The story's told of a young schoolgirl furiously drawing--her cheek and pencil pressed to paper. Her intensity intrigued her teacher. "What are you drawing?," he inquired. Without pause, she answered, "God." Her teacher chuckled skeptically and said, "Well, no one knows what God looks like!" "Well," she replied, "they're about to!"

We all have our perceptions of God.

For some time now, I've imagined--of course, somewhat lightheartedly--God to be a mathematician, and creation to be an extraordinarily elegant and, at the same time, simple calculation. Ironic, given at once my distaste for math and my delight in God.

I can only hope he'll never assign homework.

The impression of God as a mathematician was formed years ago when I first discovered fractals. A fractal is a geometric shape that is formed by endless, proportional iterations of the selfsame shape, creating a pattern of infinite detail.

Okay, perhaps an example, would be more helpful.

Consider the cross-section of a nautilus shell. Each chamber is identical to the previous chamber, but the chambers grow proportionately smaller from the exterior to the interior of the shell. Each chamber of the nautilus reflects the very image of the whole. Fractals are evident throughout nature, not just in a nautilus shell: in a frond of a fern (try to say that one quickly); in the mountains of a range; in the branches of a tree.

Here's where it gets fascinating. A mathematician--employing the computing power of, well, a computer--can create abstract fractals by calculating a simple equation in a repeated loop. These abstract fractals can look remarkably similar to patterns and objects from nature. It can be difficult, in fact, to study images of forests, rivers, snowflakes, hurricanes, galaxies, and more, and to distinguish computer-generated fractals from actual, natural, photographs.

Mightn't be possible then that God is a mathematician and that creation brings forth seed after its own kind--a divine fractal?  

Why's it important? It's not. It's just one more way God shows up in the simplicity and complexity of creation!