Proper 7C (1 Kings 19:1-15a)  06/20/2010

Last weekend I was very happy to be part of the group of volunteers that represented St. John’s Church at Celebrate! West Hartford. Although the rain did dampen the turnout of people for a time on Saturday, we had a great experience and met many people – friends both new and old. And we had many fun events: drawings for gift cards; colorful wristbands; face painting; and the ever challenging “guess how many jellybeans are in the jar” contest. As I watched the people come and go from our booth, the jar of jellybeans was among the most fun to watch. Throughout the weekend, I observed many different types of people. There was the “just guess because your first thought is the right answer” person; there was “pick up the jar and shake the jellybeans” person; and there were several mathematicians of all ages, who carefully counted the jellybeans within a selected area of the jar and then carefully applied various equations to achieve their answer. And as interesting as all these approaches were to watch, my favorite jellybean guesser was a young girl, probably about 3 or 4 years old, who was perhaps just an inch or two taller than the table that held the jar of jellybeans. She approached the table with great confidence and stared intently at the looming jar of jellybeans before her. After a few moments of intense examination, I asked her if she knew how many jellybeans were in the jar and if she would like to write her guess down on the entry form. She told me that she did know how many jellybeans were in the jar, but she did not know how to write the number. I told her if she could tell me her guess, I would write the number on the paper for her. She agreed and with both hands shooting into the air she joyfully exclaimed, “my guess is infinity!” Continue reading →