Let Einstein Help with Your Week

Albert Einstein was a remarkable scientific genius. His development of the special and general theories of relativity have led to a huge expansion of our scientific knowledge. (Perhaps it is better to say that God developed the theories of relativity and Einstein discovered them.)

His theories have also yeilded practical applications that we now take for granted. GPS devices simply would not work if they did not use Einstein’s equations.

Although Einstein did not believe in a personal God, he believed that all that exists is due to the workings of an intelligent creator, an unimaginable mind that determined what laws this world would obey. Sometimes this belief would result in him making some profound inspirational remarks, such as the following one:

There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.

My scientific and technical training, and perhaps my DNA, is such that I take a naturalistic view of the world. That generally leads to taking things for granted. But, during those times when I think back on the above quote from Einstein, I take the view that everything is a miracle. The fact that we have natural laws that are rational and consistent is a miracle. Life is certainly a miracle. The rising and setting of the sun, although just the relative movement of our planet and our sun in one galaxy of a hundred billion suns in a universe with at least a hundred billion galaxies, is a miracle. This tends to make me more grateful and appreciative.

So, why not reflect on this quote for the week and see if it does you some good? I’m betting it will.