Into the light
Sometimes the light shines in where we least expect it. And the light of “understanding” was never seemingly so far away for me personally, as when it involved “math”.
When I would take a math test, as a kid, I would stare at the first problem and stay on that problem the whole time, even when I could not solve that problem. The penalty for that lack on understanding of how to take that test, prevented me from guessing, because the test was designed for right guesses to count, even if the correct answer was arrived at, with no more than a guess sans understanding.
In other words, kids who guessed, could move on through math and could pass it, even if they did not really understand it, as long as they picked true or false on the test, while I would get a zero.
So it was with no understanding of math, that I made my way through school…and arrived where I am now, still alarmed at the prospect of ever having to use math to prove anything.
But that is when the light began to shine.
But before the light happened, I was doing something completely unrelated. I was looking at a picture of someone dipping a piece of flatbread into some olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and the top of the article was talking about why the bread and oil at restaurants was more delicious than what people can have at home.
The acronym for OIL with regards to leaving home or staying home could be related to “Office of Immigration Litigation” or OIL. And yes, I do think that all those arriving illegally across our borders here in the USA think that everything here is better quality (like the article said) because it is worked for, and bought and paid for, by the God fearing, hardworking people who live here. Those coming in however, think, like those who go to a restaurant for a meal, that the dipping bread and oil is free…because the president has pretended that it is free…and has insinuated by lack of action the the area of border defense, that what the government gives away, has nothing to do with the people who are paying for it with their taxes. The president has pretended that government is controlled by him, and not by the people who pay taxes. Big mistake to assume that bread is free. Any kind of bread.
Because the “answer” given, that the oil restaurants use is much better quality, which is why it is more delicious, is what made me initially dispute that opinion. Because Restaurants want to make money and buy in bulk, they might get better prices for bigger quantities, but that does not mean that the olive oil is better quality or tastes better than the oil we use at home. Not in any regard.
In my own home, the food is prepared specifically to meet the tastes of those I know well, and is shared with them; leftovers sent home with the children, and even some scraps are saved for their dogs. It is possible, theoretically, for anyone to come to my home, but in reality, only those I choose, will come into my home, or eat at my table, and I choose those who believe I can feed them something nourishing who trust me and I trust them. I choose a family, and we share Christian values. Restaurants cannot provide the same atmosphere or intimacy and closeness to home that I have, no matter how much they promise.
That article made me think of how Jesus took bread in his hands and blessed it and broke it, and said “this is my body”, at the last supper before he died. What made it special was that it was done in a home, not a restaurant, and Jesus wanted others to join in the “meal” as they learned about his “family” if they wanted to remember him and the eternity surrounding his life and his being.
Jesus was sacrificed, the same way people sacrificed virgins to feed the dragons in the story of Saint George. But Jesus chose to sacrifice himself to PROVE life is eternal. Extra “virgin” olive oil, at a restaurant, cannot compare.
The Eternity, or infinity of life, to me is a mathematical problem …and though I have faith in Jesus, I did not see “the light” about how eternal life is something that is demonstrable until I went to have dinner with one of my kids and their friend, which is where this story started originally.
The conversation at their favorite vegan restaurant, (and I am not even vegan but I went there on my birthday because THEY love it), was about how a person could love math while originally hating it and being afraid of it. Having an interested and patient teacher turned things around after that teacher took time to explain some things, like the concept of colliding blocks.
I had not heard of this math concept before, but basically a simplistic description that I understood, is that if one block hits another block in a friction less room the impact sends the second block to the wall and back a certain amount of time, like a wave.
If the force applied, is initiated by a heavier and heavier block, the amount of wave resulting in the impacted block will increase mathematically until it reaches Pi.
This is called the hidden circle.
Oh yeah, you guessed it, that is when I saw the light, metaphorically.
Suddenly I realized that if this incredible power I call God, put a force in the universe to create…that force could result in infinite movement or “life” and this simple conversation said to me mathematically, that it is provable.
Understanding on any level, is light.
And though I have never really understood Math, I do understand how, because of Jesus and his resurrection, we have proof that Life is a circle or continuous…eternal.
I love that spirituality and Math are having a “coincidence” with this math concept. And not only that, I appreciate how there are so many people who maybe do not think that they believe, but who can be receptive to such evidence when conveyed on a mathematical level, which to me, seems miraculous. I am so grateful for this conversation I had about this concept. Because I think I got a glimmer of light.
As I thought about how Life is eternal because of Jesus and the cross, I went into the dining room to start my painting…and I took a picture of what I saw. I think that God gives us signs and symbols when we are on the right track with our thinking…and my train of thought, though spiritual, is now also concrete, and provable in Math.
If you see what I see, with the help of “light” you can see a cross in the painting, and a square where Jesus gave evidence of life; “a circle for squares”. God is not dead…and Life is eternal. I love these signs and symbols.
In conclusion, the seeming death of Jesus on the cross to prove Life is eternal is a spiritual concept and not mathematical…or is it?