On Infinity

Ever since I read about transfinite numbers in school, I have been fascinated by the concept of Infinity. Some years ago, I came across a phrase from Nicholas de Cusa : 'a circle whose centre is nowhere but whose circumference is everywhere.'

One can talk about Infinity only parabolically. That is, only in parables, in the manner of telling a story.

Here, then, are four stories.

(a) Think of the real number 1 and the real number 2. Now think of how many real numbers there are between 1 and 2? How many? 1 ............., 1.00000001, 1.0000000000001, 1.0000000001 ..............1.5, 1.500000000000001, ..... 1.99999999, 1.99999999999999, ..........

(b) Look at the tree outside your window. Look at it like you have never done before. Don't think of it as just another tree, just another botanical species, just another collection of green leaves. Look at it as that irreplaceably unique tree.

(c) To forgive a deed which should be forgiven is a piece of commercial calculus. You truly forgive when you forgive what is utterly unforgivable.

(d) You are standing on a hill-top at dawn. Having passed through a night of agony, your bones are so heavy with grief that you cannot even stand still. And then. And then the orange dawn slowly breaks over the horizon.