My wife likes to call me the dumbest smart person she knows. I apparently possess intelligence in a wide array of topics but when it comes to some areas of common sense and life skills, I am definitely not scoring straight A’s.

There is another paradox that also fits me well: I am a very unorganized organized person.

I am organized outwardly but if you took a dive into my computer it would seem like chaos to you. Behind me are my three work screens with different browsers open with numerous tabs active on each one.

Yes, I wrote that correctly. An unorganized organized person.

People will vouch for me that on the outside I am a very organized individual. I lead my team in an organized fashion, my days are guided by checklists, my presentations are strategically put together, and my thoughts come out in a logical manner.

However, the systems and resources I use to project an organized outward presence are nothing short of a complete cluster.

My computer is a mess. My desktop is usually 90% covered by folders, icons, and screenshots. Even though the folders have names, good luck if the content inside those folders is exclusive to what the name implies. The task bar is a jungle of program icons each with a half dozen files open at one time.

Hover over my internet browser and prepare for a major scare. Oh wait, hover over any of my multiple internet browsers and prepare for a major scare because I don’t just use just Chrome—I also use Mozilla and Edge on a daily basis. Anyway, select any of those browsers and you will see anywhere from 10 – 40 browser tabs open at once.

Now, if you dare, go to my email. You will discover an inbox of 24,441 emails with 4,394 of them unread. Okay, I know that sounds really bad, but I promise the unread ones are either spam/notification emails or Outlook decided not to check one as “read” after I did dutifully select it and scan the content.

Again, this seemingly chaotic state of my digital work affairs might seem to suggest that there is no way I could be functional but I think most people would admit that is not the case.

That doesn’t mean they don’t get anxiety when I am running a meeting from my computer. There is one particular standing meeting I oversee where I frequently switch from a spreadsheet to my internet browser and those in attendance are usually astounded (aka mortified) at my on-screen working conditions.

I tell them it is all under control.

Of course my “unorganized organized” approach manifests itself at home, too. That is for another blog post but to put it simply, Sidney calls me a lowkey hoarder. I defend myself by saying that I am simply effective at utilizing cardboard boxes and junk drawers.

Brent Reser: A man of paradoxes.

Don’t Blink.

I have a good friend who I met after moving back to Spokane. We played on the same Hoopfest team, we send our children to the same school, and every Christmas season our families get together to wrap presents.

A couple other things to mention about this person: She is one of the strongest Christians I know and she also happens to be a medical doctor.

I bring this person up and I specifically highlight her faith and occupation because of some rather striking and encouraging statistics I heard over the weekend…

We live in a world that tries to suggest that God and science can’t co-exist. But the fact of the matter is that they can—and they do. When people think that God and science aren’t complementary, they assume that people in science-based fields can’t and don’t embrace a higher power.

But this isn’t accurate.

The people we might stereotype as atheists because of their reliance on science are actually believers in a higher power.

I learned recently that the majority of doctors are believers. Most recent studies indicate that anywhere from 65% to 76% of medical physicians believe in God. Mind you, these are the professionals who help patients face indescribable hardships and confront death much more frequently than the average human. They are also extremely well-educated and possess an extensive STEM-based background. All these factors might lead people to assume that most doctors would be atheists but instead the exact opposite is true.

Furthermore, I also learned that more scientists than not believe in God. The most-recent study indicates that 51% of professionals classified as scientists do believe. Take a moment to fathom that. The people who base their findings on the scientific method, demand proof for everything, and know the theory of evolution like the back of their hand still believe that God exists.

I was exposed to these legitimate and illuminating studies while listening to a radio show that featured Fr. Robert Spitzer. If you have never heard of Fr. Spitzer before, I suggest taking a moment to Google him. He is more than just a priest—besides once serving as a university president, he is also an expert on miracles and near-death experiences. He has built scientific proofs on why God does exist and puts into perspective why people who are stereotyped as not having faith actually do.

But as much as I would like to write more about the incredible Fr. Spitzer—who I have watched lecture in-person—I just want to again emphasize the fact that God and science work together and those who we think don’t believe actually do.

And this mode of thinking is only becoming more prominent. Two-thirds of young scientists believe in God, advocating that you can be both religious and a good scientist.

Make no mistake about it, God and science are harmonious. And the proof goes well beyond just my friend. Don’t Blink.