Hearts and Minds
I am a scientist by background and my degree is in chemistry. From this I have gained the discipline to work with complex information and produce meaning from it. My scientific approach permeates all aspects of my life. Questions such as: “Why is it happening this way? What steps must we take to change it?” constantly run through my mind. My approach is just the same in the kitchen as it is at work when I’m addressing issues regarding environmental management at work. I make sense of the world through logic and reason.
But at times it just doesn’t work that way. I encounter situations where my mind tells me that it is hopeless. Reason tells me I cannot achieve the outcome I desire – but then I realise that, just as my mind tells me things are hopeless, my heart is reminding me that God often moves in a mysterious way. Faith and hope are inextricably bound together. There are times when we have to let go and have faith that God knows what He is doing even if we don’t understand what is happening. Through faith we can regain hope, a hope that is anchored in God – but what comes from that hope may not be what we had originally desired or expected. God is faithful and is constantly doing amazing things in our lives even if we don’t recognise it at the time.
Yes, for much of the time my mind rules what I do but the most amazing changes in my life happen when I fall back on faith and prayer. And why should that be so strange? As a scientist so much of what I have learned I have had to take on faith anyway!
David Bradshaw
April 2008