Around the library table on Sunday night sat eight tutors ready to tackle homework questions. Social Science—check. Language arts—check. Elementary math—check. Science—check. The only subject this hearty group feared was advanced math. Surely advanced math would not be required. All that changed when a young woman came in with questions about logarithms. The first student with the first question and it was all about logarithms.
Lent is a lot like logarithms. Stay with me as there truly is a cohesive thread here. We don’t understand the great mysteries of the claims of Jesus, the work of the cross, resurrection. After Sunday’s sermon, Paul McRoberts poised another interesting take on the claims that Jesus made. In referencing the John 14:6 passage, Jesus said, I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father but by Me, Paul posed another take for me about these words of Jesus. He said it more eloquently, but the gist of what he said has caused me to ponder the words. Believing that Jesus made the statement in love, Paul said it would be arrogant for us to assume that we understood all of the ways that Jesus manifests Himself to people.
As he spoke the words, it reminded me of being in San Lucas, Guatemala in 2005. I remember being in the simple two room home of one of the Mayan families. On their altar the Mayan statues of their faith were intermingled with the Holy Family and a crucifix. I remember being touched how these brother and sisters in the mountains of Guatemala were blessed by God’s grace. I don’t understand all of the mysteries of Lent, but I could see a people of faith in front of my eyes.
Undaunted before the logarithms, the tutor worked hard to understand the mysteries while working alongside the student.
On the journey,
Alecia
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"...a people of faith in front of my eyes..." This brings a picture into my heart of a day at school recently. It was the day during Catholic Schools Week when the teachers serve free breakfast at school to all the students. One teacher was reluctant to give up her time before school when she gathered math students for extra help, but still wanted the students to be able to take part in the breakfast, so she brought down a big flip sheet pad and right in the middle of the busy cafeteria, she and her students were happily eating breakfast and getting the help they needed....another of the many manifestations of Jesus to his people.
ReplyDeleteOne way to relate to logarithms is to consider that the Richter scale is based on logarithms. Without logarithms the number 7.0 seems pretty close to the number 8.8. But the earthquake in Chile (which measured 8.8) was actually 500 times more powerful than the earthquake in Haiti (which measured 7.0).
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, one thing that is upside-down about these two earthquakes is that Haiti (pop. 9 million) suffered far more fatalities than Chile (pop. 17 million). The Christian Science Monitor has a good blog post that contrasts the two earthquakes:
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2010/0302/Chile-earthquake-facts-Chile-vs.-Haiti-in-numbers
I heard that the pilot program of tutors-on-duty at the church this past Sunday did not get any customers. Even so, it is a very nice service to offer. Perhaps the tutors need to add some hyperbole to their marketing signage...
Free tutoring service for your son or daughter. Now new and improved with earth-shaking LOGARITHMS!
Cheers,
- John