The Truth About Faith and Science

Being a Catholic and a Cell Biologist is unfortunately one of the loneliest experiences.

In this modern day and age, people chalk faith up to being a collection of superstitions, not meant for those with any real intelligence. Many will say that perhaps there is a God, but He isn’t working in our day to day lives. He does not listen to us, and to follow a seemingly antiquated religion makes someone less credible.

My faith became a joke to many of my peers

And many would argue that I credit all of my work to a prayer or two.

This could not be further from the truth.

Having faith does not hinder my ability to be a scientist, rather my faith enhances my science. If “nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1:37), then any hypothesis I make can be tested. Moreover, the seemingly impossible experiments within the cell are less daunting. If God created this universe, and if He gave me a mind and the talents to observe that universe, then perhaps any technique can advance enough to see what I so desire.

But even then, my hypothesis can be wrong

My null hypothesis can be wrong.

Having faith allows me to recognize that life is far more complex and unexpected than my mind can conceive on its own. What I may deem to be the mechanism governing a biological function may look completely rational in my mind, but to the eyes of God it could be all too complicated and backwards.

People said DNA was not important and that proteins were the code of life.

They were wrong.

DNA, while complex, and becoming more intense with each publication, is the “language of God,” as coined by Francis Collins, the head of the Human Genome Project. I’m not saying that DNA itself is a reason to believe in an omnicient, omnipresent, omnipotent God, but DNA is just one example of the unexpected making more sense than the original hypothesis.

Each failure gives me the opportunity to say, “Ok God, show me what you have in store for us.”

Sometimes God does not provide an answer within the parameters of our original question, and we have to take a new research avenue. It is better than the one we originally were working on, and we find our place in the scientific community. No, I am not saying that God controls our thoughts and decision making and career paths, but He created the world, a world meant to be discovered. By the light of faith, I walk down the path, asking questions and moving wherever God’s creation may take me.

I’m not afraid to fail because that just means I am about to make a new turn.

I’m not afraid of being ridiculed because that means I am about to uncover something greater.

But I need to be clear about something.

Faith does not make science work.

To believe in God does not mean that I have to believe that God is making my molecular reactions happen. To believe in God does not mean that the images in the microscope are a direct result of God’s hand guiding mine through the plane. At the end of the day, it is our own hands working at the bench, our own minds generating hypotheses, our own hearts pouring out in to our work, our own blood, sweat, and tears covering our lab notebooks.

However, with faith, I know that I am not alone in the lab.

My faith reminds me that I am loved for who I am, and that I was specifically designed to discover the inner workings of the world. Each day, however difficult, is a gift made just for me and no one else.

Turning my work over to God is not me expecting Him to change the results, but rather it is me thanking Him for letting us scientists explore His wonderful creation in our own way. I can never do what some of my colleagues do, and they cannot do what I do. We are all unique minds working towards a greater understanding.

I have a purpose in the lab.

My faith gives me purpose.

And with purpose, I find peace and love in my heart. My hands are more stable as I move through a protocol. Nothing will change other than the steadiness of my hands and the gentle touch I bring to the experiment. With confidence enstilled from the love of God, I find myself working more effectively and creatively than when I chose to leave God out of the equation.

I have been praying over this concept, and perhaps my phrasing in a previous post made it look like I would give credit to God for labwork being successful. While it was nuanced in a vague story, I will make it more clear.

Scientific discoveries are not miracles, but rather the ability to work towards a discovery is a miracle.

Miracles are unexpected acts of mercy coming to otherwise emtpy places. Jesus performed miracles by forgiving others and saying that their faith had saved them. He does not just do a big act and call it a day; He brings love to an otherwise love-less situation. The physical acts seen in the Gospel were for the people to see and believe.

“Blessed are they who have not seen but believe,” ~John 20:29

My prayers, while seemingly unneccessary to my colleagues and many others, are the reason why I can in fact do the work that I do.

I work in a field that lacks techniques to discover our questions. I work with a mind that does not like to sit in one place for more than forty five minutes at a time. I work 458 miles away from home, and while many can get over homesickness, every passing day is difficult without their hugs and smiles. I work amongst many who say that my faith is foolish. I work where people do not like me because I skip and smile and laugh and dance.

So I walk in to the basement and sit behind the microscope

I make the Sign of the Cross

I pray that God helps me to use my talents without fear. I pray that I can be loving to those I encounter. I pray that I am open to failure and new avenues for research. I pray for my family and tell God that I love them.

My hands steady

My smile is brighter

My family is not as far away.

My results are beautiful. They are unexpected, and I never know what I am looking at, but I know that there is something glorious within my work.

People have to come to their own conclusion about where their faith lies. They can speak against those who choose to believe in a loving God who sent His Son to die for us, or they can passively ignore the prayers said by those who choose to believe in God. I cannot change anyone’s mind, nor do I want to.

I cannot do this work, this beautiful and necessary work, on my own, and my God gives me the strength and ability to dream so that I can find the difficult answers.

And all I can do is pray that He is with every other scientist I meet so that they too may have the strength and courage to pursue the questions no one else can do.