Fractals
Originally scheduled for December 12
The local newspapers recently announced the death of one Benoit
Mandelbrodt, a mathematician of great renown. He is the discoverer
of the mathematical concept of fractals. Defining fractals is well
beyond the capability of those who have high school mathematics, but
one particular example might show you the concept.
Let's suppose you go outside after a brief rain. You look down
into the puddles and you see that there is a trail of mud which
splits into tiny little streams. Interestingly enough, this picture
is almost in distinguishable from a picture of the Mississippi Delta
taken from an aircraft overhead. Even though the Delta is much
larger, the pattern is the same. Moreover, if you look into the
Delta you will see that this pattern is repeated in smaller and
smaller sizes, even down to the size of that puddle. This idea of a
repeating pattern has been put to great use in the last 40 years.
It is a characteristic of the universe that such patterns repeat.
God, in his infinite wisdom, ordained it so. There is an interesting
parallel in communion. The large, or Delta size, pattern is the
crucifixion. The puddle size pattern is our partaking of communion.
The pattern is the same. The cup represents the blood of Christ; the
bread is the parallel of the body of Christ. We are a small
representation, therefore, and we should see ourselves as such.
So I ask you today to examine yourself. Are you indeed the small
representation of Christ? Do you resemble his pattern? You proclaim
that you do when you take communion; it is good that you should know
whether or not this is true.
