Making Sense of Things

“Discovery and Revelation: Religion, Science, and Making Sense of Things” is a new exhibit at the Smithsonian Museum of American History. In this relatively small space, they examine the intersections of religion and science in American culture. Three prompting questions frame the exhibit: “What does it mean to be human? What do we owe each other? What is our place in the universe?” You will find the Apollo 8 flight manual and Charles Darwin’s 1860 book, “On the Origin of Species”. It is meant to spur on some thinking! Reading about it certainly got me to thinking. I did not know there was something called Thomas Jefferson’s Bible, one in which he had excised all references to Jesus’ healings and metaphysical teachings. There is a portrait of Henrietta Lacks, the woman whose cells were used after her death, without her or her family’s permission. Corporations have made billions of dollars from these cells, with nothing benefiting her family. In the portrait she is holding a Bible and the question is asked: What do we owe each other? The purpose of this exhibit and its fascinating items and facts is not to answer any questions, but to cause us to ask some of ourselves and our beliefs. In the center of the exhibit there are eight figures with the question,” Can religion be scientific?” Of course, the discoverer of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, is one of those eight. I look forward to finding more information on this!

“Jesus established what he said by demonstration, thus making his acts of higher importance than his words. He proved what he taught. This is the Science of Christianity. Jesus proved the Principle, which heals the sick and casts our error, to be divine.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 473:26-31