Such is man's ancient wonder before the physical universe; and in the
endeavor to discover the truth about it science has developed saints
and martyrs whose selfless and sacrificial spirit is unsurpassed even
in the annals of the Church. Men have spent lives of obscure and
unrewarded toil to get at a few new facts; they have suffered
persecution, and, even after torture, have reaffirmed the truth of
their discoveries, as did Galileo, when he insisted, "The earth does
move." They have surrendered place and wealth, friends and life itself
in their passion for the sheer truth, and when human service was at
stake have inoculated themselves with deadly diseases that they might
be the means of discovering the cure, or have sacrificed everything
that men hold most dear to destroy an ancient, popular, and hurtful
fallacy. The phrase "pride of science" is often used in depreciation
of the scientists. There is some excuse for the phrase, but in
general, when one finds pride, dogmatism, intolerance, they are the
work of ignorance and not of science. The scientific spirit has been
characteristically humble. Says Huxley: "Science seems to me to teach
in the highest and strongest manner the great truth which is embodied
in the Christian conception of entire surrender to the will of God.
Sit down before the fact as a little child, be prepared to give up
every preconceived notion, follow humbly wherever and to whatever end
nature leads, or you shall learn nothing.... I have only begun to
learn content and peace of mind since I have resolved at all risks to
do this." The Christian, above all others, is bound to approach the
study of the controversy between science and theology with a high
estimate of the integrity and disinterested unselfishness of the
scientists.
_O God, we thank Thee for the world in which Thou hast placed us, for
the universe whose vastness is revealed in the blue depths of the
sky, whose immensities are lit by shining stars beyond the strength
of mind to follow. We thank Thee for every sacrament of beauty; for
the sweetness of flowers, the solemnity of the stars, the sound of
streams and swelling seas; for far-stretching lands and mighty
mountains which rest and satisfy the soul, the purity of dawn which
calls to holy dedication, the peace of evening which speaks of
everlasting rest. May we not fear to make this world for a little
while our home, since it is Thy creation and we ourselves are part of
it. Help us humbly to learn its laws and trust its mighty powers._
_We thank Thee for the world within, deeper than we dare to look,
higher than we care to climb; for the great kingdom of the mind and
the silent spaces of the soul. Help us not to be afraid of ourselves,
since we were made in Thy image, loved by Thee before the worlds
began, and fashioned for Thy eternal habitation. May we be brave
enough to bear the truth, strong enough to live in the light, glad to
yield ourselves to Thee._
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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