: .
and the values she strove mightily to
achieve and uphold in her life.
Let’s take faith and science as
key examples. Now in many ways it
seems as though faith and science
are hardly on speaking terms in our
world. Although they quietly get along
in some areas, they are widely seen
as incompatible. And some scientists
even despise people of faith, and some
people of faith despise scientists. Yet
Sherri was strong in both faith and
science.
Let’s take her faith first. She grew
up a Methodist, went to Sunday school,
got confirmed; asked her ministers
many questions and carefully pondered whether the answers made sense to
her or not (most of them did!); she read the Bible; and as a teenager attended
a youth camp and gave her life to Jesus. And she meant it and stuck with it.
For evidence of the strength of her faith we need look no further than the
way she carried herself during her terminal illness. She had a poise and calm,
even an inner peace, and took all kinds of troubles in stride. When her doctors
marveled at her attitude she told them that she knew that no matter how bad
a given day was, a good day was coming soon; and she would focus on that.
Her faith was beautiful and
elegantly simple at its core, but it was
no wooden or static thing; at the end
of her life, after gaining much wisdom
and experience, she was still actively
pondering many deep questions.
Yet she was also utterly devoted to
science, deeply wedded to the scientific
method, and delighted by all kinds of
truth that could be unearthed from
careful, disciplined study. And her
hard work and stellar results made her
a respected contributor to the field of
science.
To touch on an issue of balance
within science itself, Sherri cared
about gender balance. There is much
Understanding how
crucial diversity,
evenness and balance
were to Sherri helps
us understand the
choices she made and
the values she strove
mightily to achieve and
uphold in her life.
For evidence of the
strength of her faith we
need look no further
than the way she carried
herself during her
terminal illness. She
had a poise and calm,
even an inner peace,
and took all kinds of
troubles in stride.
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