My very good, dear, moral, ethical, and gracious friend, Carol, who is also an atheist, shared this article with me and it gave me some cause for reflection.

In either faith or in science, one must appreciate the mystery of uncertainty, the wonder of discovery that may unravel every neat package we've ever constructed, and the utter danger of things and universes larger than ourselves. 

If we can make peace with and in that sort of chaos and mystery, we can develop a healthy faith and a healthy attitude toward science. We want order and predictability in whatever universe we embrace as our sphere of reality. But predictability is not the promise of either realm. 

Maturity suggests that the absence of predictability is what makes everything very interesting. Science is about infinite truth beyond the imagination and faith/religion is about ultimate truth beyond the imagination and those who integrate the two have the same attitude toward both and live on tiptoe waiting for the next unfolding …. but with faith, nevertheless, that the infinite and ultimate outcome will be what it should be. 

For my tribe of believers, Jesus said, that He was giving us peace, but not the ordinary kind floating around in the world, the "situational," secure, superficial kind. No, He said, "In the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."

So, people of awe live with peace that is not rooted in their own perceptions or control. They know that everything outside of themselves is beyond their control. In fact, they could eventually lose control of their own bodies. As much as I love the song, and will post it from time to time, "Every little thing is going to be alright" is not true.

Little things can go terribly wrong from our perspective. We cannot fix everything.

If you are scientist, you want to discover the universal principle of everything that ties it all together and you believe it exists, but that it is beyond you.

If you are a person of faith, you are drawn to the One who is Other and when you arrive, you tremble and fall and exclaim, "Woe is me, for I am undone."

We live in a paradox where the answers are larger than our minds can embrace, much lest control. Almost anything can explode in our faces.

We long for peace and need peace, but we must find it somewhere other than in the boxes we build around our limited understanding of anything.

Mature people have as much appreciation for what is wild as they do for what is ordered.

As a man of faith with a deep appreciation for science, I am not dependent upon my well ordered theories, theological constructs around which I organize biblical truth, or my world view in order to have peace. My peace comes wrapped in a relationship with One I can know, but never fully understand. I believe the bible, but I also believe that I do not fully understand it or all of its implications.

I call that reverence and the fear of God.

I would expect that mature people of science would approach the mysteries of their realm with the same sort of reverence – loving what is known and in absolute awe and fear of that which is unknown.

That would be another place of potential common ground where we could meet and dialogue.

Just my reflection on the matter.