Einstein and Life by Ps Michael Podhaczky

This week I read an interview with Albert Einstien in a newspaper article from 1929. It was called “What Life Means to Einstien.”[1] It was a general interview regarding Einstein’s view of his life and times. We may have varying opinions of Albert Einstien, from awe to the negative. Regardless he has been written about from every angle, so it was nice to read some of his own words.

He said that he loved studying and teaching physics. However, he also enjoyed music especially playing his violin as his wife played the piano. He relished sailing his sailboat that he built. He delights in thinking in four dimensions, even if it is only abstractly. One of his great passions though was spending time alone in his attic thinking about “practical solutions to technical problems.”[2] He was quite shy, so this suited him, and his wife respected his space.

When asked by Viereck, the interviewer, “To what extent are you influenced by Christianity?”[3] he replied by saying,

“As a child, I received instruction both in the Bible and in the Talmud. I am a Jew, but I am enthralled by the luminous figure of the Nazarene.

Viereck then asked about a book that was written at the time about Jesus. Einstien commented that,

“Its shallow, Jesus is too colossal for the pen of phrasemongers, however artful. No man can dispose of Christianity with a bon mot (a witty remark).”[4]

Einstien was then asked if he accepted the historical Jesus. To which he replied,

“Unquestionably. No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulses in every work. No myth is filled with such life… No man can deny the fact that Jesus existed, nor that his sayings are beautiful.”[5]

Unmistakably having read the Gospels, Einstien revered Jesus Christ beyond the limitation to mere words. He believed that Jesus really did exist. However, we have no proof that he believed in Jesus as his saviour. This is something better left between him and God. But, I would like to close with one of his concluding statements that we could learn something from,

“I am happy because I want nothing from anyone. I do not care for money. Decorations, titles or distinctions mean nothing to me. I do not crave praise. The only thing that gives me pleasure, apart from my work, my violin and my sailboat, is the appreciation of my fellow workers.”[6]

Pause in His presence for a moment and think this over…

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[1] Viereck, George Sylvester. “What Life Means to Einstein: An Interview by George Sylvester Viereck.” The Saturday Evening Post October 26, 1929.

[2] Viereck, George Sylvester. “What Life Means to Einstein,” 113.

[3] Viereck, George Sylvester. “What Life Means to Einstein,” 117.

[4] Viereck, George Sylvester. “What Life Means to Einstein,” 117.

[5] Viereck, George Sylvester. “What Life Means to Einstein,” 117.

[6] Viereck, George Sylvester. “What Life Means to Einstein,” 117.