Laguna Beach offers infinite possibilities

Living in Laguna Beach gives me an excellent opportunity to view God in all his infinite glory. The beach seems endless, the sea stretching out to the horizon even more so. Even the variety of people, from locals to tourists, represents infinity to me: I have heard an amazing diversity of languages coming from the people that I pass by as I walk downtown. You could even say that we almost have an infinite collection of shops to choose from! (Well, maybe not infinite. But a really good selection!)

There’s an article in New Scientist in the Physics and Mathematics area about infinity: Ultimate Logic: To infinity and beyond. Even the mention of advanced physics and higher mathematics can make my nervous system react. But I was willing to work through the mathematical underpinnings to gain a greater understanding of infinity. The author explored the early history of the concept behind infinity that I find exciting and view as an important concept for religion and spirituality. The sub-title to the article stated, “The mysteries of infinity could lead us to a fantastic structure above and beyond mathematics as we know it.” Well, I wasn’t so excited about a new mathematical structure but mathematics is often used to help present the logic of a religious philosophy. In a way, mathematics elucidates the meaning of religious viewpoints that are sometimes not as visibly tangible as the laws of mathematics. However, what caught my attention in the article was the limitation placed on mathematics.

Professor David Hilbert made a presentation at the Second International Congress of Mathematicians at the Sorbonne in Paris, France in 1900 and the first item in his list of 23 was the continuum hypothesis and its quality of infinity.  Supposedly without discussion the delegates stated that mathematics was just not equipped to provide an answer and moved on to more trivial concerns.

On the religious side, Mary Baker Eddy had defined infinity as early as 1875 in her textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. “A limitless Mind cannot proceed from physical limitations. Finiteness cannot present the idea or the vastness of infinity. ….man is more than a material form with a mind inside, which must escape from its environments in order to be immortal. Man reflects infinity, and this reflection is the true idea of God.”

From 1875 forward, her working definition of infinity has remained consistent and an important factor in the thousands of documented healings based upon the concept of infinity as it applies to God and man.

According to New Scientist, this year a US mathematician believes he has cracked the issue of infinity. What’s more, he claims to have arrived at the solution not by using mathematics, as we know it, but by building a new, radically stronger logical structure – a structure he dubs “ultimate L.”

Elaborating on this finding, a university professor at Berkeley suggested that, “the solution can be found by stepping outside our conventional mathematical world and moving on to a higher plane.”

There is much truth in that statement. Mary Baker Eddy found that in order to heal all manner of sickness and sin she had to move to a higher plane of thought about God and man and identify with the infinite. It’s exciting to see these concepts expand as our understanding of the universe and existence develops. From Laguna Beach to around the world, infinity is expressed from its inexhaustible source.