As a kid I particularly enjoyed watching The Bell System Science Series on TV. There were only nine of them between 1956 and 1964, so it was a rare experience. I watched them again a while ago and noticed that the four written and directed by Frank Capra have religious elements woven into them. 

Capra told his science advisors, “If I make a science film, I will have to say that science research is just another expression of the Holy Spirit that works in all men. Furthermore, I will say that science, in essence, is just another facet of man’s quest for God.” Capra would never have gotten away with that today. Now even a hint of religion in a mainstream TV production would be avoided unless the topic was specifically religious. I think that’s a mistake.

For me, the spiritual life is not something separate from the whole of life. It can’t be crammed into a small compartment of life isolated from everything else. I can’t study science without marveling at God’s work. There are tiny muscles in our bodies that control blood flow to the capillaries, the itsy-bitsy blood vessels around 0.008 millimeters wide. That’s amazing! It makes me marvel about God’s design of life.

My spiritual life gives me a direct connection to God and forms my moral sense, but it is not something in conflict with the wonders of science. Maybe those old Bell science programs helped shape the way I think about things. Thanks, Frank Capra, for letting God be reflected in my learning science.

Read Psalm 8:3-5 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne