What Can Nature Teach us About Life?

July 12, 201911:00 am11:50 am
Dr. Elizabeth Jeffries finds that the most reducible, predictable and concrete aspects of human life — cells — are also the components that bear the most profound meaning, especially in the absence of theological certainty. Cell behaviors serve as metaphors for aspects of the human experience, such as reciprocity, community, seasons of life, sensitivity and creative problem-solving. In this session, Elizabeth will foster a conversation about ways that nature guides us toward a sense of meaning.
Elizabeth will facilitate a discussion of ways that nature helps us affirm our lives. Materialism, the notion that nature is no more than randomly arising interactions and forces, suggests that anything concrete and reducible is only as meaningful as our measurements and observations. Through her experience as a PhD laboratory cell biologist, Elizabeth has found that the concrete aspects of nature only tell part of the story. This conversation is an invitation to consider the deeper, fuller aspects of nature – the stories that are found within biology that help us to affirm our lives.
12:00 am Elizabeth Jeffries