As I write, the rain is incessant and is forecast to continue all day, so perhaps this is not the best time to write about the wonders of nature. However, we have had some very pleasant autumn days and I have really noticed the colours in the leaves. After the drought in the spring and summer, I did wonder if any leaves would last until autumn, but I need not have worried. The colours seem particularly rich this year. The author of Psalm 8 famously wrote how the heavens proclaim the glory of God. As a scientist, I am often wary of arguments that the natural world somehow proves the existence of God; the world follows physical rules and they, at least at one level, explain how it operates. However, I still think Psalm 8 has a point. I am a scientist because I love the beauty of nature. I seek to understand what I see in terms of biology, chemistry and physics, but when I have seen the autumn colours this year, my response has been emotional. I have simply rejoiced at the beauty and that emotion connects me with what I call God, even though I believe that God works through quantum mechanics and evolution by natural selection. Emotion and intellect are not in conflict; they work together.
Rev David Poyner