I'm a scientist. And I'm devoutly religious. My faith in God is deep and defining. I can't help but see it in everything I do.
But since I have devoted a great portion of my life to science and I see the world in a rational, empirical manner, I cannot go long without someone asking me how I balance my faith and my rational mind.
I try to explain this, but nothing I've said has been as succinct and honest as the answer given by a young Muslim man on the show "Bones".
How do you balance an archaic religious belief with a life devoted to science?
"There's no conflict between Allah and science. Allah created the mystery of the world and science struggles, and mostly fails, to explain it. But the search for truth is honorable, and I honor Allah through the search for truth."
This is beautiful and it's true. If God created the world, the universe, then we do Him an honor by learning about it, just like we would give an artist honor by lingering and pondering over his work, rather than giving it a cursory glance and then moving on to then next item.
To devote one's life to science is to commit to lingering, to pondering God's details, and to constantly be astounded by what we find.
