Welcome!

If you are here to explore working with a Spiritual Director, you may well be in the right place. Explore the site -- go to the GETTING STARTED (FAQ) page where many of your questions may already be answered; read the blog and listen to how you feel; follow some of the links to learn more; find out a little something about my background. If you'd like to contact me -- either to set up an appointment or ask a questions, there's a contact form on the right side of each page that you can use to MAKE A CONNECTION.

Most simply, though, the spirit of my practice can be summed up in these words (adapted from Robert Mabry Doss): For those who come here seeking God ... may God go with you. For those who come embracing life ... may life return your affection. And for those who come to seek a path ... may a way be found, and the courage to take it step by step.

Monday, July 16, 2018

We Are Stardust / The Greatest Sermon Ever

Last week I shared two videos that I find to be beautiful meditations on the scientific realities which are so powerfully and, in the deepest and truest sense, awesome.

Some people maintain that science and religion/spirituality exist in opposition to one another -- each one, some think, negates the other.  Yet a great many scientists -- even those who eschew traditional religions and religious language -- often express the same kind of awe and marvel which many spiritual traditions also exhibit.  There is a joy, a deep and profound appreciation for this incredible universe in which, and of which, we exist.

Today's first video, "We Are Stardust," is actually the 15th video John D. Boswell (who goes by the name Melodysheep) made in his Symphony of Science series.  This one,  contains material from:
  • Cosmic Quandaries with Neil DeGrasse Tyson
  • 10 Questions for Neil DeGrasse Tyson
  • Beyond Belief 2006 with Neil DeGrasse Tyson
  • The Most Astounding Fact
  • A Universe from Nothing - Lawrence Krauss
  • Feynman "Fun to Imagine" Interviews
  • Journey to the Edge of the Universe
  • Finding Life Beyond Earth (NOVA)
  • Wonders of the Universe (BBC)
  • Sunshine
As with the videos last week, I encourage you to pay attention to how you feel while watching it.  I suggested that you might consider questions such as:



  • How do I feel while watching this video?
  • Which effected me more -- the words, the visuals, or the music?
  • Did the video in any way change the way I look at myself or the world?
  • Am I continuing to reflect on the video for some time after watching it?
  • What might this video -- and the act of engaging with it -- have to do with my spiritual life?


    • I also suggested that you might want to share these videos with friends and family members -- encouraging them to also watch the meditations, or perhaps watching them together.  You could then talk with each other about your experience(s).




    * * * * *

    To close out this series of videos that celebrate the beauty, and dare I say spirituality, of the revelations science offers to the world we live in, I direct your attention to a video that is often referred to as "the greatest sermon ever."  As someone who makes my living writing and delivering sermons ... I have to agree.  At least, it's the greatest, most inspiring sermon I've ever heard.

    Neil DeGrasse Tyson gave this talk at the end of a three-day Beyond Belief Conference in 2006, as a way of summing up his thoughts and feelings about taking a "cosmic perspective" on things, as well as the power and beauty of science.  It is not "religious" in any traditional sense, yet if the word "religion" has it's roots in the Latin religare ("to bind things together"), which it does; and if the word "worship" goes back to the Old English weorthsipe ("to consider things of worth"), which it does; then Dr. Tyson's talk is unquestionably religious, and listening to it is, to my mind at least, an act of worship.

    Enjoy.





    Pax tecum,

    RevWik


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