Ever since I came across him as a sixth former one of my heroes has been Blaise Pascal (1623-1662).
He is without doubt one of the world’s great geniuses in mathematics, physics, philosophy, theology and more.
He is best known for his “Pensées” thoughts, some just a single sentence, others several pages long.
He intended them for a major work commending the Christian faith, but died before he could write it.
Many are nevertheless remembered, 19 in my dictionary of quotations.
One has come back to me during the period of lockdown and shielding: “All the misfortune of men comes from one thing, that they do not know how to remain at ease in a room.”
Pascal was convinced that we are constantly looking for distractions in order to avoid having to face our real selves, let alone God. What would he have made of our modern world where every second is filled with noise and activity, leaving no time for reflection and peace?
A somewhat similar thought troubled W H Davies 200 years later, “What is this life, if full of care, we have no time to stand and stare?” And I recall much later still Archbishop Michael Ramsey inviting students to consider what was most important in our lives.
If we could not devote 10 minutes to it every day, shouldn’t we look for something which does merit such devotion? Perhaps the present threat is calling us to search.
Colin James is an Honorary Priest at All Saints’ Church, Wokingham, writing on behalf of Churches Together in Wokingham
