When I was a little boy I once asked my father if he knew everything.
“No,” he answered, “Nobody knows everything.”
“Not even the smartest person in the world?”
“No, not even the smartest person in the world?”
“Who,” I wanted to know, “is the smartest person in the world?”
His answer was quick and brief, “Einstein!”
Above, a sketchbook entry. I also did a couple of versions in paint which I put on Facebook for today’s “A Painting a Day Challenge.” Check them out here.
That was Einstein’s wide reputation then, when he was alive, and it persists to this day. I don’t think it was necessarily a concept Einstein had about himself. It seems he was a possessor of appropriate humility. A humility that was sourced in his larger-than-most appreciation of the grandeur of all things and its exquisite order. And for his ability to apprehend it he gave less credit to his intellect than to his imagination. That was the attribute he credited most.
He once said of his quest he wanted to know how God created the universe. Just the question reveals a good deal of imagination.
And he kept wondering.
Describing himself to a friend he said that he merely kept thinking about the things children wonder at but eventually move beyond.
Does that sound familiar? We ask big questions when we’re young, then we grow up; we get busy, consumed with the more limited things we (think we) can understand, and our wonder diminishes.
In other words, we act like grown-ups.
But something’s lost in the process. And needlessly. We may not have the brains of Einstein, nor the call on our lives to pursue a unified theory of everything, but we need not lose our curiosity, our sense of awe of all things near and far.
In his book, Living Philosophies, he said:
“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom the emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand wrapped in awe, is as good as dead —his eyes are closed.”
I’ll take that as good counsel, and that from whom my father told me was the smartest man in the world.
______
PS Thanks to all who commented to the last blog; you added to it all. Always appreciated.
Our Lives Together
Its About Life
12:32 pm
Son Mark has always said he didn’t mind getting older, but he didn’t want to grow up……I’m sure he meant it in this same vein……..and thankfully, God has honored his desire…….he still blesses us with the pursuit of finding all the ways God does His marvelous works……..great wisdom from your dear dad!
12:51 pm
Thanks, Mabel. But, speaking of youthfulness, I can see where he got it.
5:31 pm
Romans 11:33-35 have been increasingly meaningful for me recently:
33 O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?”
35 “Or who has given a gift to him,
to receive a gift in return?”
10:59 am
Favorite Einstein quote that Tim and I had framed with a picture of Einstein:
“I want to know God’s thoughts”……I still have it…..such a deep quest in life.
8:09 am
Love this Hyatt! And the portrait is great. I agree completely. One of the things I love most about being a grandparent is that my granddaughter helps me recapture the joy in wonder. She can get more excited about what’s under a rock or dandelions in the grass or how snapdragons can “talk” than about any manufactured toy. My daily walks with my pup Freddy are devoted to observation and wonder and I never tire of the beauty all around me. Pray I will always remember to just look up from adult pursuits and “see”. Beautiful blog. Thank you.
7:58 pm
You are a skilled writer and communicator. It is a pleasure to read the artistry of your prose.
Keep it up, bro.
Kent