In another time and place, I am sure that I am an astronomer.
Unfortunately, this time around, in this particaular space-time continuum, I developed my deep love for all things space exploration too late in life to make a career out of it. Let's just say that at my small, rural high school there wasn't much career direction to assist budding want-to-be scientists.
Which is why I owe CNN a virtual fist bump and a sincere attaboy. With regularity, they do a wonderful job of covering new space discoveries. It serves to keep to help fuel my space obsession.
Their most recent story is about scientists' new discoveries relating to the "The Brick," which the story describes as "A box-shaped cloud of opaque dust that lies at the center of our galaxy has long perplexed scientists ..."
This cloud, which received its nickname because it's density prevents scientists from easily peering into this space at the center of our universe, also has a rectangular shape.
Not to go all into the weeds on space news, but essentially the new development is that thanks to new data provided to us by the James Webb Space Telescope, we have new information that this cloud is not only comprised of just gas, but it also contains frozen carbon monoxide. Which gives rise to a whole new set of questions, namely, where is it coming from?
I'll let you read the story for yourself for more details, but more importantly I just want to raise up here the grandeur of this creation we call the universe. Genesis does a nice job of giving us the rough outline of how our Creator went about making the universe:
"1 When God began to create the heavens and the earth, 2 the earth was complete chaos, and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day." (Genesis 1)
But the real excitement comes in our God-given mental faculties that are helping to figure out the mysteries our universe holds one discovery at a time.
To me, this is proof that religion and science coexist, and they are not natural enemies of the other. God didn't create this vast universe that holds infinite mysteries and then give us the free will to explore it for nothing. God wants us to understand this realm that is separate from the heavenly kingdom. So I just can't buy what the Bible literalists are selling.
Do I know to what God's intention for our ablility to use science to understand the universe is? Nope. ... But I don't think I need to know. This is a gift that he has granted us, and to not use it would be disingenous.
Science and faith can coexist, and I posit that the two practiced together makes us even better informed faithful people. That, I think, is a woderful way to share our gratefulness with God, the creator of this vast and mysterious universe!
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