I am reading a book recommended by my daughter. It is called A Little Life and it is written by Hanya Yanagihara . It is about the relationship between four college roommates. Their names are Jude, JB, Malcolm and Willem. The main character is Jude, and he goes through some terrible things in his life. He is a lawyer, and struggles with health issues. I am only halfway through the book, and it is a long book, over 800 pages. It explores male relationships in these four men who are friends. It is a emotionally packed book, and has many difficult passages to read, but I would recommend it to anyone for a good read.
Jude was a mathematics major as an undergraduate . On page 326, there is a conversation about a mathematical concept. It concerns the idea of nothingness. Math is most interesting when it is simple, and “ pure math “ is most elegant , as it attempts to find the most simple equations for highly complex problems or theorems. At least this is what I have been told by some math graduates. I am a English and History guy, who has not taken a Math course since Grade 12 Algebra more than forty years ago.
There is the “ axiom of the empty set “ that is also the axiom of zero. In the book, Jude’s professor of math explains that the best parts of math are the most simple. “The axiom of the empty set is the axiom of zero. it states that there must be a concept of nothingness, that there must be the concept of zero: zero value, zero items. Math assumes there's a concept of nothingness, but is it proven? No. But it must exist.”
What does this say about faith. It tells to me that life and faith or both steeped in mystery. Even Paul, that early church leader, who sometimes talks tough, is all about faith and mystery. He cannot fully explain what happened before life, nor what happens after life. He invites us into a life of faith and mystery, rather than in certainty and facts. “ Math assumes there’s a concept of nothingness, but is it proven ? No. But it must exist.” Zero is nothing but it has value. It is by faith we accept that. Just as faith in Christ is about faith, and not on what we know. We might not be able to define it, but we have faith that we have faith.
“ We know that both states exist, but we will not be conscious of either experience; they are states that are necessary parts of life, even as they cannot be experienced as life “. Wow! Those are profound words of life and faith. Amazingly simple equation for life, and for faith.
Before life, and after life, are about nothing. It is the here and now that we know exists because we can feel, relate to others and love one another. It is here that we can make a difference in the world , and try to understand what is in the here and now. At least, I have faith in God, in that.
Fred Redekop
Ponder Anew 