Sara J. Mikkelson
Can you imagine what the world would be like without round/curved shapes? Life would be pretty rough in only rectangular/triangular shapes; everything would look like it came out of some weird pixilated computer game. Moving much of anything would be difficult – the best you could get for wheels would probably look like an octagon or dodecagon (that would make for a bumpy ride) and I have no idea how the joints in our bodies would work. When we really start thinking about it, we realize that our world revolves around these amazing circular/spherical shapes (quite literally). We usually tend to just take these circular shapes for granted.
A special holiday is coming around this weekend; March 14, 2015 (3-14-15) is the major geek holiday of “Pi day” because the mathematical constant of Pi (π), used to calculate many aspects of circular/curved shapes, is 3.1415[not rounded] just like the date (3-14-15). “Pi day” is a great opportunity to remember the marvelous way God created our universe with precision, purpose, and beauty from the vast expanses of the universe down to the structure of an atom. To celebrate “Pi day” I’ve enjoyed making pie, eating pizza, and memorizing Pi to the 27th digit with the help of a song (a circle dance might be fun too). You might just enjoy recognizing how many things in your world have to do with circular shapes and the constant Pi.
One thing that is really remarkable about our universe is that it was specially designed by our Creator to be discovered and explored with math and science. Exploring and explaining the way our world works is a way of obeying the commandment God gave to fill, subdue, and have dominion over the earth, because He made us in His image, unlike any other creature (see Genesis 1:26-28). The fact that we can discover laws of math and science to consistently explain the way the world works is a huge testament to the existence of our Creator, God (more about this here).
Sadly, math is a subject that is often disliked, misunderstood, or rushed through in our modern education system. It’s easy to get so focused on “finding the answer” or “solving the problem” that we completely miss the wonder and beauty that math is conveying about our universe and our Creator. In a similar way, it can be easy for us as individuals to focus on trying to explain the Bible and “figuring it out” rather than focus on developing a personal relationship with Christ that will guide our understanding of the Scriptures.
