science.spirituality.literature/ part 2

“Science, spirituality, and literature—we need all three to get through the day, the life, the universe.” –j.w.schlack

Spirituality.

Maybe God doesn’t “fit” into how we “view” the universe. Isn’t it funny how those little quotes make us question what’s really being said? Maybe God doesn’t have to fit at all because maybe the way we view the universe isn’t simply based on our intellect distorted by senses. This is tricky because in thinking about it too hard, I start to get away from myself—if I’m all atoms, then how do they spark into thoughts, words, language? Isn’t that simply the beauty of it? Science.

In the previous post, I mentioned how the world seems as if it were made for us. Don’t expect me to quote the Bible or anything—I believe there is more to spirituality, especially when translating into the modern day when we “know” so much.

I think we base all knowledge after the preconception that we don’t know much of anything, at least not for certain.

In Travelling Mercies, Anne Lamott writes a response to Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling (nothing like literature leading into more and more literature):

…And since this side of the grave you could never know for sure if there was a God, you had to make a leap of faith, if you could, leaping across the abyss of doubt with fear and trembling…

She references this in the middle of telling the story of Abraham as he is preparing to sacrifice his only son. Why risk losing what is most precious for something entirely unguaranteed? Faith: this is a big gap in science, yet a cornerstone in knowledge. Even botanists have faith—faith that plant cells will continue to reproduce and grow, allowing a whole process to breath out oxygen for us to subsist, and without that simple act – reproducing cells – life would be thrown entirely off-balance.

“And since this side of the grave…”  If we only believed what we thought we knew from experience, what would that leave for death? For God? I do believe in God, and well, undeniably, experience forces me to believe in death, but what happens then, when this uncapturable element leaves in an exhale, and our bodies are lifeless?

Faith. Faith happens. Faith that the abyss isn’t quite as empty as it seems. Faith that the leap will take you into something greater than you’ve “known”. Faith happens.

Now what? Science, spirituality…literature? How does literature impact either of those or those impact it?

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