Albert Einstein is probably most famous for his formula of relativity presented in his 1905 paper, “On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies.” I am included in the millions of people who can recite his formula, E=mc2, (energy and mass are equivalent and transmutable)—whatever that means.

Knowing that I am mathematically challenged, I dare venture using Einstein’s theory as an illustration. As it has been explained to me, things that are the same don’t remain the same even though they appear to be the same. In other words, if we were able to travel faster than the speed of light and we held a yardstick in our hand, the yardstick would become longer. We would not be able to tell that the yardstick was longer, because we would also become longer at the same rate as the yardstick. The difference can only be observed mathematically. Or could we possibly say from God’s point of view?

The law of relativity also applies to the act of giving. How does one measure one’s gift? Traveling at the speed of life, how does one know how much to give to ensure its proper value in God’s eyes?

It is obvious that our standards of measurement are relative. The disciples were confused when Jesus declared that the value of the widow’s mite slipped into the treasury far exceeded the value of the bags of coins poured in by the Pharisees. So how does a Pharisee know the relative value of a gift? She or he only knows through a personal partnership with God.

Gary Burns is the Lake Union Conference communication director.