In Wilderness I Sense

“In wilderness I sense the miracle of life, and behind it our scientific accomplishments fade to trivia.”

— Charles Lindbergh

If you work in the tech industry like me, your life revolves around science. It’s all one’s and zero’s whizzing by all day long. Stuck at a desk, it is easy to lose track of the natural world around us.

But step outside. See nature. Walk in a forest. Spend a day at the beach. Watch the development of an unborn child. Suddenly all the science fades away. There’s something more there than science can give us.

I think that Lindbergh had it right in this quote. He was scientifically way ahead in his field. He set world records for flight while it was still in its infancy. And He did it through understanding our world and how things worked. But because of his field, he study of science forced him into nature.

I am guilty of failing to see nature. It is in our nature to tear things apart. We want to understand how things work. But I get so focused in the detail that I miss the whole. I miss the part that can’t be understood but can only be experienced.

Lindbergh had it good. His science could only be executed in the wilderness. We may not be so lucky. If so we need to be more intentional about our experiences.

The lesson you and I have to learn is to see past the details and experience the whole. Let us be open to experience without the burden of science.