There
are, as it were, two centers in our being: the
Brain, which is the seat of the intellect, thought,
or reason, and the Heart, where feeling or emotion
come from; this is a way of explaining the difference
in nature between Thought and Emotion, Wisdom
and Compassion.
Now,
a person might be highly intellectual and wise,
but without Love and Compassion, he could be
cold and uncaring. As St. Paul, in 1 Corinthians
13:1, said: "If I speak in the tongues
of men and of angels, but do not have love,
I have become a sounding-piece of brass or a
clashing cymbal". Conversely, a good and
kind person, lacking wisdom to guide his goodness
and kindness, might be foolish and do a lot
of harm, even if unintentionally.
So, Intellect
and Feeling, Wisdom and Compassion, must go
together, in mutual support of each other. And
although today, in many people’s eyes,
Science has superceded and discredited Religion,
it is not so; it has challenged Religion, to
be sure, and has demonstrably proved some of
its fondly held dogmas incorrect and obsolete,
but this has been good for Religion in helping
it understand the need for a serious stock-taking;
it hasn’t invalidated it.
Science,
on the other hand, could benefit by applying
the spirit of Religion in various fields, for
example: vivisection, its activities affecting
the environment, and by refusing to invent,
develop and produce things detrimental to human
life.
And,
now that our eyes have been opened, we can,
and must, strive to amalgamate Science with
Religion—as they are not really the opposing
magnetic poles that people once took them to
be—to produce a Religious Science, or
a Scientific Religion. If we do not, then these
two great fields of human endeavor must remain
antagonists. |
