The Calculus of Life

When Blaise Pascal died, a friend found a bit of parchment stitched inside his coat.

Blaise Pascal It's an odd thing, don't you think?

I wonder, what writing - what saying - would mean so much to me that I would stitch it inside my clothing and wear it near my heart each and every day?

It's an odd thing, indeed.

Pascal had been a nominal Christian much of his life. He showed up when it was expected and said the right words when necessary. But God was an accessory to the life of this genius.

Until that night.

Carriage on the Go Pascal was walking home in the winter's cold. It was twilight and fast becoming dark. Pascal broached a cobblestone bridge and began climbing the mild incline. Behind him, he heard the unmistakable sounds of hoof on stone.

And seemingly from no where, a carriage charged upon the bridge. Pascal had no where to turn.

The carriage struck him - knocking him violently to the ground.

Pascal thought he was going to die. His life flashed before his eyes.

When Pascal, shaken, but uninjured, arose from the stony, cold ground, he was chilled to the soul. He had surely come close to death.

After a moment, he continued his walk home. But he paused at a stone bench and prayed.

After his prayer, he penned these words,

November 23, 1654.

Fire.

God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Not of philosophers and scholars.

Everlasting joy in return for one day's striving upon earth.

Pascal was not so different from you and I. He was a man of science - a genius in this regard, actually. And his constant viewing of this world and even his fellow man through the eyes of science had left him cold and hard.

But through the icy grip of human reason, God burned a way through. And Pascal was gripped by God.

A God of fire - not of philosophy.

In our science-obsessed world, could we, too, need to feel the God of fire in our lives?

Perhaps all of us need to visit that place where the fragility and brevity of this life is pronounced to us with certainty. And perhaps, then, God will melt our frozen hearts.

written by Jeff Richardson, crichars@cswnet.com. March, 1997.