Fractals and the Shape of Our Christian Lives

Fractals and the Shape of Our Christian Lives

Guest Writers Steve and Sally Harms

snowflake

Have you ever come across the concept of fractals? These are never-ending geometric patterns that exhibit self-similarity. One excellent example online is the Sierpiński carpet — a simple square divided into smaller and smaller squares that endlessly repeat the same design (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sierpinski-carpet.gif#/media/File:Sierpinski-carpet.gif). If you watch the video, you’ll notice the endless repetition. Fractals are prevalent in nature, appearing in forms such as snowflakes, trees, river systems, coastlines, and even mountains. A mountain is shaped the way it is because it is composed of similarly shaped rocks, which are made of pebbles, which are made of sand, and finally, molecules. Fractals are widely used in science. Our ability to stream Netflix is due to compression algorithms that use fractal-based techniques.

In Chaos: Making a New Science, James Gleick explains how fractals help us make sense of what seems chaotic, such as weather. Early radar gave scientists vast amounts of information, but prediction didn’t improve until computers could model the patterns of small, local changes. The key to understanding the big picture lay in the details of the small things.

carpet

Just as the minutiae of weather reveal larger storms, Jesus teaches that the details of our inner lives reveal broader patterns of righteousness or sin. In Matthew 5, He takes the commandment “Do not murder” and breaks it down into its smallest components: “But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment” (Matthew 5:21-22). Murder doesn’t emerge spontaneously; it begins with the “fractal seed” of anger, which can evolve into contempt and erupt in destructive action.

Our personalities are like fractals. Small emotions grow into attitudes, which form habits, and those habits shape the pattern of our lives. That’s why Jesus emphasizes the urgency of reconciliation: “If you are presenting your gift at the altar and remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there… First, go and be reconciled” (Matthew 5: 23–24).

An Olympic athlete achieves victory not through a single grand gesture but through countless daily trainings that align with their overarching objective. Similarly, a Christian life is not merely a Sunday profession of faith but a consistent pattern of years, days, hours, and minutes lived faithfully. Each moment embodies the larger framework of discipleship.

Recently, we have seen public figures and institutions targeted by violence fueled by divisive rhetoric. These tragedies are a reminder of Jesus’ teaching that sin begins not with the final act but with the seed of anger and contempt. Jesus teaches us that violence starts with a thought, then a word, then an attitude — small steps that, if unchecked, spiral outward until they erupt into destructive action.

This is why we begin with prayer, as Psalm 80:19 urges us to seek restoration and for God’s face to shine upon us, leading to salvation. The psalmists teach us to bring both grief and hope to God. Naaman’s story reminds us that healing and grace come through humility and obedience, not through status or power (as depicted in 2 Kings 5). Paul writes that the true Christian life is not about pride but about walking in the humility of the cross (as expressed in 1 Corinthians 4). Furthermore, Jesus emphasizes that worship and reconciliation are inseparable.

Where do we need reconciliation today? In our hearts, in fractured relationships, or within our community of faith? The shape of our lives, like a fractal, is formed by the smallest details. May we let God’s light shine in those details so that our lives, our words, and our society reflect His restoring love.

 Steve and Sally Harms

Medicine has taught us that small things matter: a tiny pill can improve our lives, and likewise, our thoughts can shape our character. With each Morning Reflection we write—and each one we read from other gifted contributors—we gain fresh insights and continue to deepen our understanding. For this gift, we are deeply grateful to God and to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. This piece was posted on Monday, September 22, 2025, as St. Paul’s Episcopal Church’s daily Morning Reflection.

Joanna  joannaseibert.com

Spiritual Friends Again

Gerald May III: Spiritual Friends

dok installation 2019

“At the deepest level of our hearts, we are all aching for one another and for the same eternally loving One who calls us. I think it would be well if we acknowledged this more often to one another.”—Gerald G. May in Will and Spirit (HarperOne, 1982), p. 321.

dok installation 2026

In Will and Spirit, Gerald May writes that we should not undertake the spiritual journey alone, regardless of our traditions. May quotes Kenneth Leech, who opens his book on spiritual direction, Soul Friend (Harper & Row, 1980), with the Celtic saying: “Anyone without a soul friend is a body without a head.” A spiritual friend or guide does not give directions but points the way—someone who knows something of the terrain from having traveled it. Such a guide can say, “I think there may be trouble over there; perhaps try this way.”

Professional training or qualifications of a director, counselor, or friend are far less important than the fundamental qualities of primary positive intent, humility (not presuming to know more than one knows), and willingness (commitment to traveling a rough road and allowing guidance to come from God rather than trying to engineer it); and responding simply and directly to the needs of others as they are presented.

May cautions us that if we expect to be spiritual friends by learning discernment techniques and applying them to others, the outcome will be a blind sales pitch or a slightly pastoralized psychotherapy. He describes psychology as seeking to help a person solve the problems of living, whereas spiritual direction deepens the Question of life itself.

Joanna.   https://www.joannaseibert.com/

The Lens Through Which We See the World and Each Other

 The Lens Through Which We See

“If you wear glasses, you often forget they’re even there! Only when you take the lenses off do you realize how much your capacity to see is shaped by the lens through which you see, or as Richard Rohr often says, ‘How we see is what we see.’”—Cynthia Bourgeault in The Shape of God: Deepening the Mystery of the Trinity (CAC, 2004), disc 2. 

Here, Cynthia uses an analogy to teach us about the Trinity, and we can also apply it to everyday life. If you or the spiritual friends you meet wear glasses, try this exercise:

Take off your glasses. Try to see at a distance or read a passage of text. Perhaps you will “see” that what you “see” depends on the lenses of your glasses. Our lens, or how we see the world, is often filtered by our work, family, or position.

We might experience a need for prestige, a desire for money, control, or power, a longing to be in the spotlight or to be successful, or an obsession with beauty, clothes, food, another person, alcohol, drugs, or other addictions. We must wear sunglasses when the world or the sun is too bright. Sometimes, if we are depressed or grieving, we may indeed see the world through dark glasses.

Meditation, prayer, and meeting with spiritual friends can help us find the prescription for the lenses we use to view our family, friends, enemies, and the world. We learn to take those glasses off and are led inward to see the light, the Christ within ourselves, and the Christ within our neighbor.

We begin to see ourselves, the world, and others through the lens of the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, forbearance (patience), kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).

Joanna  https://www.joannaseibert.com/