"Space, the final frontier..."

"...These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise." - Captain Kirk

No, I'm not going to be talking about Star Trek. As much as I love that series/movie, that  is not what is on my mind. Nope - just the universe, quantum physics/mechanics, and black holes today, folks!

The universe - it just blows your mind, doesn't it? My dad and I always talk about infinity and how after considering it for about five seconds our brains are completely fried. And that's just the universe infinity. You can go the other way, too, into an atom. It goes on in both directions - outward and inward - and our human minds just cannot truly comprehend how it all works.

My physical science teacher was talking about how science and the Latter-Day Saint religion and how they relate. Somehow, he said, they match up. We do not quite understand how, but they do and they will. And there is no problem in trying to understand what is around us while believing in God and all that He has done for us. Personally, I am alright waiting until after I die to figure out how it works. I recognize that I will not know all things in this life - true fact - but I know that all things can be revealed to me. But I am alright putting my faith in God that they do match up and fit together. I cannot remember who said it but they said that in the end, Latter-Day Saint doctrine and science will match up. It won't be the religion that changes to match up - because it is true - but our understanding of science. Our comprehension of the universe and the laws that govern it are limited by the way our minds work. We cannot comprehend infinity. We do not know the exact way that things operate. It isn't that nature is wrong or cheats laws that man has created, nature just does what it does. It is right and true. Gravity works throughout the whole universe. The speed of light is the same everywhere. Elements are the same throughout the galaxies. Nature is right EVERY TIME. It is just our understanding of the way it works that throws us off of truly knowing how it works.

Think about it. There have been many models of an atom - changing over time with our understanding and technology - and we still do not completely have it right. There are still things that we are missing. Science is a changing form that changes as we - as the human race - grow in understanding and knowledge. As our technology grows, so does the information that we have access to to comprehend what goes on around us.

I love science. Or, the physical sciences (I'm still trying to get along with biology...). These things have interested me for the longest time. I love thinking of space and what is out there. And yes, I wanted to be an astronaut when I was little (and a part of me still wants that). It is so cool to think of supernovas and how it might relate to the creation. It is fun to think of parallels between the universe and church doctrine. I love thinking of how all of this is all related. I have no problem believing in science and my religion together in the same mind. It will all work out, I know it.

I am so grateful that I am able to be on this earth and learn what I am learning. We are here to learn, to grow, to gain experience, and to return to our Heavenly Father (yes, those are really broad, but it is true). I am appreciative of the fact that we have resources to learn about what is going on around us and that we can think of how it relates to the grand scheme of things. Theology and science do not contradict one another but fit hand in hand. I know there is a lot of debate over that, but I know they work together. It's just that we can't quite understand how it all works out.

Here's a video that kind of describes how religion and science are reconciled in real life:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbuHakabdMU

I know that we are here to learn about what is around us. It will all work out in the end and all truth will be reconciled and brought in the end. I love science and I love my Heavenly Father. I do not see a problem in loving both and being "a [person] of science and a [person] of faith". It all works out. Promise.