sun and shadows

i just read this article by the director of the institute for figuring, margaret wertheim. ( i love the name of the institute!)
it is a science and mathematics education organization. the article was titled "sun rises and shadows shrink", printed in the seattle post intelligencer june 21st, 2007. in the article she says nothing can go faster than light except the absence of light - like a shadow. she writes that "according to relativity, no physical substance can exceed the speed of light because it would take infinite energy to accelerate anything to such a velocity. yet the laws of physics pertain only to that which is. that which is not, is not bound by relativity's restraint. from the point of view of relativity, a shadow ( having no mass) is a non-thing, an existential void. .....shadows suggest the limits of all classification schemes, a tension that even modern science cannot compeletly resolve." ms wertheim notes that prior to the invention of clocks, shadows were the most important means for telling time. "weightless and without energy, shadows can nonetheless convey information - though they cannot be used for faster than light communication." she says this is the case because shadows cannot be detected until light arrives.

i also read an article on dark energy. it was by another woman scientist, meg urry, chair of the department of physics at yale. (yeah women in science!) so dark energy makes up 2/3 of the universe and it is called dark because scientists have no clue what exactly it is and because there is no way to directly see it. it is there but unknown and it is apparently speeding up the expansion of the universe.

wertheim writes that the scientific corolary might be light is that which "nothing" is faster than. it could also be said that god is that which nothing is greater than.

hmmmmm!

here's to the light and the dark on this solstice.

otherwise these thoughts are illuminating to me of late:
"extravagant forgiveness"
job description: "wake up!"
motivation: "is it true, is it kind, is it necessary?"

here's some light refractions and reflections that i've been working on:


more news and views on the axis of oh my goodness wings after we return from montreal - performing for cirque du soleil at the mont-tremblant chalet!

here's some pics of us goofing on the beach after our recent shows on long island:

wings' journey

so the wings landed at a class of kindergarteners in north carolina and a girl scout troup in georgia!
here's the "tell me something good' part of the latter stop written by laura green, ashley's mom:

Ashley belongs to a Girl Scout troop of 11 girls: mixed ages and races. They get along so well and have a great time together. I
am the new leader as of this fall and a parent asked us to "adopt" a friend's son who was stationed in Iraq w/ the Marines...25 yrs old., no girlfriend or signifigant other etc., and in need of some "attention". We gladly accepted and Josh became a member of our troop immediately. We took a full color picture of him mounted on foam core with us everywhere, taking pictures along the way to send to him. The girls became completely aware of the war through this process...touching each one of them (and the parents) in a unique way. We sent him numerous pictures and several care packages and he, in turn, sent us a US flag w/ a certificate of authenticity that it flew over the base in honor of our troop. Wow! What an honor. The girls were able to meet him when he returned home in late March where they received so much appreciation for everything they did for him and his platoon (he shared everything we sent!). Ashley's wish for the "wings of peace" is that all the troops in Iraq would come home soon and come home safely. Each girl has a "flower of power" on the wings w/ their name on it as a wish for peace...and lots of smiles.

today i watched the movie "gandhi" and am reminded what thoughtful vision and hope can do. i attended a talk on deepening our spiritual journey. the speaker used the image of a larger circle with a smaller circle inside it to represent "our reality". the larger circle he called our "circle of concern". the smaller inner central circle was called the "circle of influence". he said we often get all wrapped up in the circle of concern and because we can't do alot about that area, it becomes the circle of impotence. so the goal is to focus on the circle of influence. i love the way the ashley's troop used their circle of influence to support one soldier while still holding the larger circle of concern in mind - bring all the soldiers home. beautiful!

more wing journey's soon!