I realized something today as I rode the bus home. See, today I wrote an article on DNA (genetics, biology, probability, information theory), I read a section from a cosmology book before getting on the bus (it dealt with galaxies, so: astronomy), and then on the bus I watched the clouds (weather) play over the mountains (geology). And it hit me.
I love science.
Perhaps it’s because I just want to know. I want to know how things work, why they work, what they’re there for. I actually enjoy watching natural interactions, like the weather. Or watching how birds fly around chasing after insects. Name a scientific endeavor and I find it fascinating.
And I realized that this means something else. I am my mother’s son. See, I think most of my intellectual reasoning ability has come from the influence of my father. He’s always been the one I could discuss “deep thoughts” with. In fact, when my parents are visiting from Ukraine we often talk a great deal about virtually any theological or philosophical subject. I’ve known for some time that I am my father’s son because of the intellectual aspect of my character.
Don’t get me wrong. My mom’s not stupid. In fact, in any other family that did not have someone like my dad in it, she’d be the intellectual head hands down. But my mom is different from my dad. Her intelligence isn’t as “out there.” Her intelligence is more introverted while my dad’s is extroverted (if that makes any sense).
My mom loves science though. I can remember my mom watching the clouds in the sky on many occasions (she really loves thunderstorms). Growing up, our family spent many a night gazing at the sky, watching the stars in the endless void above…and it was mostly at my mom’s instigation. I remember her stories of the Northern Lights in Alaska. She watches the way animals behave, and even the way Ukranians behave differently than Americans now. She is a keen observer, a watcher.
And I realized that as much as I am my father’s son, I am my mother’s son too. I am definitely blessed to have the family that I have. To have people who love science just as much as I do, and who love intellectual discussion just as much as I do. I wish more people could have families like I’ve got, so that they too can spend an hour watching wind rustle through the grass and not be bored because you’re trying to figure it out. To watch the patterns that rain drops make on the window pane. To see comets in the night sky. To watch the color of the sky change as the sun peeks out over the horizon.
We have such an amazing world God has given us. I thank Him for giving me parents who enabled me to see it.
