I have always been an inquisitive person. I have always asked “why,” “how,” and more importantly, “why not?” But I never considered myself a scientist until the first day of my undergraduate thermal physics class when my professor looked at the class and asked us “What is energy?”
Two years and a bachelor of science degree in physics later, I still don’t have an answer. When you really think about it, ( mc)^2 and ½ m(v^2 ) just don’t seem to cut it anymore. What is it, really? My professor asked “is it green goopy stuff?” I believe energy is one step further. I believe that energy is faith.
Some people say that science disproves God. Does God exist? I don’t know, but science certainly doesn’t disprove the idea that a creator might. And the fact is that these constants, equations, physical laws and theories exist, but when it comes down to it, we still don’t know what the smallest particle is, we still don’t know why some things are the way they are. More importantly than answering whether or not a creator exists, science has inspired me to look beyond textbooks and journals and to understand that there are things greater than me, than Earth, than the universe out there. And that we may never know what the smallest subatomic particle is, we may never really understand gravity, the Big Bang, but…we can take comfort in knowing that there are things bigger than us, bigger than what we know and understand. Have faith in the idea that even though we don’t know why things are the way they are, somehow it all works perfectly to keep us in orbit, to keep us upright, to keep us asking questions that will lead us to the answers we seek, in one capacity or another. To keep asking, “What is energy?”
Above all tensors, rhos, alphas, dels, ad charms, science has faith that an answer can be found. Science isn’t in favor of God and isn’t protesting against. Science just is. The answer that’s perfect for you can be found through physics, through chemistry, through biology, math, genetics. You just gotta have a little faith in science and find the science in faith.
