“For the wise men of old the cardinal problem had been how to conform the soul to reality, and the solution had been knowledge, self-discipline, and virtue. For magic and applied science alike the problem is how to subdue reality to the wishes of men: the solution is a technique; and both, in the practice of this technique, are ready to do things hitherto regarded as disgusting and impious.”    – C.S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man

I am at the Society for Classical Learning’s Alcuin retreat up in Grand Rapids, MI this week where the topic is “science and theology.”  Pre-meeting conversations and readings have already been such an inspiration.  I’m hoping to learn how better to, in the words of one of my fellow colleagues here, “move from teaching students to be scientists–technicians of science–to being natural philosophers: those who seek wisdom in the natural order of Creation.”

More to come . . .