The Attraction of Beauty or What’s in a Name? By Trevor Thorn
For four and a half years, I have been
running a blog with the title ‘The Cross
and The Cosmos’. The idea has been to publish poems (in the main) and
occasional prose pieces which celebrate those places where faith and science
intersect, and to do so in such a way that the ideas would be fairly simply
grasped by non-scientists and also by those many Christians refer to as
‘Seekers’. The initiative has been encouraging insofar as it has attracted a readership
far wider than I would have expected at the outset for simple maths (1% of the
population may be interested in poetry, 1% in faith and 1% interested in
science) makes for a tiny proportion of
potential readers. This miniscule percentage, therefore, makes it unsurprising
that so far, none of the entries has exactly ‘gone viral’: but something rather
interesting has come to my attention. Since the turn of the year.
It feels to me
that it has become increasingly easy to uncover references to beauty in the
science media. Mathematicians describe some very critical formulae as
‘beautiful equations’, bacteriologists publish pictures of extraordinarily
picturesque organisms: an exquisite flower has been discovered in pre-historic
amber that dates back millions of years: the paths of the brain’s cells and
nerves form intricate and exquisite patterns. And, of course, ground and
space-based telescopes are providing us with galleries of gorgeous pictures
from all over the universe.
With all this in
mind, I wrote a poem recently entitled ‘I Met With Beauty, Science and Faith’.
To my delight, this reflection attracted more page views in the immediate few
days after its publication than anything else previously uploaded to the blog.
This raised, for
me, a question which is, whether a title such as ‘A Walk With Beauty, Science and Faith’ would be that much more
attractive to the general public than ‘The
Cross and The Cosmos’. I can’t easily ask that question on the present blog
without confusing regular viewers - but I really would appreciate the thoughts
of any of you who land on this particular post as to which of the two titles
would be more attractive to YOU. That input would be very helpful indeed
The poem
mentioned follows
I met with Beauty, Science and Faith
I met with Beauty, Science and Faith
walking life’s uncertain road.
Beauty, with her exquisite modesty
outlined a rôle with which she serves God:
‘I am granted a special privilege’, she said,
‘Of stirring humans to wonder and awe,
into heightening of senses; of prompting thanksgiving
that may wake an instinctive desire to adore.’
‘Ah!’ said Science, ‘It is my task
to explore the relevant ‘laws’ of creation
which underlie the cause and the mystery
of just such outbursts of elation.’
‘To shape understandings and insights
that between them progressively yield
deeper, empirical details
of all pertinent knowledge-based fields.’
‘And then’ said Faith, ‘It is my part
to explore and illuminate,
the purpose, the cosmic significance
of both rapturous and reasoning state.’
‘To encourage human cognition,
to re-visit paths it has
trod
of experiment, wondering and prescience,
and search them for glimpses of God.’
Interesting and informative, Trevor. Thank you. Beautiful poem, a great way to Start my Sunday
ReplyDeleteMany thanks Wendy for the appreciation of the poem. You will know how encouraging that is
DeleteLovely poem, Trevor - and personally, I would be much more interested in looking at a blog entitled "A walk with beauty, science and faith".
ReplyDeleteMany thanks Fiona for the appreciation of the poem: such encouragement is always welcome and thank you for the advice on title. I will think about how to make the transition
DeleteAs someone with a particular interest in beauty, poetry, science and faith, I really liked this poem and agree with Fiona about the title of the blog. Perhaps you could include poetry too; is there a character limit? Sue
ReplyDeleteSue, thanks for both the appreciation and the steer on title: Both much appreciated.
DeleteLovely basis for a blog. 'Beauty', often (as in from claissical times onwards) equated in art with the human form, first men's and now more often women's, has by that route been downgraded by 'sexual attractiveness', 'nature' coming second. The images we now have, from the micro-world or the universe, for example, give us a more rounded picture and appreciation of the complex make-up of 'beauty': appropriateness, as well as pattern, colour, shape, etc. And hopefully re-connect the art/science mythological divide (second only to the science/religion divide in being unnecessary!)
ReplyDeleteLots to think about in your reply Mari - which is much appreciated
Delete