Memory of a Comet
I was born on the 329th birthday of famous astronomer Edmund Halley, in the year of Halley's comet, to an astronomer! This is how I got my name. People always said I came for my Father! Was it all a coincidence, or did I know my father before coming to the earth? What part did agency play in my coming to my family when I did? It is an interesting question for sure and I cannot deny the unique connection I have always felt with my father.
Finally, I love learning because of him! Often times you could find him reading books about history, fossils, astronomy, physics, and the gospel of Jesus Christ. He taught me the importance of continuing education through example. I remember when taking Algebra, Geometry, or Calculus classes I would often go to him for help. Many times he helped me to better understand the math, but many times he would use quantum mechanics to solve a simple Algebra problem. Two pages and about 25 steps later he came up with the correct answer, but I was sitting there trying follow and at the end my reply was usually, "I'll take a look at the book again and figure it out". I was probably the only kid in Cedar city that witnessed the solving of an algebra problem with quantum mechanics. This told the story of a very intelligent man. He was always thinking of math in terms of physics and quantum mechanics, since those were two subjects he taught, that is what was always in his head. Although he always arrived at the correct answer, he had literally forgotten how to do simple math. He was much more helpful in chemistry. I think my solid understanding of chemistry came with a great deal of his help!
In high school I was part of the Math and Science club. We competed at the State Science Olympiad every year that was held at Weber State University. I decided one year to compete in the Astronomy catagory. I took a crash course from him, when I say CRASH I mean it, I had three weeks to learn the entire subject and memorize various stars, constellations, and other identifiable "heavenly bodies". I don't think I remember that much, but he helped me study everyday after school! I was sort of disappointed when I did not medal at the competition, but I secured 4th place out of 12 or 14 teams, which wasn't bad. When I arrived back from the competition late one night, I found my car in the parking lot of the high school with a bouquet of white flowers and a full tank of gas, from my dad! He helped other siblings win at science fairs and helped me win a history fair even before High School.I think the most important thing he taught me was that you don't have to abandon your faith to believe in science. You don't have to deny science to worship in your faith. I have known many people over the years that find themselves in this predicament. I watched many struggle with reconciling these differences and they choose to divorce themselves from one or the other, usually they abandon their religion. Unfortunately, many educators teach in that way, that you must choose one over the other. I have gained a love of learning and a love for science because of my dad. I also was raised religiously. I would first and foremost claim my religion before anything else, but science is also important. I see science as a way to explain the world around us. I see it as a way to study God's creations and possibly raise our thoughts to his, figuring out how He created! After all God's thoughts are higher than ours!
An example of how we can evolve on a small scale is acclamation to new environmental changes like temperature. We can evolve to live in hot or cold temperatures, our bodies don't just die, but can evolve. We might die if the change is too extreme, but even in cases of the extremes one can evolve over time.
The idea that humans evolved from the very first living organism, I do not believe. I do believe the Bible and in the creation. Adam and Eve and their children were God's masterpiece, created in his image, His offspring, but that does not mean that other creatures closely resembling humans did not exist. As for the timing, how old is the earth? According to science it is 4.54 Billion years old. According to the bible? Well there are different answers, it is not exactly definitive. Some say 6000 years others say millions of years, there is some debate. The truth is, I don't think we really know for sure and if science is correct, God's time is not like our time. Time is another factor you must consider. Since we can't really measure God's time, who really knows the right answer. The Bible states the earth was created in 7 days, but that was God's days. For all we know one of those days could have equated to millions or billions of years for us. This is a time in which the Dinosaurs may have been on the earth. The time frame is sketchy, but you have to remember that time was given to man in order to have order, basically. We cannot comprehend not having time, we measure everything in time.
Dr. Jon Marshall was a religious man and an Evolution professor, mine to be exact. He brought a new perspective for me. He did not teach in a way that would leave the student forced to make a decision. In that class I read and did a pretty intense analysis and book report on a book called Evolution and Mormonism written by two BYU Latter Day Saint professors. It started to open the door to reconciliation between the two realms. It brought about the idea that evolution could also be simply a mechanism by which God creates. It is a sad thing that the two worlds have to be at war, in my mind they don't have to be and in the eternal perspective of things, much of the argument does not really matter. I do believe that one day the two will coincide and everything will make sense. Much of religion will one day be explained through scientific means and one day some of science may be further explained through God's laws (religion).The theory of evolution is full of speculation to the point it is actually a little comical because really there are so many answers to questions that we just don't know! I believe in teaching many of the principles of evolution, but not in a way that forces one to choose between science and religion. I don't believe Darwin wanted to prove there was no God, but he was merely making observations which lead him to question the highly accepted religious belief at the time. I also think it is sad that we have turned his important observations into evil and many reject evolution in it's entirety. He was a scientific mind trying to make sense of the world around him and where we came from. Many great scientists of the past believed in their scientific discoveries as well as in God. You can believe in the principles of evolution and still believe in God, of course that requires sifting through it all and deciding what is really scientific truth and what is purely speculative. Although I don't believe in the Origin of Species, it is quite fascinating to study his findings and the connections he made between the species. In the eternal scheme of things, one must ask where does God fit into all of this? Can He fit, yes, I think He can. That is where we go wrong, some try to use science to disprove the existence of a God, but it does just the opposite for me. The truth of all things will one day be manifest through both science and religion.
More important than the physical evolution, is the spiritual evolution. Not only do we have a physical mechanism for survival, but we have one for spiritual as well. Are we mere mortals having a spiritual experience? or are we spiritual beings having a mortal experience. It is all about perspective, yet again. In the Science vs. Religion debate I see the religious willing to ignore the science based on the moral choices or way of life of it's discoverer. "I don't agree with their morals, so it discredits them completely". Unless they are lying and the truth comes out, then this is a dangerous way of thinking. Would you want someone to discredit all of your discoveries even the ones that can be be proven, based on someone not agreeing with you? I could probably agree that I may not agree with the lifestyles of many people, but they can also be brilliant and right about many things. The scientific thinks that all of science completely discredits all religion, but how do you judge someone's personal experiences? If religion is unfamiliar to your spirit then how do you know what it's like to have a spiritual experience? The absolute hard evidence, that the scientific love, that comes for those who are spiritual is indeed just that, spiritual, not often tangible. Even when we see the evidence for God come in a tangible way it does not come without the spiritual understanding behind it. The scientific hard evidences tangible or mathematical has not been successful in disproving the existence of a God or anything spiritual. Now we are two worlds closed off to one another, not learning or gaining from one another. Many not even knowing that it does not have to be that way!
This way of thinking was instilled by my Father! I have fond memories of many great discussions with my father about science and religion! They usually took place out on the trail or the lake! They did not come on a regular basis, but when they did come they were spectacular like looking at a comet in the night sky! Let this be a letter of love to him and a tribute to that unique, possibly eternal connection that we share!
Empower yourself by remembering what great things were instilled in you by your parents!
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/doctrines-of-the-gospel-student-manual/7-creation?lang=eng
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/new-era/2016/02/to-the-point/what-does-the-church-believe-about-dinosaurs?lang=eng
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