Roman Opalka died on August 6th, leaving a legacy of longing. Opalka, a painter who yearned for infinity, spent the last 46 years of his life in painting numbers on canvases. He painted numbers all the way from 1 to 5,500,000.
Why? Infinity intrigued him, drawing him irresistibly to its pulsating fascination. He yearned to get as close to infinity as he possibly could.
Some may think Roman Opalka's enterprise was silly, some may think it was admirable. But Roman Opalka was expressing the same longing for infinity that all of us have. Sometimes a beautiful piece of music arouses the yearning for infinity - sometimes it's a lovely landscape - sometimes it's a well-written book. But all human beings possess that same longing for the infinite, the perfect, the beautiful - a desire placed in human hearts by the infinite, perfect, beautiful Creator.
