran nodded. "So be it," he said. "Long ago I yearned to be a hero without knowing, in truth, what a hero was. Now, perhaps, I understand it a little better. A grower of turnips, or a shaper of clay, a Commot farmer or a king - every man is a hero if he strives more for others tyhan for himself a lone. "Once," he added, "you told me that the seeking counts more than the finding. So, too, must the striving count more than the gain."
"Once, I hoped for a glorious destiny," Taran went on, smiling at his own memory. "That dream has vanished with my childhood; and though a pleasant dream it was fit only for a child. I am well-content as an Assistant Pig-Keeper."
| | |
|
A shadow of sorrow passed over Taliesin's face. "There are those," he said gently, "who must first learn loss, despair, and grief. Of all paths to wisdom, this is the cruelest and longest. Are you one who must follow such a way? This even I cannot know. If you are, take heart nonetheless. Those who reach the end do more than gain wisdom. As rough wool becomes cloth, and crude clay a vessel, so do they change and fashion wisdom for others, and what they give back is greater than what they won."
| | |
|
Lifetime
