“Infinity is as far as your imagination stretches, and then some.”
~~Iain Cameron Williams
When my budding scientist brother and I played make-believe together, we got very intrigued with the concept of infinity. What does infinity mean anyway, a number that we couldn’t count? We thought of stars, it awed us. We teased each other back and forth on the subject. Tim had an infinity for something I wanted. An infinity for toy black panthers, for example, when previously we fought over having one. That strange sideways 8, so mysterious and so frustrating when he won the game with infinity Monopoly houses, infinity puppies, infinity everything.
I still think about the concept, so mysterious, so connected to the Divine. I found this definition, “The word infinity comes from the Latin word ‘infinitas’ which means endless or unboundless. It signifies that life is not just a one-time journey. But rather it’s a series of cycles, reincarnations, and spiritual evolutions. It’s also akin to nature’s endless rhythms.”
This concept connects transcendence, life, death and rebirth to infinity, divine mystery. At death we merge into the vast consciousness of the Divine, continuing the vast unknowable boundlessness of God.
I can hear my brother now, playing Monopoly, “but Lisa I just bought the Grand Hotel, I win! It has an infinite number of guests!” And then, “but Tim, if the hotel has an infinite number of guests, then the owner can add a huge owner’s suite for me and then I own it. I win!” This goes on and on until the end of time. It turns out this is Hilbert’s infinity paradox, exploring the boundaries of infinity, but we were getting way beyond our understanding. Tim probably knows these things now.
What I know is this, I love my brother. I love recalling memories of our conversations when we were just little curious children. We touched on profound mysteries of the universe. We played make-believe about the unbelievable nature of the universe. We laughed and danced in the deep pools of infinite love and through the grace of God; we flourished.
Now I am almost eighty, Tim 78, we talk of our grandchildren. I try to fathom the concept of the infinite, but all I know is human love is wrapped in divine love, a love that transcends the boundaries of time and is everlasting.
Now that should even trump the Grand Hotel.