Tuesday Jul 23 2019

Remembering Apollo 11

Tuesday, July 23, 2019 at 9:23PM

For those of us born before the late 1960's, it was an event we will never forget. Like a handful of other history-shaping events that have taken place over that same timeframe, I'll never forget where I was when I heard the news of the Apollo 11 moon landing. I was a young kid at summer camp in Washington state when Neil Armstrong's crackly message from the moon was broadcast to the world: "That's one small step for man—one giant leap for mankind." An estimated 500 million people around the world vicariously experienced this historic event.

This significant incident inspired a generation of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math)-oriented kids—myself included—to pursue the education required to support NASA's space program. For me, that path involved pursuing graduate studies in aerospace and mechanical engineering at Stanford University, and working with NASA on spacesuit design for future Moon and Mars missions. I also spent more than a decade doing astronaut training and working as a spaceflight test crewmember with Lockheed Martin on NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and International Space Station programs. I got to do a lot of really fun simulation and training activities, including flying jets, jumping out of planes, diving in neutral buoyancy tanks, working in spacesuits, and flying aboard NASA's KC135 "Vomit Comet."

As we reflect on the Apollo program, it's worth noting some of the events that—had they gone differently—could have led to very different outcomes on the world stage. The Space Race (1957-1975) between the US and the Soviet Union was an outgrowth of the Cold War. During this era, each of the two countries attempted to assert its prowess (scientifically, technologically, and economically) in various domains including land, sea and air, and eventually extending into space.

Personally, I think it's in our DNA to explore. In fact, I might even go so far as to assert that it's part of our Imago Dei created-ness. It seems to me that wonder, awe, inspiration and exploration are deeply connected. Having had the privilege of working on the Hubble Space Telescope, I've always been inspired by the amazing images of God's creation that it has captured over the years, as well as by simply gazing at the sky on clear, dark nights.

Proverbs 25:2 reads, "It is the glory of God to conceal a thing; but the honor of kings to search it out." It's in our innate human nature to want to try to figure things out—to understand everything we possibly can. Is it possible that the awe and wonder we feel when we look at the night sky are at least in part purposed by God to engage us in this interplay, to lure us into searching out not only the wonders of His creation, but also to beckon us to search out God Himself as the source of all creation? Perhaps this idea is what St. Paul had in mind when he wrote in Romans 1:20, "For since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made."

Looking back across five decades to the actual day of that first moon landing, that little girl at summer camp never would have expected to be in the middle of this important conversation involving science, technology, space exploration and faith, but our great God is full of serendipitous surprises, and following him is always an adventure! (See post and related info at: https://biologos.org/articles/the-space-race-and-exploring-the-unknown )

Leslie W.

Friday Aug 04 2017

Reflections on Awe & Wonder...

Friday, August 4, 2017 at 5:03PM

I have always felt that God's extravagant love for us is reflected in the universe he created. This is a world wherein we can flourish, thrive, wonder, and express our own Imago Dei creativity; not one wherein we can barely survive, with every breath possibly our last. It seems to me that wonder, awe, inspiration and praise are inextricably linked.

The night sky has always inspired awe and wonder in me, even as a young child, when my father would take my brothers and me outside on clear, starry nights to look at the moon, stars, and planets through his telescope. Growing up in a Christian home, and coming to faith at an early age, I always believed in my heart that God was the source of all that wonder.

When I was teaching astronomy to university students, I would frequently take my classes outside on clear, starry nights to look at the thousands of stars visible to the naked eye from earth. Gazing at the heavens, people - both young and old - inevitably start asking the same questions that have been asked through the ages: Where did all this come from? How big is it? What's it all made of? How long has it been here? Was there anything before all this? Where are we going? How will it all end? And, at least as importantly, the more personal question of, Why am I here?

These questions are not just questions for scientists, but for all of us who inhabit the earth. For instance: Vincent Van Gogh wrote to his brother, Theo, saying, "The sight of stars always sets me dreaming." Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn says, "We had the sky up there, all speckled with stars, and we used to lay on our backs and look up at them, and discuss about whether they was made, or only just happened." And King David wrote in the book of Psalms, "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge" (Psalm 19:1).

Starry nights do that to people – they make us think, and feel, and wonder about the big questions in life. Scientists and other keen observers are perpetually amazed by the intricacy and complexity of everything we study, yet it all fits together seamlessly in a perfectly balanced, synergistic system.

Proverbs 25:2 reads, "It is the glory of God to conceal a thing; but the honor of kings to search it out." It is in our human nature to want to try to figure things out - to understand everything we possibly can. Is it possible that awe and wonder, in addition to their evolutionary roles, are purposed by God to engage us in this interplay, to lure us into searching out not only the wonders of His creation, but also to beckon us to search out God Himself as the source of all creation, including our very selves? Perhaps this idea is what St. Paul had in mind when he wrote in Romans 1:20, "For since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made…"

Awe and wonder are a great starting place for inspiring us all to seek, learn and discover all we can about God and the universe we inhabit. As Albert Einstein wrote, "The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science." Science is simply the tool we use for discovering God's creativity and wisdom in the wonders of nature.

Leslie W.

Wednesday Jul 16 2014

Book Review of "Alone Together" by Sherry Turkle

Wednesday, July 16, 2014 at 1:21PM

Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other by Sherry Turkle is written in an engaging yet scholarly style easily accessible to a broad audience. Turkle's focus is the constant yet shallow technological connectivity of today's youth culture (particularly high school and college students), and its significant impact on interpersonal relationships as well as the whole of our society.

In the book's introduction Turkle makes the profound statement, "Technology is seductive when what it offers meets our human vulnerabilities." This strikes at the very heart of the matter: we humans crave intimacy but fear the risk and vulnerability that come along with it. The author touches a nerve with both the young and the not-so-young in this work that is both incisive and insightful.

Turkle herself admits to loving technology (in a 2012 TED talk she refers to getting an encouraging text from her daughter as being "like getting a hug"), but insists that too much can be problematic. Texts are convenient, and can be useful and even uplifting, but they do not work very well for truly getting to know someone.

Real life human relationships are rich, as well as messy. In our high-tech age of constant connection through the web, we assume the make-believe persona of avatars interacting in a virtual world. On-line we can edit and re-touch the thoughts and images of the versions of ourselves that we present to others. We hide behind our profiles, showing each other only the attributes we want others to see, rather than the real, whole person that each of us is.

Turkle revises Rene Descartes' famous line, "I think, therefore I am," into the more contemporarily descriptive, "I share, therefore I am." The author points out that this controlled virtual connectedness gives us the illusion of companionship without the demands of real world friendship.

Turkle worries that this pervasive craving for constant connection exacerbates our inability to be alone, asserting that if we are not able to be alone we are only going to end up more lonely. Prescriptively, the author asserts that we need to create the time and space for greater awareness, reflection and conversation about how technology is changing us individually and as a society.

As Christians, we have an even higher calling to make sure that our use of technology demonstrates love for our fellow humans, rather than exploiting our fellow humans through our love of technology. This book is a very well written, thought provoking and enjoyable read. - Leslie Wickman, Ph.D., Center for Research in Science, Azusa Pacific University.

Leslie W.

Monday Mar 31 2014

CNN op-ed on Discovery of Gravity Waves

Monday, March 31, 2014 at 10:23PM

Opinion by Leslie A. Wickman, special to CNN (CNN Title: "Does Big Bang Breakthrough Offer Proof of God?")

The remarkable discovery, announced this week, of ripples in the space-time fabric of the universe rocked the world of science – and the world of religion. Touted as evidence for inflation (a faster-than-the-speed-of-light expansion of our universe), the new discovery of traces of gravity waves affirms scientific concepts in the fields of cosmology, general relativity, and particle physics. The new discovery also has significant implications for the Judeo-Christian worldview, offering strong support for biblical beliefs.

The prevalent theory of cosmic origins prior to the Big Bang theory was the "Steady State," which argued that the universe has always existed, without a beginning that necessitated a cause. However, this new evidence strongly suggests that there was a beginning to our universe. If the universe did indeed have a beginning, by the simple logic of cause and effect, there had to be an agent – separate and apart from the effect – that caused it. That sounds a lot like Genesis 1:1 to me: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth."

So this latest discovery is good news for us believers, as it adds scientific support to the idea that the universe was caused – or created – by something or someone outside it and not dependent on it. Atheist-turned-agnostic astronomer Fred Hoyle, who coined the term "Big Bang," famously stated, "A common sense interpretation of the facts suggests that a superintellect has monkeyed with physics." As Hoyle saw it, the Big Bang was not a chaotic explosion, but rather a very highly ordered event – one that could not have occurred by random chance.

We also need to remember that God reveals himself both through scripture and creation. The challenge is in seeing how they fit together. A better understanding of each can inform our understanding of the other. It's not just about cracking open the Bible and reading whatever we find there from a 21st-century American perspective. We have to study the context, the culture, the genre, the authorship and the original audience to understand the intent.

As a modern believer and a scientist, when I look up at the sky on a clear starry night, I am reminded that "the heavens declare the glory of God" (Psalm 19:1). I am in awe of the complexity of the physical world, and how all of its pieces fit together so perfectly and synergistically. Properly practiced, science can be an act of worship in looking at God's revelation of himself in nature. If God is truly the creator, then he will reveal himself through what he's created, and science is a tool we can use to uncover those wonders.

(Posted on CNN Belief Blog at http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2014/03/20/does-the-big-bang-breakthrough-offer-proof-of-god/)

Leslie W.

Saturday Jan 14 2012

High Sierra Stargazing

Saturday, January 14, 2012 at 8:54AM

I took my Astronomy students stargazing the other night in the clear, dark skies of the High Sierra... We spotted the Pleiades, Pegasus, Taurus (Aldebaran), Orion (Betelgeuse & Rigel), Canis Major (Sirius), Canis Minor (Procyon), Cassiopeia, the Big and Little Dippers, the Milky Way, Jupiter, and much more. The following morning we had chapel in the fresh air in the midst of spectacular mountain scenery... Does it get any better this side of eternity?!?

Leslie W.