For me, the creation story has lost its magic.

The creative artistic picture that is often painted doesn’t do it for me. It too unreal, with too much of a fairy tale feel.

The wow is in the science.

It was fantastic to see, so early in 2011, the wonder of the natural world displayed with the solar eclipse. Living in the UK there wasn’t much to see other than cloud but one or two quite staggering pictures made it onto the BBC website. It’s awe inspiring.

I’ve recently finished reading a document that will form the basis of a new study series at St Simon’s on the subject of science and God. It is quite a piece of work highlighting that there really is no conflict between the two despite what the tabloid media would have us believe.

Science and technology wow me everyday. We really are living in the future; some of the things we can now do are right out of science fiction. Our understanding of how things work, while far from complete, is now vast and growing all the time. The more we learn the more I find myself blown away by Gods creative genius.

Whether it’s DNA mapping and the new tree of life that it is drawing, or new discoveries about the nature of space, matter and time (yes, time travel!) coming out of CERN, or even our expanding view of the universe and all it’s wonders, it is the science of creation that wows me every time.

I am looking forward to seeing how this new course at St Simon’s goes down. I hope that in 2011 the balance of understanding will start to shift andthe myth that you have to lose your mind and forget your brains to be a Christian will be dispelled.

So you can keep your pretty pictures. Give me the science. I want to see the power of God!