Faith, science and life calling! In this episode, we have the pleasure of talking with Rev. Kara Slade, an engineer turned priest whose journey from the world of mechanical engineering to the pulpit is an interesting blend of spirituality and professional transformation.
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Episode notes
Rev. Canon Dr. Kara Slade holds a PhD in Christian theology and ethics from Duke University. She also earned a PhD in mechanical engineering and materials science and then joined the National Aeronautics and Space Administration as a research engineer and test manager for a variety of civilian and military projects. Kara’s career took a turn towards ministry (as we’ll hear), and today she serves as associate rector at Trinity Church in Princeton, New Jersey. Along the way, she’s written many enlightening articles and a book entitled “The Fullness of Time”.
In this episode:
(00:00) Podcast episode featuring engineer turned priest's journey.
(03:33) Career changes.
(06:53) Struggled with faith, left church, worked for NASA.
(11:28) Struggles with faith and government work post-9/11.
(13:19) Christian life involves repentance, brings whole self.
(17:07) Evolution theories shape human social and political beliefs.
(23:06) Assuming bias impacts technology, particularly for people of color.
(26:39) Scripture is primary, but don't over-construct.
(28:47) Priest emphasizes humility and reason in faith.
(32:41) Exploring spiritual forces, justice, and cultural conflicts.
(38:03) Reflect on science, religion, share your thoughts.
Compass is a production of United Methodist Communications.
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This episode posted on February 7, 2024
Episode Transcript:
Ryan Dunn [00:00:02]:
Welcome to Compass finding the spirituality in the everyday. My name is Ryan Dunn. In this episode, we have the pleasure of talking with reverend Cara Slade, an engineer turned priest whose journey from the of mechanical engineering to the pulpit is an interesting blend of spirituality and professional transformation. I reached out to reverend Slade because she offers some valuable insights on the often tumultuous relationship between science and faith. And I was curious about perspectives about why these 2 disciplines are so often set at odds and if they really needed to be in conflict with each other. So Cara supplied some ideas on that, and we also got into an inspiring look into her own story of call or how it was that she ended up becoming a leader in the community of faith. We also get into talking about, the latest season of True Detective, engineering and so much more. If episodes like this are meaningful for you, then let us know by leaving a rating and review on a podcast listening form like Apple Podcasts or Spotify Mobile, reviews help others see the value in what this podcast offers and helps prospective guests decide whether or not this is the right podcast for them.
Ryan Dunn [00:01:23]:
So thanks for that. Let me tell you about the reverend canon doctor Cara Slade. Besides being a fan of the latest season of True Detective, Cara holds a PhD in Christian theology and ethics from Duke University, which I did not know before reaching out to her. So just coincidence and not me pumping for the Blue Devils here. She also earned a PhD in mechanical engineering and material science and then joined the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, you know, NASA, as a research engineer and test manager for a variety of civilian and military projects, Kira's career took a turn towards ministry as we'll hear. And today, she serves as associate rector at Trinity Church in Princeton, New Jersey. Along the way, she's written many enlightening articles and a book entitled The Fullness of Time. Alright.
Ryan Dunn [00:02:18]:
Let's talk faith, of science and life calling with reverend doctor Cara Slade. Well, Cara, thank you so much for joining us on the Compass podcast, how goes it with your soul today?
Kara Slade [00:02:31]:
Well, it's it's going well, and it's just such a blessing, To be with you all today and to be talking to, not only United Methodist, but, Through the voice of the United Methodist Church, of course, had a great role in my own, formation as a member of the clergy, Graduated at Duke Divinity School, spent a lot of time around Methodists, and really, You'll learn to receive that tradition the Wesleyan tradition as a gift. And so it's just a real it's just a real joy to be talking with y'all today.
Ryan Dunn [00:03:07]:
Thanks. Well, you name dropped Duke Divinity School there. That's something that kinda came to you later in life, though. Right? You had some, other schooling in professional experience prior to that.
Kara Slade [00:03:19]:
Yeah. That's right. So I I started off, As an engineer, I also went to engineering school at Duke. So, I I keep hanging around.
Ryan Dunn [00:03:29]:
Wow. Yeah. How convenient. They packed it all.
Kara Slade [00:03:33]:
You know, the the benefit is I only get alumni solicitations from 1 institution. So it kinda, it, You know, I became a lifetime member of the alumni association, and they don't bother me anymore. So yeah. So, right out of high school, I went to Durham and studied mechanical engineering, at what's now called the Pratt School of Engineering At Duke, and I stayed on for a PhD in mechanical engineering. And then I did, I practiced engineering for about 6 years before, one thing led to another, and I made a, a career change. But I did I worked for NASA at Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, right after I finished my PhD, engineering at Duke and then, in 2009, started back in the in the divinity school and then ended up doing Take a PhD again, in theology, and I have to say it was a lot easier the 2nd time because, I knew what not to do In terms of finishing things on time. So the first one was a little rougher was a little rougher. So, Yeah.
Kara Slade [00:04:51]:
So I've kind of I had a circuitous, path to to where I'm at right now. So
Ryan Dunn [00:04:58]:
well, today, you're working as a rector at Trinity Church in Princeton, New Jersey. Can you maybe floor for us a little bit or, in front of us a little bit this experience of call. Like, what led you from this life of engineering into this life of ministry.
Kara Slade [00:05:18]:
Yeah. So, just and just to say, I'm associate rector at Trinity Church. The rector, which is, like, the senior pastor, is Okay. My wonderful boss, Paul Jeans, and I'll give him a shout out. But, yeah. So it's not straightforward. And, you know, I just preached on this actually at in Albans in Waco, Texas, but, I think sometimes people can, certainly in my case, make the mistake of thinking, well, I had this particular set of skills and knowledge, and then I'm just gonna add this other particular set of skills and knowledge to it. And, You know, that it was a kind of a path of progress or, like, accumulation of successes.
Kara Slade [00:06:03]:
And it really was not that at all. There was, really an aspect of, you know, I was deeply unhappy in what I was doing in engineering. And a lot of that had to do with the way that You get formed as a person in science, as a person in engineering to think that okay. Well, the material world is the most real thing that there is. Okay. And then that, that you should be able to fix any problem, including your problem, the problems of other people, and that actually makes you a really terrible person to be around sometimes. It made me a terrible person to be around. There's some very happy people in my field, but I I wasn't Yeah.
Ryan Dunn [00:06:51]:
But nobody else likes to, yeah, be around them.
Kara Slade [00:06:53]:
You know? I I and and so, And it there was a lot. It was just really kind of destructive, and there was a lot of cognitive dissonance for me. I was always a church person. Grew up in the Episcopal church, church camp kid, and active in my campus ministry. So there was never a time that I was not really involved in church, but I wasn't I think that there was a level of superficiality in my engagement with the church. I think sometimes I I believed in the church more than I believed in Jesus, if that makes sense. And, you know, Church, I could understand, but, you know, God or, you know, what God has done for us in Jesus was a well, I didn't quite know what to do with that because it's, you know, it sort of was off over, you know, in another place in my life. And, you know, I I worked for NASA for 5 years, 5 foot 6 years, and, You know, eventually got to a point where I said, yeah, this is just not working for me.
Kara Slade [00:08:03]:
This is a really kind of not a good environment For me to be in, it's, you know, it's the way I'm living my life is not working. Right? And and I left. And at that point, when I left, I didn't know what I was gonna do next. And, the the gentleman who was the associate at, Christ in St. Luke's Church in Norfolk, Virginia, where I Worshiped said, you know, have you ever thought about going back to school and studying the ethics of technology? Because I think it's something you care a lot about. He's also the person who got me into reading Carl Bart. And, I said, well, that might be interesting. I you know, I didn't know what else to do.
Kara Slade [00:08:48]:
So I thought, well, you know, I'll go back to school and get a you know, the 2 year master's degree, and then maybe I can teach Engineering ethics or something like that. And so I, I applied to to Duke and to Yale. It was the year of the, the Financial crash, and I think 500 people applied for the MAR program at Yale because everybody with a humanities degree lost their job. And so I didn't get in at Yale, but I got in at Duke. And, and so back to Durham, I go and, back to Duke, I go. And, I didn't intend on getting Ordained, and it really wasn't one thing led to another kind of a situation. I, I did an internship, the summer after my 1st year at a church, near where I grew up, and the priest there said, well, why why aren't you getting ordained? And I was Well, here's a reason. Here's a reason.
Kara Slade [00:09:47]:
Here's a reason. And, he's like, no. That's stupid. We're gonna go talk to the bishop. So that's
Ryan Dunn [00:09:53]:
right now
Kara Slade [00:09:53]:
That's how it all happened for me. It was you know, sometimes, your community can see what God is doing in your life before you can. Mhmm. So true. That was really the case for me. So, you know, it all that's to say that it wasn't a straightforward path. It was definitely I think they're at you know, there was repentance involved in that. There was, you know, a real sense of, okay, god show me what to do next I don't know.
Kara Slade [00:10:23]:
And, and I think that's kind of colored how I think about the relationship between science and Christian theology, Certainly. Because I've experienced firsthand how, how it's not Just a matter of assembling a massive encyclopedia of different kinds of knowledge, like, seamlessly. It doesn't doesn't actually work that way. And we can maybe talk about this more later, but, you know, the conflicts come maybe not so much on that level of, we call, Epistemology or knowledge, right, of knowing things, but of a kind of, moral, moral level. And so That's really been the, the focus of my work, has been that moral level.
Ryan Dunn [00:11:14]:
You talked about experiencing this cognitive dissonance. And was it at that time, were you really feeling like it was a moral question, or was it, more of an intellectual understanding?
Kara Slade [00:11:28]:
Yeah. No. Absolutely. You know, I started working for the government right before September 11th, And, and, you know, I was working on an air force base, and, you know, you could not avoid, September 11th happened, and you really couldn't avoid the fact that, you know, I have fighter planes flying past my office all the time. And, you know, what does this mean for me as somebody who is ostensibly a Christian? When When I was in graduate school for engineering at Duke, I actually audited a class with Stanley Horowitz. Right? And and so I think there are a lot of questions that were maybe not well formed, but planted in my mind about what, You know, what things, appropriately shape the Christian life and whatnot? I I couldn't ask those questions well, but, you know, I think that the kind of the backdrop of, of the Afghanistan war and the Iraq war, definitely colored how I understood working for the government. And, you know, it was a tough time. It was a tough time.
Kara Slade [00:12:44]:
And, so that certainly played into it. So, you know, I think that there That definitely contributed to my sense of something is not working with this for me.
Ryan Dunn [00:13:00]:
Yeah. Okay. Okay. So you moved into this realm then where maybe the ethics were able to be lived out in a way that aligned more with what we're Well we're feeling it.
Kara Slade [00:13:15]:
Well, we never live out our ethics perfectly right.
Ryan Dunn [00:13:18]:
True.
Kara Slade [00:13:19]:
We always fail. You know, the the Christian life is always a kind of a 2 step dance of repentance and trying again. But, I think that I think what I would say is that what I've Found in my vocation now is a kind of, way of bringing my entire self to what I do. You know, and I I work with students who are preparing for ordination in the Episcopal church, and I tell them, you know, your ministry is not about you at all, but also No one is gonna be a priest in the same way that you are. And at its best, vocation, to ordain ministry means that, You know, everything that you've done and everything that you are is brought to bear. You know, you bring your whole self To your ministry, and I think that's it is that to say, yeah. I think that what I was doing before, I brought part of myself, but now, what I'm doing now as a priest and as a teacher, as a writer, I can bring my whole self. And, I think that, you know, it I don't wanna ever rely on my feelings, but I think that God is glorified in that.
Kara Slade [00:14:38]:
Right? Mhmm. And, so, yeah, it's, I think it's been an experience of I bring all of who I am Yeah. To what I do.
Ryan Dunn [00:14:50]:
Well, in bringing your full self into the work that you are doing, certainly, then you recognize this scientific background and the ways that that has been ingrained in your thinking. Yeah. Does that have some implications for your ministerial work today?
Kara Slade [00:15:07]:
Yeah. I mean, I mean, the joke is that, I'm really good at spreadsheets, and so I'm the one who kind of, I don't know. I get to fix the video and that kind of stuff at the church. So, Yeah. In a in a in a silly way, your gut does make use of all of the skills that we have. I think that I don't wanna say this. You always have, I think folks always have questions about things like evolution. Okay? Mhmm.
Kara Slade [00:15:40]:
And things like, you know, Oh, you all hear some folks over here who read the bible in a kind of eccentric way, which by the way is a very modern way to say, oh, the world was created 6000 years ago, whatever. And and, you know, I I think it's you know, I'm able I'm not a biologist. Right? I I do airplanes. I do I do machines. But, say, well, you know, the theories of evolution Explain fairly well. We don't understand them completely. Explain fairly well how species happen. Right.
Kara Slade [00:16:18]:
How species come about in the world. And, you know, scientific inquiry can tell us about the material world In really helpful and useful ways. However, and this is a big however, that, you know, if you Plug from a book. If you read my book, The Fullness of Time, Jesus Christ, Science and Modernity,
Ryan Dunn [00:16:42]:
but,
Kara Slade [00:16:43]:
I have slide it in. I like to use the analogy of Ohm's law. So Ohm's law, v equals IR. Voltage is current times resistance. That explains in a complete way How an electric circuit works. Okay? That's not controversial. Ohm's law does not tell you anything about what it means to be human. It just says, like, electricity works like this.
Kara Slade [00:17:07]:
I think in the same way, you know, theories of evolution Tell us things about how species happen, but also do not tell us what it means to be human. And that's something that I really, really wanna, You know, emphasized to folks because, again, part of my project is to look at how in the modern west, Those scientific accounts of one thing get then translated into, Like, all all of these other realms to say, I can now use this evolutionary theory to tell me why people are the way they are, why some people should be on top, and some people should be on the bottom, right, of a social hierarchy, why some people are inferior to another. So it, Like, it becomes a kind of a politics. Okay. I mean, it not a kind of a politics. It becomes a politics. And so, you know, at some point, The question that, you know, that as Christians is a really important question is, which story tells us what it means to be human, To be a creature. Right? Is it a story the like, is the basic story of everything that strong animals eat weak animals, Or is it a story of love and redemption where the last is first? Right.
Kara Slade [00:18:32]:
And so So it's like that conflating of explaining a material process and meaning, is, I think, where Science gets into trouble, right, or scientific inquiry gets into trouble. And so and it's a habit. And, You know, I think that I, as a, you know, as a a technology person, as a science person, you know, it helps for me to Come from that world and to say, hey. Like, you don't actually you don't get to explain what it means to be human or what it means live a good life or why people are the way they are, because you know about how DNA works. Right? And so, so I think a lot of what I've used my knowledge to do is to Kind of complicate the really simplified story that you can hear in the popular press, especially about the way science works. Yeah. And, you know, especially in one of my the primary interest is in, the eugenics movement and how the eugenics movement, like, leaked over into Christianity, and how, Particular theologies open themselves up to excusing, Harming some people for the benefit of other people. Right? And, and I just affirm, like, events like nobody is disposable In the kingdom of God.
Kara Slade [00:20:05]:
Right? Nobody doesn't count. Right? And so, You know, so I think it's kind of a a second order with it that that experience is brought to bear. You know, again, I don't think it's a matter of adding this knowledge to this knowledge and making a bigger knowledge. Right.
Ryan Dunn [00:20:29]:
Okay. Well, have you implemented, some use of scientific inquiry or scientific method in your formulation of faith or in your spiritual journey?
Kara Slade [00:20:49]:
Well, I think here's what I would say. And, you know, so I'm a in big air quotes. You can't see it. It air quotes a. Okay? And, one of Karl Barth's really firm Convictions is that, it's really really bad idea to try to draw information about God from the natural world. Okay. That you kind of have to keep looking at scripture as revealed in Jesus. Get through.
Kara Slade [00:21:21]:
Look at Jesus. Look at Jesus. Because of the ways that this other information can get abused. Okay? And then you could say, ah, yes. Well, You know, the natural world works this way, and thus, it's cool to be a Nazi. I mean, there are a lot of steps between that, but that's Where that's what Bart is reacting against. Right? And and I think that, you know, having done science myself, I know how messy it actually is and how much there's a process of getting things wrong and guessing wrong before you end up getting Something right. There's, you know, testing and retesting and retesting and kind of you know, it's not like There are very few, situations where you get a super clean answer right right away.
Kara Slade [00:22:13]:
And, you know, it's, it's a process. And a lot of times that process is is I mean, it gives us good answers to things. Right? But it's also, you know, I guess, you know, to, to quote a tweet by MC Hammer, when you measure, you have to include the measurer. Okay? Like, all science is being done by people. Right. It doesn't kind of descend from the sky as, as a kind of monolithic brick of knowledge. So, you know, science is being done by and people bring their biases to it. Certainly, I'm aware of how I brought my own, You know, my own kind of human limitations or you know? I'm like, well, I know how to do this thing, so I'm gonna try to do it this way and, kind of Shoehorn it in.
Kara Slade [00:23:06]:
Certainly, everybody does that. And it's the way that people assume certain things about the way the material world works that and then work themselves out in In unexpected ways. I mean, I think there's there are examples now, of different, like, facial recognition Technologies and I think even, like, I don't remember if it was temperature scanner or something, Different, you know, detecting people, AI things that work completely differently and much more badly with people who are not white than with white people because the people who made it assume that you can okay. White is the default. Make it work for white people, and then it doesn't work, for for folks who are for people of color. And so, you know, you're always bringing your own biases, your own humanity into it. I'm certainly aware of my own the way that my own humanity played into it. And so, Yeah.
Kara Slade [00:24:15]:
So it's, I think that, and I think I also know The way is that, you know, scientific inquiry in general, you know, is kind of beholden to things that are Besides science, I think that, a lot of times when we try to parse out a relationship between Faith and and scientific inquiry. We like to look at things like, yeah, the space telescope. Okay? Or, you know, things that can tell us about the universe. I mean, these are really beautiful things. They can impress us with the majesty of of god's creation. I mean, unquestionably, it's it's wonderful stuff, and yet the same processes And indeed, the same government that made the James Webb Space Telescope, made the bomb. Mhmm. Okay.
Kara Slade [00:25:15]:
And still makes the bomb. So, or maintains the bomb. I don't think they make too many new ones. But, but, you know, both of those things are products of science. And so, I think we can't uncomplicatedly say, you know, that that scientific methods do one kind of good thing without also recognizing how they do other kinds of not good things, and that that's really bound up in humanity's fall.
Ryan Dunn [00:25:46]:
Have you, played around with the idea of there being a a system of theological inquiry? Maybe you can take some of these principles of testing things from science and and bringing them into the theological realm. Because so often, there there's almost a narrative within our Christian culture that says, well, you know, our theology is immutable. It has been handed down from, from God through Jesus, through tradition to where we are today, and we just take it.
Kara Slade [00:26:17]:
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I would probably say that, you know, again so in my tradition, the The sources of authority for the for theological reflection. We usually say, you know, scripture, tradition, and and reason. Right? Mhmm. Some people would say that Wesleyan's ad experience. That's a
Ryan Dunn [00:26:39]:
Yeah. I
Kara Slade [00:26:39]:
don't wanna get into that fight. Right? But, you know, Of which a scripture is really kind of the primary. You can really think of it more as a tricycle. Right? Scripture is the big wheel, Tradition and reason being the the little wheels or maybe even as a ladder with scripture on top. I'm very skeptical of the construction of systems In general, I am skeptical of, like, top down Methods, I'm much more, I wanna look at smaller questions. Right? I think that when you try to create big systems that you put yourself In a position that humans are really you know, we're creatures. We're not the creator. But that being said, You know, even folks like, like cardinal Newman would say, you know, doctrine develops.
Kara Slade [00:27:34]:
Right? Or, you know, the tradition of the church is not a static thing, and that's been seen from from the get go. Right? Not just because of science, but because Because the the tradition of the church changes, I think that, you know, this can be an issue with, Especially in denominations that have a kind of a very rigid scripture only Way of looking at authority, it's like, well, the Bible says this and I don't have any other things or tools to interpret scripture through. And one of the joys of being Anglican is that, and, you know, should be a joy of being a United Methodist is that we're part of a conversation that's been going on for 2 1,000 years of smart people trying to work through, like, okay. What does this mean? And we see that, You know, our interpretations do change, but they're not you know, it's not something that, like, I, Cara Slade, can make a decision about On my own, those are things that are guided by the Holy Spirit in conversation with the church universal.
Ryan Dunn [00:28:46]:
Yeah. Mhmm.
Kara Slade [00:28:47]:
And under the authority of the church and certainly, like, you know, as a priest, I don't wanna say this negatively, but I, you know, When I subscribe to the doctrine of the Episcopal Church, like, that means things. And, but, You know, I think that without being able to apply our reason, being able to apply conversations with People across church history, whether that's whether that's Augustine or Gregory of Nyssa or Carl Bart or Martin you know, John Wesley or Charles Wesley's hymns, right, Then we're stuck with trying to decide what The Bible means on our own, you know, or by 1 pastor's interpretation, And then that's where you get folks really kind of throwing throwing an out of context verse of scripture at people, and, you know, it can be really hurtful. And so, you know, it's a lot more, you know, praise god. It's a lot fuller, Process of, deciding kind of how do we read the bible? How do we live our lives as as church. How do we live as church in conversation with the world? And and And I think that's another part of it is that, I think one thing that that being a science person did Teach me, and they, you know, really had to kind of not do that anymore is the value of humility and engaging with other people. And that's, you know, in engaging with people who don't share our faith, who aren't sure about faith, who, you know, aren't sure about church or are suspicious of church and that, you know, to To approach those conversations from a standpoint of, of open handedness rather than, You know, well, you're wrong. You're going to hell. Right? Which is not I mean, it's neither true nor helpful.
Kara Slade [00:30:54]:
I mean Yeah. Right. To just sort of, castigate people, you know, out of hand and to think that that somehow witnesses to anything. So I think that's really important.
Ryan Dunn [00:31:09]:
Mhmm. No. That's good. Well, you've talked about Karl Barth quite a bit in in preparing for this, this time together, went through a bunch of your writings. Karl Barth is all over that. It was Sure. More more Bart than I had been exposed to in in my previous theological training. Kierkegaard, you mentioned.
Ryan Dunn [00:31:30]:
You've already name dropped MC Hammer. We also, theologically lift up, thoughts from Ariana Grande. What are some voices that are inspiring, you know, in 2024?
Kara Slade [00:31:43]:
Well, I have to tell you, it's a little bit of a confession. I am really, really into, the new season of True detective, which is true detective night country.
Ryan Dunn [00:31:55]:
Yeah. Alright.
Kara Slade [00:31:56]:
For for my United Methodist audience here and for for listeners, This is a series of adult people in adult situations. Okay? It's not a family friendly not a family friendly series. It's TV MA. It's mature audiences only. Every content warning possible. However, It's, I mean, I love the performances that Jodie Foster and Kaylee Rees are just fantastic, but, you know, it really is Playing with, with ideas of, you know, what's the relationship between The spiritual world and the material world. Are these, you know, the Mhmm. Time that they're trying to solve, And there are only 2 episodes in.
Kara Slade [00:32:41]:
You know? Is this about, you know, some kind of spiritual forces at work? Is this about, Can this be explained by hypothermia or, you know, how can you understand how these scientists all ended up frozen outside, In a in a pile in the ice. And it also and so we work through that, and you really see in Kaylee, Kayleigh Rees' character, he really is someone who who has a sense of the world being more Complicated than material explanations. Right? Mhmm. And, And yet being both of the detectives are sort of very broken people but trying to to look for justice. And and you also have I think it's a really fascinating exploration of the conflicts between, indigenous communities In Alaska and mining and other kinds of, you know, technology things that can Pollute and, and really kind of interfere with an indigenous sense of the land as sacred. Mhmm. That was a that's a big Thing with, Willie James Jennings, who was my dissertation adviser, has done a lot with, you know, thinking about how, You know, western people come to came to the Americas and, You know, it wasn't that they were bringing Christianity into a vacuum. It's that they were you know, they came as Christians to a land that was already regarded as sacred By the people who are there.
Kara Slade [00:34:23]:
Okay? And so that that conflict is is also part of, Part of of the story. And so I just think it's, it brings up a lot of very Kind of fascinating and deep questions, and it's just it you know, it's marvelously acted too. And so, so I you know, If you're grown up and you can deal with grown up things, but, you know, check and you have HBO check it out.
Ryan Dunn [00:34:51]:
Cool. It's a an endorsement that, I needed to hear because we started it. Don't think I don't think I've gotten through the 2nd episode yet, but just through the first one.
Kara Slade [00:35:04]:
Yeah. The 2nd episode is a lot. I was like but, You're like, oof. But it's you know, I I look forward to seeing kind of how how things develop. And, of course, it does have this, kind of plot line of these guys, and they're all guys, who have kind of hid themselves away in this lab for the origins of life or something that's gonna cure all diseases and the ways that they've really kind of gone Gray's gotten gotten off the rails in doing so, in ways that then, you know, gets them implicated in murders and and all of this. And, You know, you see, you know, what looks like a kind of noble single mindedness from the outside is hiding a lot of, You know, the humanity of people doesn't go away when they're doing science. And, you know, you think you see that really, Really clearly, you know, especially in the no spoiler, the 1 guy. Right? So but, anyway, it's, I I it it has been it's been, a thing that I can't stop thinking.
Kara Slade [00:36:18]:
And then, you know, I go listen to the podcast, and I can't wait the next episode. So this is my
Ryan Dunn [00:36:23]:
What day?
Kara Slade [00:36:24]:
I guess this is my until Lent thing.
Ryan Dunn [00:36:29]:
I'll give you 2. And then we have to purge and yeah.
Kara Slade [00:36:32]:
Oh, yeah. Yeah. So, yeah.
Ryan Dunn [00:36:36]:
That's good. Well, where is, maybe your best spot for peep people to, kinda find stuff that you're working on online? Is it through your Substack?
Kara Slade [00:36:48]:
No. My substack is really kind of more kind of casual pieces that I don't things that I just kinda burnt out and don't know what else to do with. I mean, do, you can certainly check out my book. I've done some little articles for a magazine called of The Living Church, which is an episcopal, publication. And, you know, if you Google my name and the living church, you'll see those, And, and then some from another mostly episcopal publication called Earth and Altar. So so you can see those as well. And, you know, those are all sort of shorter shorter pieces if you wanna see what What I'm about.
Ryan Dunn [00:37:31]:
Appreciate it so much. One last question I'll ask you. How far is Duke going in the tournament this year?
Kara Slade [00:37:37]:
Not very far.
Ryan Dunn [00:37:39]:
Not there.
Kara Slade [00:37:40]:
I am.
Ryan Dunn [00:37:40]:
The blue devils here.
Kara Slade [00:37:41]:
Yeah. No. It's it's I just you know, Sweet 16, I think.
Ryan Dunn [00:37:49]:
Yeah. I'm in the church. You know, is for most teens is, oh, so banner, it's you know, you're gonna remember that one for decades.
Kara Slade [00:37:57]:
For Duke, it's like, man. Yeah. It's another disappointment. So
Ryan Dunn [00:38:03]:
and with that, we're ready to reflect on the place of scientific and religious thought in our own lives. If you have any thoughts, questions, or personal experiences you'd like to share, we encourage you to reach out to us through our email, rethink church at umcom.org. I'd love to hear some of your ideas about science and faith or really even about Duke basketball and true detective. It's all game. If you could use a little more inspiration, well, then I think you should check out episode 118 about artificial intelligence in your spiritual journey. And I feel like episode 116 called the force in the final frontier might also appeal to you if you found this episode interesting as well. While you're listening, again, leave a rating and or a review. Thanks so much.
Ryan Dunn [00:38:50]:
The Compass podcast is brought to you by United Methodist Communications. We, are coming out with another new episode in 2 weeks time. So I will chat at you then. Peace.
