God Arises
The Life We Seek
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circumstances and environment, they begin to fill
the inner vacuum from wrong sources.
In his early youth, philosopher Betrand Russell was
fervently religious and regularly used to pray. In
those days, his grandfather once asked him what
his favorite prayer was. “I am tired of life and
succumbing under the yoke of my sins,” was young
Russell’s reply.
At that time, Russell worshipped God. But when he
reached the age of twelve he gave up this practice.
The company he kept, being predominantly
antipathetic towards religious traditions and age-
old values, turned Russell’s mind away from these
things. He died an atheist, having devoted the latter
part of his life to mathematics and philosophy. In
1959, Russell was interviewed on the BBC by John
Freeman, who asked him whether his enthusiasm
for mathematics and philosophy had proved a
satisfactory substitute for religious sentiments. “Yes
indeed,” Russell replied. “By the time I was forty, I
have reached the stage of fulfillment which,
according to Plato, one is able to receive from
mathematics. The world I lived in was an eternal
