sofia

hello! i love your blog and I wanted to ask a question, do you/how do you balance science & faith? Do you completely ignore science (especially things like evolution), do you work it into your practice, or something else?

sorry if im not getting my question across well, this is coming from someone who has been practicing as of almost a year, i've been asking myself this recently and I wanted to know other practitioners opinions on it.

Khaire, Nonny!

I do incorporate science into my practice. Personally, I believe that trying to separate the two is kinda...not great. Being spiritual shouldn't mean that we can't be scientific also, in my opinion; both things absolutely can coexist. I'm not a mythic literalist, for the most part, so I'm sure that makes it a bit easier for me lol. Spirituality isn't an "illogical" thing, and I think that's a common misconception spread throughout the U.S. society especially: that spirituality is purely hogwash, and no spiritual person can be a scientist.

I believe in evolution, and I also view it as a very beautiful thing! I love animals and plants, I love the history of the earth, I love the science of weather and the ocean and the sky and space. I incorporate it into my practice as subtly as breathing. I say this in the sense that it's not really a big deal for me; I don't draw a line between "science" and "spirituality". Spiritual things can be scientific, and vice versa. Are the stars that burn millions of light-years away from us just beyond our atmosphere not filled with a divine beauty? Is the fact that trees that have lived for millions of years still being alive today not a reason for pause? Is the existence of our bodies at all not indicative of some divine intervention, some living miracle? There is SO MUCH that had to go right in order for us to even be here.

So yeah, I tie these things together because I don't believe they were ever meant to be separate. Someone once told me that only fools separate science and religion, and to some degree, I feel there is truth in that statement. Those who ignore vaccines on account of their religion, who deny the existence of evolution, who deny things that have been proven time and time again - those are fools. I'm not really a judgemental person, but when it comes to these things, I have rather strong opinions (some family members of mine are like this, and that's partially why; I've seen the harm directly). My advice is to not separate these things, but I'm obviously quite biased. It's ultimately up to you on what you decide to be right for your practice.