August 17, 2012   Converging views , Dr. Francis S. Collins , Human Genome Project , Lutheran , Metaphysical student , National Prayer Breakfast , Praise the Source of Faith and Learning , Thomas Troeger

Why converging views can bring you to tears!

A long time friend and member of our community recently wrote to me about an experience that literally made her misty-eyed. In the fourth s...

A long time friend and member of our community recently wrote to me about an experience that literally made her misty-eyed. In the fourth stanza of a hymn, this baptized Lutheran, now metaphysical student, got choked up when she read the words that were also sung at a national prayer breakfast in 2007, lead by keynote speaker, Dr. Francis S. Collins, Director of the Human Genome Project. The words that moved her are these: 'Till converging they deliver one coherent steady flow and they are referring to the coming together of faith and learning for a more complete understanding of reality.

Thank you Jane, for the lyrics of Thomas Troeger's Praise the Source of Faith and Learning:

Praise the source of faith and learning
that has sparked and stoked the mind
With a passion for discerning
how the world has been designed.
Let the sense of wonder flowing
from the wonders we survey
Keep our faith forever growing
and renew our need to pray.

God of wisdom, we acknowledge
that our science and our art
And the breadth of human knowledge
only partial truth impart.
Far beyond our calculation
lies a depth we cannot sound
Where your purpose for creation
and the pulse of life are found.

May our faith redeem the blunder
of believing that our thought
has displaced the grounds for wonder
which the ancient prophets taught.
May our learning curb the error
which unthinking faith can breed
lest we justify some terror
with an antiquated creed.

As two currents in a river
fight each other's undertow
Till converging they deliver
one coherent steady flow;
blend, O God, our faith and learning
till they carve a single course,
till they join as one, returning
praise and thanks to You, their Source.

Why can converging views of faith and learning bring a person to tears? Is it because these paths are typically at opposites sides of the camp (As two currents in a river fight each other's undertow) and like when some ancient grudge is dropped between nations or families there is a rush of emotion signaling the joy that comes when we get along?


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