Essay for The Well

I was asked to write a piece about balancing my academic life as a scientist with my faith.... here goes:

Crouched down in the middle of a winter squash field, I am greeted by the hum of pollen-laden bumble bees and chirping of crickets. It is one of those hazy summer mornings where the air just hangs as if suspended. Most of my graduate student cohort is still in bed, yet I am out in the field starting my day among the dew soaked squash plants.

As a PhD. student, I am ready to leave the hustle and bustle of another busy semester to find quiet solace in the fields of the research farm. It is not easy finding a way to disconnect from the hectic pace of academic life where emails are always filling up my inbox and deadlines are ever looming. How can I make time for my relationship with God when all of these work priorities are vying for my time and attention? Where is the balance?

As a scientist, I feel fortunate to find evidence of God’s handiwork throughout my research. How can I ignore it when I am sowing the seeds in the field and watch the thick green stems and leaves pop up out of the ground? Or when I open each squash fruit to find deep orange fruit flesh not only meant to be beautiful but nutritious? When I harvest seeds from these fruits and begin to plant for the following season, I see vividly how God thought of every thing. Even packaging!

During the summer, I conduct field research on winter squash which involves some breeding work. This is when I feel most connected to my area of research and yet I am filled with awe. There is a short window of time each day where pollination is possible. Each morning, as I search among the mass of vines and leaves looking for the next flower to pollinate, I feel like a bee. I marvel every time as I follow a flower bud from its formation onward to bloom.

This process is time consuming, tedious, and strenuous. It is a task that requires patience and persistence. I look forward to this time in the field every summer, but not without some trepidation. I know it is going to be hard work, but when I get out into the field, time just seems to fly by.

It is impossible for me to not see God’s hand in the natural beauty of the land. His hand in all of this work, the way the pollen sheds early in the morning before the flowers wilt under the powerful rays of the sun. To smell the earth, a mix of decomposing plant matter and worm castings. To hear the birds calling and the dragonflies whizzing around over head. Sure, to those who do not have the extra dimension of faith, all of these creations could easily be overlooked or even ignored. Yet, to someone with faith it is simultaneously a source of awe and a reminder of God’s dominion and plan.

As an educator in the natural sciences, one of my greatest joys is sharing my passion for creation to the students that attend my lecture or labs. In the secular university setting, I may not be able to attribute all of these amazing creations to the Maker but I can at least draw awareness often with great enthusiasm, while digging through the soil strata or observing tiny root hairs on sweet potatoes.

I even find myself doing this with friends, on walks through the woods or even at the dinner table. Some are believers and others not, but the message of the wonder and beauty of the natural world is universal. I challenge you to take the extra time in your day to observe the budding of the trees in the spring, the smell of dew on a summer morning, the colorful display of turning leaves and even the silence that follows freshly fallen snow. How can God’s presence not be evident in all of these events?

Its true, the life of an academic researcher is full of hustle and bustle leaving little room for spare time. Yet, I am often reminded of His presence when I take this time to observe God’s creation. It might be just a glance out my office window to see the Canadian geese migrating south or smell of wet leaves after a rain shower as I walk across campus.

It might seem contradictory to many of my non-believer cohort that I can integrate my faith with my work as a scientist. At the start of my academic career I was blessed with the opportunity to attend a Christian college which gave me a strong foundation in my faith and helped me to integrate science with faith. Since then, I have attended two other secular universities. It was during that time I learned the value of finding a faith community wherever I may be at the time. These communities have strengthened me when I felt alone not only as a Christian in a non-Christian environment but as believer who was pursuing a degree in the field of science.

Finding a church, joining Bible study and choir keep me connected to a faith community and supports me outside of my academic life, where I may be the only believer in my department. I am thankful to my college mentor’s advice that said to always look for a faith community wherever I am. She said “get connected through Intervarsity or through a local church and do it right away!” Wise advice and I share that advice with my students now.

I realize that being an academic research isn’t for everyone. The work can be repetitive and many graduate students are easily turned off doing this kind of work. I relish this time to take in the beauty of God’s creation where I can so clearly see his hand at work. I am reminded of Genesis 1:11 each time I watch the seeds I have sown emerge from the ground and the vines stretch out across the field each season. I look forward to walking up and down each row pollinating and spending quiet time with God each morning. To me, those without a reverence for God’s creation are missing an extra dimension that is so calming and a source of meaning for mundane tasks that lead to a body of work that can be used in His service.

We are not all meant to be field research scientists but we can all look for God’s hand in the world He created for us. We can take time to observe nature as God’s creation and give Him the glory.