Monday, October 7, 2013

Rabbi Sacks: "To be human is to ask 'Why?'"

I'm continuing to read and enjoy Rabbi Sacks's book, The Great Partnership: Science, Religion, and the Search for Meaning. The latest snippet:

     There will be those who say, beyond the facts and the explanation of the facts, there is no meaning.  There will be others who say there is.  The universe does not come emblazoned with its purpose.  To fathom it has taken much wisdom and humility and the experience of humankind over many centuries.  to express it may take music and art, ritual and celebration.  But to say, 'What is, is, for no other reason than it is,' is to halt prematurely the human tendency to ask and never rest satisfied with the answer, 'It just is.'  Curiosity leads to science, but it also leads to questions unanswerable by science.
     The search for God is the search for meaning.  The discovery of God is the discovery of meaning.  And that is no small thing, for we are meaning-seeking animals.  It is what makes us unique.  To be human is to ask the question, 'Why?'

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