11 June 08
(part 1)
I recently finished a great book by Walter Isaacson. A fascinating glimpse into the life and mind of Einstein. I was compelled to highlight something on almost every page! I shared my encouragement page after page in his endless search to find a unified theory- a single, simple theory that would encompass all the physical properties of nature- from the grand theater of the cosmos to the microscopic interplay of atomic particles. One that would consider all (and be applicable to all) matter, their interactions with each other and be consistent with, or define a greater law that revealed itself in its secondary effects- of the known forces of gravity, electricity, magnetism and light and sound waves and particles. Not to mention his own theory of relativity, and the faith he had that even time and space were not absolute, but only as perceived in relation to an observer- thus relative.
My heart screamed. “I know, I know!” Now, I may not be able to quantify and explain these things in mathematical formulas, but I do understand. There IS a force that commands, simultaneously, the path of the planets and the basic elements of creation. Who sees us from outside the confines of time and space, and so from His perspective, time as we know it is one eternal round, and can, just as Einstein speculates, see all things past, present and future. Oh if I could have only taught him the gospel and of the priesthood! That would not have been an easy undertaking with a mind like his. He was a very religious man in that he did find an abiding faith in God, a view of deity as the magnificent creator who had a precise plan and purpose in all of His creations, who didn’t leave things to chance, and he was perceptive enough to recognize that there had to be wisdom and purpose. He stopped short of belief in a personal god. Someone who interacted with man, and who, for better or worse, could influence our lives. If only he recognized that his omniscient creator, with the same insight, effort and care, created us- and thereby can know us and be involved in our lives.