On April 13, 1901, Professor Wilhelm Ostwald of the University of Leipzig received a letter that read: “Esteemed Herr Professor! Please forgive a father who is so bold as to turn to you in the interest of his son. I shall start by telling you that my son is 22 years old, that he feels profoundly unhappy with his present lack of position, and his idea that he has gone off the tracks with his career and is now out of touch gets more and more entrenched each day. I have taken the liberty of turning to you with the humble request to write him a few words of encouragement, so that he might recover his joy in living and working.”
The letter was written on behalf of a young man who had lost his way in life. His university grades were distressingly low. Teachers over the years had been aggravated by his lack of respect, especially his high school Greek teacher who wrote in his evaluation, “Nothing will ever become of you.”
And yet just four years later, in 1905, this young man changed the world when he published a series of articles in a German physics journal. Thefirst article proposed that space and time are relative. His second article proposed that matter and energy are interchangeable. Albert Einstein had changed the world forever.
We’ve all heard of the equation E=MC2, which is the mathematical equation his second article is based on. Here’s the power of what that means:
Pick up a paper clip. It’s so light you’ll hardly feel it in your hand. And yet, if one could turn the atoms in that paper clip directly into energy in one burst, it would have the power of an atomic explosion.
Jesus reminds us of the power of small things as well. When asked how we might increase our faith, he tells us that if we have faith that is even the size of a single mustard seed, we can make the impossible happen. I love the figure of speech. It is as beautiful a use of language as anything I have ever read.
When I think of faith, I am reminded of Einstein’s famous equation. In my mind it’s something like an equation of faith. A pinch of faith the size of a mustard seed has the power to move the world. That’s exciting stuff.
Even the Gospel story itself is the story of a tiny seed that grows into something beautiful. Jesus was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant family. He was raised in a small town. He never wrote a book. He never traveled very far from the place where he was born. He did none of the things we typically associate with greatness. When public opinion turned against him, even his closest friends left him.
He was nailed to a cross between two criminals. As he was dying, his executioners gambled for his clothing, the only property he owned. He had to be buried in a borrowed grave after his death.
And yet 2,000 years later he is the center of our lives. All of the greatest historical figures put together have not impacted the human race as much as Jesus. The immense energy unleashed in the equation E=MC2 is nothing compared to the power of those who put their faith in him. It’s the power to change the world by spreading his message of love and salvation to those around us.
When it seems as if the world is telling us that people of faith can’t make a difference, just remember the name Joseph Degenhart. Never heard of him? He’s the teacher who wrote the words, “Nothing will ever become of you” on Albert Einstein’s report card. Perhaps it was statements like that that prompted Einstein to view the world around him with such a unique mind. He once described common sense as “…the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen.”
Common sense tells us that people who live in a small town far from the centers of commerce and education can’t have an impact on the future. Common sense tells us that we can’t make a difference unless we have a special education or some unique skill that no one else has. But common sense is not what lives of faith are about.
My prayer today is that we will embrace the power of faith, even when it runs counter to common sense, and share it with those who have never heard the wonderful news.
One week each month, a guest columnist will offer Spiritual Reflections. This week’s contributor is Tom Murray of the Lutsen Evangelical Lutheran Church.
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