Why We Exist! A Mathematician Explains (in about 10 minutes)

"Honest," "moving," "vulnerable" and "transparent" are some words that describe this short video. Please, take a few minutes out of your day to give it a watch.

God The Infinite

In Umberto Eco's novel Foucault's Pendulum, there's a discussion between two of the characters, Belbo and Casaubon, which is quite fascinating. Belbo says this to his friend:

"...then last year, when I saw the Pendulum [that hangs in teh Conservatoire des arts et metiers in Paris], I understand everything."

"Everything?"

"Almost everything. you see, Casaubon, even the Pendulum is a false prophet. You look at it, you think it's the only fixed point in the cosmos, but if you detach it from the ceiling of the Conservatoire and hang it in a brothel, it works just the same. And there are other pendulums: there's one in New York, in the UN building, there's one in the science museum in San Francisco, and God knows how many others. Wherever you put it, Foucault's Pendulum swings from a motionless point while the earth rotates beneath it. Every point of the universe is a fixed point: all you have to do is hang the Pendulum from it."

"God is everywhere?"

"In a sense, yes. That's why the Pendulum disturbs me. It promises the infinite, but where to put the infinite is left to me."

Does God Speak To You?

Recently, I wrote a post venting some of my frustration about people who are always saying "God spoke to me and said..." At the time, I found it uncanny how many people I had heard say this. The thing is, people can rarely ever prove that God spoke, it's like, well, you just have to take their word for it. For instance, someone recently told a family member of mine: "I think the Lord is telling me to try to date so and so (another family member)." Clearly, this person was being manipulative. But then, I really think that there are legitimate instances where God speaks to people. So, I guess I'm wondering, are there any bloggers out there to whom God has spoken or speaks? If so, how does it happen and how do you know?

Thoughts On People Saying "God Spoke To Me And Said To..."

Lately, for some reason, I've come across scores of people--who refer to themselves as Christians--that have all had one thing in common: They keep using the phrase "God spoke to me and said to __________ ." (we could fill in the blank here with any number of things). What is it about people that make them say these kinds of things? I kind of promised myself a long time ago, after hearing this so much and even doing it myself--when I was unsure as to whether or not God had actually said something--that I would never ever presume on God again. In other words, I made a purposeful decision to say "I will never just assume that God was bidding me to do something or that He was saying something." Yes, I know, this seems like I have "little faith" or that I am a "doubting Thomas". Still, I feel safer this way. Sure, I may never know with one hundred percent certainty that God said or did something, I may always question it and wonder but at least I haven't wrongly presumed on God (good or bad). I've realized that there is a distinct difference in saying that God did or said something and going through an experience and reflecting on it in light of what you know about God! The latter is what I tend to do. As for the former, what do you think about it?