Beyond the Clouds by Fr. Jacob Nampudakam, S.A.C. | Page 7
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Airplanes have fascinated me since childhood. As a young boy, I dreamed of
flying one day; so many fantasies provoked from that white machine soaring
several kilometers above the ground! As God is far more generous in giving
than we are in asking, I have had the opportunity to fly around the world,
covering as many as 50 countries until today. That little boy has become a
frequent flyer!
For quite some time, I have had the desire to write a book of my own, as my
office demands so much of writing conferences, homilies, and articles. I also
have to give many talks on numerous occasions, all to diverse audiences. Such
frequent communications- verbal and written- form certain common themes,
convictions, and values in us. I have wished to share them in a systematic way
with others, especially with those who will come after me. In other words, I
would like to leave behind my footprints so the future generations will come to
know what I believed in and cared for.
Certain factors have decisively influenced my life, be they the sciences I
studied, or personal experiences of my own. I studied mathematics, and I love
this exact science. The concept of infinity is an important one in this field.
The human mind will find it hard to visualize infinity; the universe is
infinite, how can we conceptualize it? Our Founder, St. Vincent Pallotti,
experienced
God as infinite love and mercy. That, perhaps, is easier to understand. It is a
love “greater than anything we can imagine; it reaches beyond any sin with
which our conscience may charge us. His is an infinite love, one that knows no
bounds” (Pope Francis). This is the nature of God Himself.
Another discipline that I have studied is the Philosophy of Science. So
interesting are the questions of scientific progresses, technological
developments, and their impacts on the human person and his environment.
Science and technology: proud innovations of the human mind. If left
7