I was at this same spot yesterday just before the tide came in and I wondered how many of these creatures would still be here today. I am surprised to see that all are present and accounted for. I often feel sorry for fish in a fish bowl because they have so little space to swim. But after seeing these fish who choose to live in 2000 litres of water (the mathematically inclined will find themselves wanting to check my calculations) every day, I have no such sympathy. These fish could leave when the tide comes in. They could say, "Let’s swim to Hawaii," for the equivalent of a piscine weekend. But these are the safe fish, the smart fish who know that, by staying in this tiny pool, they will not end as food in the belly of a baleen equipped grey whale.
I am awe-struck by this tidal pool and feel that I am teetering on the edge of something large and ominous. E.O. Wilson once came to a tidal pool just like this. When he walked toward the pool he was a child; when he walked away he was a scientist.
I stand in shallow water, staring down at a huge jellyfish in water so still and clear that it's every detail is revealed as though it were trapped in glass. The creature is astonishing. It existed outside my previous imagination. . . . why do I tell you this little boy's story? Because it illustrates how a naturalist is created. A child comes to the edge of deep water with a mind prepared for wonder. - E. O. Wilson, The Naturalist.
Elsewhere, Wilson describes how he left his faith because he did not find a place for scientists in the church. When he found mystery and awe in nature and looked for ways to explore his world, he found himself alone. The church had lost interest in the mystics who delved into the wonders of nature. How many other small boys and fifty year-old men might lose themselves in a moment like this and teeter into the tidal pool of science. Will there be anyone in the church willing to dive deep with them? Can we love God and love the science of a tidal pool?
Click on images for a larger view.
Photo credit: John Van Sloten.
2 comments:
I would say that we can 'love' God and 'love' the inquiry of science. I would say that the two are so closely intertwined that a man could study either and gain perspective of the other. Having read your narrative it became apparent to me that perhaps on reason the two have been at odds with each other is the vocabulary. Science has a very distinct vobaculary, as does the Church(es).
I see this conflict all the time in academics where the Sociologists who are in the faculty of Arts don't understand or relate to the ideas of Psycology which is also in the faculty of the Arts. Each faculty becomes like an island of ideas using its own words and with those words, their own meanings and perceptions.
I never had the chance to learn about the Philosophy of Language in university, but it - as I understand it - was a very influcential force within the academic community of philosophy during the 20th century. Perhaps if you can define the links between theism and science in language, you can contemplate the bond and write about it.
Thanks for the comment. There is good food for thought in your words.
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