I recognize her.
I sit down next to her, ask her how she is doing. We begin to talk about classes and research. She works in my Seminar professor's lab, which I admire and have visited several times.
We sit in silence for a few minutes.
She turns to me and asks quietly, "Are you a believer?"
"Pardon?"
"Are you a believer--are you a Christian?"
"No."
"What is your faith? Do you have a faith?"
"I used to. I don't anymore."
"I believe that all who call upon His name shall be saved. This is my stop, but call me if you want to talk about it."
She walks off the bus.
I know her, but not that well. We played together in a quintet several weeks ago, and are both part of Highly Selective Science Program. Other than that, I've never seriously talked to her or become acquainted beyond the exchange of names.
After some thought, I realize that I answered her incorrectly. I do have a faith.
On Earth, I believe in life. I believe in all things that grow and live together, forests and oceans and deserts. I believe in chemistry, in DNA and proteins and neural impulses. I believe in psychology, in stimuli and intentions and learning. I believe in physics, in protons and neutrons and electrons. I believe that life is far too complex for a human mind to fully understand, a dimension beyond our own where those sciences interweave and interact perfectly to make the world such as we know it.
In humans, I believe in love. I believe in kindness and friendship and love, in peace and freedom and equality. I believe in what has failed to be, but may yet be, what is seen as weakness but conquers all.
In the Universe, I believe in what I do not know. I believe in planets and their suns, galaxies and nebulae and black holes, photons and pions and muons, the four forces and the Higgs boson. Once again beyond our comprehension--how could we fathom anything as gigantic as a single galaxy, let alone the whole of the Universe, when we are mere specks who once believed--and still do--that they are the center of everything? How could we understand anything as minuscule as a neutrino, which passes through our body by the billion every second and at the same time dictates the behavior of the Universe?
That is what I believe in. That is my faith.
I sit down next to her, ask her how she is doing. We begin to talk about classes and research. She works in my Seminar professor's lab, which I admire and have visited several times.
We sit in silence for a few minutes.
She turns to me and asks quietly, "Are you a believer?"
"Pardon?"
"Are you a believer--are you a Christian?"
"No."
"What is your faith? Do you have a faith?"
"I used to. I don't anymore."
"I believe that all who call upon His name shall be saved. This is my stop, but call me if you want to talk about it."
She walks off the bus.
I know her, but not that well. We played together in a quintet several weeks ago, and are both part of Highly Selective Science Program. Other than that, I've never seriously talked to her or become acquainted beyond the exchange of names.
After some thought, I realize that I answered her incorrectly. I do have a faith.
On Earth, I believe in life. I believe in all things that grow and live together, forests and oceans and deserts. I believe in chemistry, in DNA and proteins and neural impulses. I believe in psychology, in stimuli and intentions and learning. I believe in physics, in protons and neutrons and electrons. I believe that life is far too complex for a human mind to fully understand, a dimension beyond our own where those sciences interweave and interact perfectly to make the world such as we know it.
In humans, I believe in love. I believe in kindness and friendship and love, in peace and freedom and equality. I believe in what has failed to be, but may yet be, what is seen as weakness but conquers all.
In the Universe, I believe in what I do not know. I believe in planets and their suns, galaxies and nebulae and black holes, photons and pions and muons, the four forces and the Higgs boson. Once again beyond our comprehension--how could we fathom anything as gigantic as a single galaxy, let alone the whole of the Universe, when we are mere specks who once believed--and still do--that they are the center of everything? How could we understand anything as minuscule as a neutrino, which passes through our body by the billion every second and at the same time dictates the behavior of the Universe?
That is what I believe in. That is my faith.
2 comments:
What a wonderful creed. Your posting is now on my study wall.
J'ai juste vu votre Google traduire widget. Brillant. Je ne l'ai pas noté avant.
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