the backdrop

All meaning requires context, does it not? Yes, it's a basic idea in Philosophy 101, but let's not dismiss it as "elementary, my dear."

Context can take the shape of the "other" - the necessary backdrop for comparison. One's self, and an 'other'.

The ultimate backdrop of meaning is the finite and the infinite. That's the reflection of meaning that leads us to look to God. But the finite can't really even think infinite, just as we [in time] can not comprehend an eternity that has no time. I can think of it only in terms of time - a looooooong time, for example, which is what we usually mean when we speak of eternity. . . .

How is it, then, that we see glimpses of the infinite all around us, and know immediately what it is, even as we know we can not know it? It's a mystery. . . . A common one, perhaps, but mystery nonetheless.

I think it's a good thing to think about every now and again, especially upon waking up in the middle of the night.