‘What a beautiful scene’ thought Science. Here he was witnessing a mother and her child, lovingly discuss his theories on electricity. The mother had gathered her eleven year old onto her lap when suddenly the room went dark. Electricity had just been stopped. ‘Ohhhh!’ sighed the girl even as her mom gently smiled and said ‘Why is it suddenly dark?’ The girl looked at her mom and said ‘because the power went out!!’ The mother continued – ‘so what do you mean by power?” Apparently this was a style the child was used to for she too continued ‘power as in electricity…’ Science was enjoying the conversation. The mother continued to prod – ‘so what exactly is electricity?’ Curious to hear the answer Science waited. Was he comprehensible to an eleven year old? Prompt came the reply ‘flow of electrons…’ Science was impressed. So he had really become evening conversation and not just a classroom theory!! ‘Well Meenakshi!’ continued the mother, ‘why does the electron flow in some objects like that copper wire and why not in other objects like the wooden table?’ ‘Mom!’ said Meenakshi, ‘a copper wire has free flowing electrons so it is able to allow the electrons to flow… the electrons in the wood on the other hand are tightly packed. They cannot be interchanged!’
God arrived on the scene, ready for his dialogue with Science. But Science signalled God to remain silent and continued to overhear the mother-child conversation. God indulged Science, for the message He had to deliver was easier done from the mouth of a child!! ‘If the electrons are getting exchanged, how come a copper wire remains a copper wire? When the first electron started to flow out it should have ceased to be copper right?’ Science was intently listening! How could the mother come up with such complicated questions and that too to a little child of eleven??? God, on the other hand was intently watching Science. Would Science get the message or was it time for yet another dialogue? Meenakshi however did not seem to have any doubts. Out came the answer with absolute clarity and simplicity. ‘Mom! It is like this! Like how in a billiards table the first ball hits the second and the second now hits the third and so on, the electron from the first moves to the second. But the first has already been replaced with an electron. So it actually always remains “copper”. The original copper, in terms of original electrons are no longer there. But it is copper nevertheless as a new electron has already taken its place!’ God surely held the mothers heart from bursting with pride at her little angel’s expert answer! ‘Yes! My doll!’ said the proud mother, ‘Everything needs to pass through you. In the process it changes everything about you… and yet you remain as you originally were!’
Looking at the dazed expression on Science’s face, God realised a dialogue would help him understand better. He gently led Science aside and said:
God: So Science was the child right? Is that how you describe electricity?
Science: Yes my Lord! Electricity is the flow of electrons. Children are taught in school how atoms are made of positively charged protons, neutrally charged neutrons – both together constitute the nucleus, and negatively charged electrons. The size and structure of the atom has indeed fascinated man for he never imagined that these building blocks that he calls atoms are actually vast empty spaces with very very little ‘matter’ in it! To understand the size, man relates the atom to a chapel and says if the nucleus containing the protons and neutrons were the size of a pea in the centre of a chapel, the electrons are spinning at dizzying speeds near the outer wall of the chapel and everything in between is nothing but empty space!
God: Hmmm… Man is in awe of your revelations… I know…
Science: Yes God! And when he discovered that these electrons can ‘move’ from one atom to another, he was thrilled. Needless to say, today electricity is very important for all of mankind’s activities. From a simple electric bulb to give him light, to the more complicated machinery he uses, flow of electrons has become a necessity for life!
God: And how do these electrons begin to move? Does man know??
Science: When a wire or any conductor moves through a magnetic field, the conductor’s electrons experience a force. It’s this force that causes the electrons to flow as a current. If you allow electrons to move through a wire, they will create a magnetic field around the wire. Similarly, if you move a magnet near a wire, the magnetic field will cause electrons in the wire to move.
God: (Smiled) Yet he hasn’t understood the significance of these electron exchanges!
Science: Sorry my Lord! But I myself am lost! What insight does the flow of electrons for transmitting electricity have to do with man understanding his purpose of life?
God: Each and every atom is indeed divine. Some remain rigid in a fixed lifestyle like wood. Man can use the wood to make a table or a chair, a cot or a pair of slippers but wood remains wood until it is destroyed. Many a thing is born to a nature, lives its nature and dies to its nature. But here is a copper wire – yes indeed was made copper with the said number of electrons, remains copper, and dies copper… but the copper has completely changed from the time it was born. With every electron that passed through it, it has been reborn, recreated. Every passing electron has enriched the copper’s life and that is its path to eternal life. Can man not learn to let every atom pass through him, to transform him, to recreate him? Yes! It is true he is born a man and will die a man – but what a man!!
Science: I see your point of view Lord! You want man to be a conductor and not an insulator…
God: Hmmm… Did you just say that man knows what happens around the copper wire when electricity passes through it?
Science: Yes Lord! Man knows that when electrons flow and electricity passes through the copper wire, it creates a magnetic field.
God: Science! You must have also clarified, that while permanent magnets always carry a magnetic field around it, electromagnets are temporary magnets where the magnetic field is created only when the electrons flow.
Science: Sure Lord! They know about electromagnets… they use them in everyday life!!
God: Then, don’t you see, when man can just allow every experience to pass through his life – meaning to experientially go through every moment of his life, by just letting life flow its course, he creates a magnetic field all around him. Science my child! Help man understand – it has to pass through him. Only then does it regenerate life. Every moment of life, every realization, every emotional maturity, every intellectual understanding, connectivity to every atom around happens only when the electrons pass through him! Let it pass… let it flow… keep the energy moving… keep the current on…That inner transformation as the life flows is the way to eternity, the way to renew life. The magnetic field he creates by this constant flow will attract into its fold all he cherishes in life. Let the electrons flow… let the beauty within keep reinventing itself…Everything has to change… and yet nothing really changes! The copper remains copper but the electrons continue to flow! Tell man I told him so – ‘Don’t miss yourself… and let the world not miss you!’
Written by Gita Krishna Raj | Published in infinithoughts in February 2009
When Science met God… | Segment Seven: Formula to Life | Chapter Three: Life Flows…
