Mathmatical Thinking

The laws of nature are but the mathematical thoughts of God. ~Euclid

I am fermenting my mind, my spirit, to try to hear the difference between the sounds of the trees and the sounds of the stones.

This may sound deep, but it is more of a challenge to the way that my mind has always been trained to think than anything else. We are schooled mathematically to problem solve by our educational system. I myself have taken all the highest math classes in college that were offered at Ferris State in the early 80’s. Not always receiving the best grades, but participating in the effort to learn. Dean Schlicter of the University of Wisconsin seems to imply this when he said “Go down deep enough into anything and you will find mathematics.” Early scholars actually thought that God, Heaven and Hell could all be proven with the right mathematical equation(s). They also used math equations to prove that the world was flat, round and the universe revolved around the earth. Math was manipulation by the powerful in charge.

Leaving behind math will be difficult for me. I still love to balance the checkbook to the penny and feel like doing an NFL type touchdown celebration every month at the completion of this task. Sometimes I just play with the calculator. I like to measure. Length. Width. Volume. When I get a chance to do math in my head, my mind jumps to the opportunity, calculating the sums and differences. I like figuring sales tax in my head on the stuff I buy (although I don’t like paying it). I seem to be held in bondage by math. It seems to be the dictator of my mind.

That is why I want to hear the tree and not look at its height and width and age. Same with the stone, I want to hold it and feel its whispers. The sound of them is what the universe bounces off them that my ears and eyes and nose detect--the warmth of the sun, the touch of the rain, the scent of the breeze.

Then maybe, I will be able to capture the reason and believe again.