Spiral Inquiry

Read The Journey

OUR JOURNEY

An Exploration of Science, Faith, and Philosophy

THIS IS THE STORY OF MY JOURNEY

We are all trying to understand the world we live in and searching for ways to improve our lives, the lives of others, and the world we live in together. While some might say we go one step back for every two steps forward, I like to think of this process as a spiral. We revisit each question, each challenge and each idea time and time again. But when we come around the next time we have learned something. Our understanding has expanded, like the successive rings of an outward spiral.

“The universe has given us life, beauty, joy and self-reflective consciousness - it has loved us. In turn, it is possible for each of us to reciprocate this love.”
-George Gantz, The How and The Why of Emergence and Intention
Science --- the study of the physical world and how it works. The practice of science is observation and mathematics is its principle tool. Science yields understanding and, through technology, mastery of the physical world. This is not always used for good purposes.
Faith --- one’s personal inquiry into what is right and good. Many of us find our roots for this inquiry to be in religion, others in the humanities, some in their community. While the sources may be different, there are universal principles on which most of us will agree.
Philosophy --- the use of human reason to increase wisdom, the goal of which is to live a life that is right and good. This is the original intention and meaning of the word “philosophy.” Scientific understanding is a start, but faith provides the compass that points us towards the goal.

PHOTO CREDITS

PHOTO ONE – The spiral of a distant galaxy, viewed from the Hubble telescope, brings to mind big questions of space, time, gravity and energy and our never ending quest to reach for and grasp the stars.

PHOTO TWO – My friend Steve Engler suspended a light from a string and exposed this image on a photographic plate in his basement. Computers may simulate mathematics, but the Earth, the heavens and a simple pendulum bring math to life.

PHOTO THREE – The sunflower, in its journey, searches for life and finds it in exquisite interlocking spirals, rotating both right and left, an expression of beauty and joy.

PHOTO FOUR – The chaotic complexity of electrical, biochemical and quantum reactions, flowing through trillions of neurons, remains inadequate to explain consciousness and free will.