Hi, have you ever wondered why does beauty affect
us so deeply? Why does a sunset make us stop
and stare? Or why does music sometimes move us
to tears? Why do certain moments leave us speechless?
Beauty seems to be more than simply entertain
us. It awakens something. Maybe a longing. a
wonder, just a sense that there is something
larger than ourselves. And I think mathematics
can do that too. This week, we've explored beautiful
ideas in mathematics, some simple truths, unexpected
connections, patterns in motion, even mystery,
and the long human story of discovery. But underneath
all these ideas is something even deeper. mathematics
constantly points beyond itself. Take infinity.
No matter how large a number becomes, mathematics
always allows us to imagine something larger.
Or consider a circle. A simple shape somehow
leads us into endless ideas, pi, waves, motion,
symmetry, curvature, and even the structure of
space itself. One thing that fascinates me about
math is that we seem to discover it as much as
we create it. We do invent symbols and we do
choose definitions, but then logic takes over.
And what emerges is not chaos, it is beauty.
Nobody invented pi and nobody invented e. In
fact, if humanity disappeared tomorrow and somehow
began again thousands of years from now, someone
new would discover those numbers. They were there
waiting to be found. And the deeper mathematics
goes, the more reality seems interconnected and
ordered and astonishingly rich. One of my favorite
authors, Russ Ramsey, He describes the sublime
as a beauty so vast that it humbles us. And I
think mathematics sometimes bring us to the edge
of the sublime. Not because mathematics removes
mystery, but because it reveals how much mystery
still remains. And perhaps that is why beautiful
mathematics matters. For me, it is something
deeply personal. There have been seasons of my
life when things felt messy or confusing and
uncertain. But in those moments, I often find
myself drawn back to mathematics. Not to solve
a problem, but to remember. To remember that
beauty exists. Or to remember that there is structure
beneath the chaos. And to remember that reality
is larger than whatever challenge is sitting
in front of me. When life feels small, mathematics
reminds me of infinity. When life feels scattered,
mathematics reminds me that deep patterns exist.
When life feels uncertain, mathematics reminds
me that truth and beauty can still be found.
In fact, I think that is one reason I started
Reasonable Hope Reflections. It's because mathematics
has repeatedly lifted my eyes towards something
larger than myself. And perhaps that is why beauty
matters. Beauty invites us to wonder. Maybe the
reason beauty moves us so deeply is because it
points beyond us. So this week, we have explored
beautiful mathematics. And I hope you leave seeing
mathematics just a little differently. Not merely
as a calculation. or a formula, but as a window.
A window where we can glimpse beauty and wonder,
and perhaps even a reason for hope.