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Algebra Lessons of Life

Unbuttoning What Has Been Buttoned

After the review lesson on special products followed the factoring of polynomials. This section taught me a lot. What we have done, we must be able to undo. The computer has an undo key. We can always untie our shoelaces. Undoing something is an expression of mastery. In life, if we are anywhere near mastery of our selves, we must know how to undo what we do. Forgiveness is factoring a special product, to use an analogy.

There are many things in life that can never be undone, though. Death, for example. We cannot undo death. And why should we undo death? It's part of being human. Even if I had the power to undo death, I still wouldn't undo it. Another thing that we cannot undo is the past. We cannot undo the past. We cannot click a button or perform a "factoring operation" to restore it to its original state. "What is past is past" and "Let bygones be bygones" are favorite expressions because they are so true. The only way to go is forward. There's no turning back.

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