Religion Vs Science: Don’t Shoot Me Yet, Please

Sometimes I feel like there are two personalities rattling around in my brain. One loves space and planets and learning about how the Earth was formed and what the heck the lithosphere is, the other loves God and thinks the world revolves around Him, that everything I have gained is because of Him. But so many people seem to think religion and science can’t live in the same house. You have the creationists verses the evolutionists, the scientists verses the church members, and so on. There are a ton of examples.

But why can’t God be the meaning behind the Earth’s place in our solar system while science explains and studies logically what’s going on to make our Earth rotate around the Sun?

God is the reason I wake up in the morning. My faith in him gives me an optimism I wouldn’t have otherwise. Science tells me, logically, that I sleep at night because of my body’s functions and processes. Science tells me that I wake up and am able to process what I see, hear, feel, and smell because of other various processes. But that doesn’t change the fact that, as far as my meaning in life is concerned, God is at the end of my path in life regardless. All I do is to try and find my meaning. I feel God gave me the gift of writing, so I pursue that. Science might tell me that I just have a higher proficiency in the side of my brain that processes words and is responsible for creativity. Nothing more. But that doesn’t give that process meaning. It just explains it logically, by what we can study and define.

So I think it should be religion and science, a separation of both but still coexisting within a sort of system. Sort of like the separation of church and state. By allowing the state to be the lawkeepers, it gives individuals a broader religious freedom. By allowing logic to be defined by science, it gives me the right to pursue meaning through God and my faith, as I choose, not as science logically dictates. Because having an explanation doesn’t give it value any more than, to some people, God is worth having faith in. And that’s perfectly okay. So long as you give me room to be who I want to be.

Sorry, this has been on my mind since yesterday and I wanted to get it out here. You can shoot me now if you want; I promise you won’t get too many more religious posts here.

What do you think about science and religion? Please be aware that any rude or otherwise derogatory comments will never be approved and will be deleted.

A Christmas Eve Filled with Thankfulness and Awe

This could also be titled I’m Feeling Sentimental and Thankful and All Warm and Fuzzy on the Inside, but somehow that wasn’t quite so catchy.

Usually I wax and wane and get all sentimental about the year on New Year’s Eve, but I’m feeling particularly thankful this Christmas Eve. I’m sitting here, listening to Christmas tunes while it rains outside. It’s cold enough in here for warm fuzzy socks and my hoodie, and my mom’s cracking jokes while putting up our stockings (because we’ve been so behind on decorating but it’s been fun anyway). We have Christmas lights on outside for the first time in my life — and we had a lot of fun putting them up. Perfectly wrapped presents sit under a perfectly adorned tree, some with bows, some without, some dressed in reindeer, others in white Christmas trees and swirls. And I can’t help but think about how lucky we are to have all of this.

I feel like I have a good future ahead of me, whereas earlier this year, back in our old apartment in California, I would’ve said the future looked uncertain and stressful. Mostly stressful and painful. I felt alone out there, like I would never fit in or really be happy, but now I feel hope about rekindling old friendship as well as making new ones at college. My husband has a job and smiles more than ever, we’re going to college next semester and financial aid covers the bill. God’s been good to us. Well, God’s always good to us, but you know what I mean. We have so much to be thankful for, really, and I just wanted to share that joy with y’all.

More than anything, I hope this Christmas is a bright one, and if it isn’t, that there will be a bright future out there for you to stumble on when you least expect. I hope you focus on the good more than the bad this holiday season, and that there is plenty of good to focus on. Be safe, be happy, and Merry Christmas.

 

A Very Belated Happy Thanksgiving

For the last four days I’ve been off the internet. You’d think I’d get some writing done, but I haven’t lifted a finger in that regard. Nah. Instead, I was spending time with my husband and enjoying family time. It’s been good, really, and relaxing. It’s finally semi-cold here, and I’m loving it. In short, I feel refreshed; now I feel I can get going on my goals again.

My goals:

• Lose at least 15-20 pounds before January
• Finish the draft of New Fate
• Finish editing and hand out Dominant Race to beta readers
• Keep the damn house clean

Haha, that last one is never-ending, but at least it’s on the list. That counts, right?

Sorry for My Absence: Updates, a New Kindle, and Anne McCaffrey

Yeah, I think I dropped off the face of the internet. It would’ve been good if I’d actually gone and been more social. Unfortunately, I just stayed indoors playing Skyrim for the past week. Man, when people say that game absorbs a good amount of your life, they weren’t kidding. NaNo screeched to a halt; I’m at 13k and doubt that I’ll make it very far past that by the end of the week, thanks to Thanksgiving.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, happy early Turkey Day to all of you Americans (or those who celebrate it anyway elsewhere). Unfortunately, the husband has to work on Black Friday, so we’re having a small little Thanksgiving with the three of us, my mother, my husband, and myself. Turkey, sparkling cider (I’m boring and don’t drink). It’ll be delicious, especially since we’re getting a pumpkin pie from House of Pies. Man, if y’all live in Houston and aren’t getting pies from there, you’re missing out. Such goodness.

Also good, I’ve decided to stop stalling on self publishing. New Fate is still under construction and Dominant Race just needs that last coat of paint, but I have plenty of short stories just sitting around. I’m going to self publish them on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Apple (since I have a Mac and there’s a way to get your stuff directly into the Apple store  if you have a Mac — yay). I’m a little hesitant about Smashwords; I hear their meatgrinder system is the worst, so I’m avoiding them for now, until I can do some more recon. But I’m getting there. In theory, the short stories should be available by December. Also, a friend of mine and I are putting out a self published short story collection featuring other authors. This is just to see how well fellow authors can band together and create a self published ebook, and I hope it does well. My collection will probably $1.49 (because there’s not that much word count-wise) while the other would be $2.99 because it’s going to be around 30,000 words. Tell me if you think those prices are decent.

The cool thing is that my husband bought me a Kindle as an early birthday present. It’s one of those new $79 ones, and it’s absolutely awesome. I finished Dracula, sampled a few ebooks, some indie, some traditionally published, but ended up buying The Help and The Forever War by Joe Haldeman. I haven’t finished the first yet, but it’s fascinating so far, and the first was beyond amazing. I really, really love The Forever War (I’ll post a review of it soon) and would really recommend it to any scifi lover. Really. The Kindle itself is amazing. I actually read a lot more now, which is amazing. So far I haven’t found a good indie book, but I admit that’s because I’m pretty picky. Three of the samples I read that were indie books were decent, but they just weren’t grabbing me. So I’m not saying traditional books are better; I actually seem to have a thing for books written in the 70s and the 80s (The Forever War was written in the 70s). My favorite books were written around that time period, especially the original Dragonriders of Pern trilogy by Anne McCaffrey.

Today On November 21, actually, Anne McCaffrey passed away. She was 85. Her work was — and still is — phenomenal; she’s been my inspiration as an author since I was twelve, and it makes me sad to hear she’s gone. I didn’t realize it until today, but her work inspired a lot of my female main characters. You know, the average ones that aren’t gorgeous, aren’t damsels, and sure as hell aren’t asking for a handout. They rely on their own wits, not a man, though they aren’t afraid of love. She’s also the reason fantasy and science fiction tend to merge in my mind, since, to me, the Dragonriders of Pern series was neither at once but both at the same time. I encourage you to read any of her books, all of work is fantastic. Did you know she was the first woman to win the Hugo and Nebula Awards? They were well deserved, that’s for sure.

Expect the regular three posts a week after Thanksgiving. Have a good one, and stay safe on Black Friday! Things can get pretty crazy.