I recently got to look at the full moon through a telescope. It was so amazing. I’ve seen detailed pictures of the moon, but this was very different looking at it myself. What was so astounding to me was the fact that I was seeing something that I had seen thousands of time, and yet I never saw it like this. It was like seeing it for the very first time.
There’s another astronomical fact that causes me deep reflection. When I look up at the night sky, whether through a telescope or just the naked eye, I realize that I’m not seeing how the stars are, but how they WERE. The closest stars are 4-6 light years away. Most of them that we see are much further away. What that means is when you look up at the stars, you’re actually seeing the past. You’re seeing the stars as they were several years ago. While it’s very cool to actually be able to witness the past, it’s also a little disturbing that I cannot see the stars as they are right now. Astronomers can come up with extremely powerful telescopes, but even they cannot see what’s happening in the distant cosmos right now.
I used to put a lot of faith in science and research. It seems like the older I get, the less faith I have in it. Research, even the highly respected double-blind studies, can be biased, results can be manipulated or misinterpreted, and so forth. Even when research is done very carefully and without bias or agenda, we can be limited by our senses, our degree of understanding, and the methods used in gathering data. I’m definitely not saying that we should do away with science. Quite the contrary. However, we just need to recognize its limitations. Many people have set aside religion in favor of science. But then they treat science as if it were a religion. To be scientifically minded is to be open minded, not clinging to dogma or preconceived notions of how the universe operates.
As I progressed in my practice as a chiropractor, over the years, I realized that body, mind and spirit all work together. I needed to learn to see things in new ways. I didn’t have to set aside the scientific model that I had been clinging to. I just had to open up its boundaries to allow new ideas in. I had to realize that the way I was looking at the human body didn’t tell the whole story. As I opened up my mind to new ways of gathering information, including tapping into the storehouse of data contained in the subconscious mind, I was able to accomplish much more with my treatment and help people with a broader range of problems.
Dr. Whittaker's Blog 
June 6, 2013 at 1:14 pm |
“As I progressed in my practice as a [scientist], over the years, I realized that body, mind and spirit all work together. I needed to learn to see things in new ways. I didn’t have to set aside the scientific model that I had been clinging to. I just had to open up its boundaries to allow new ideas in.”
All I did was substitute one word and your text fit me perfectly!
Thanks for your post, as new paradigms are exactly what humankind must always create, aspire to, and actualize.