Physics and me

This is a funny joke. Trust me.

Let's be honest, I don't remember much about high school science; I was much more of a music/history/English nerd. I remember Mr. Adams allowing us to use a 3x5 index card of formulas on physics tests and his endless stories about the boat he was restoring. I remember my graphing calculator coming in handy on the AP Chemistry exam and Mrs. Dyer going through tons of overhead acetates as she calculated molarities (but heck if I remember what molarity is!).

I do remember the second law of thermodynamics because I'm pretty sure it describes life perfectly.

What? You never had a second law of thermodynamics epiphany and need me to recap? OK, but just this once. Pay attention please.*

I'm really only talking about an aspect of thermodynamics here, something called entropy. Entropy has to do with energy and heat and complex physics-type thingies, but (at the risk of over-simplifying) what it all boils down to is that, unless acted upon by an outside force, the universe tends toward chaos.

Finally, an explanation for my bedroom! And my car, and my desk at work, and my, um, life.

I tend toward chaos. We tend toward chaos. Jokes about messiness aside (although, since that's the title and theme of my blog/life, I'm not so sure it's a joke) I see this "law" at work in my relationships, my teaching, my health and fitness, my spiritual life . . . if I don't live with intentionality and purpose, I'm going to slowly drift into laziness and stagnation and end up further from my goals than when I started.

People (me, too!) like to believe that wonderful things will happen to us magically. We call it coincidence, fate, destiny, serendipity, luck, or a thousand other names. But we're really saying is that we don't want to have to work for what we want - one day, we'll just wake up speaking Chinese fluently, or weighing 50 pounds less, or able to run a marathon, or creating an effective and interesting writing curriculum. We (me, too!) are lying to ourselves.

It's a harsh but realistic truth: We rarely just stumble into something good. Growth - be it personal, spiritual, emotional - takes work. Work is hard. Work sometimes sucks. It takes time and effort and can be a long and arduous process. It forces us to acknowledge our weaknesses and confront them and then make intentional decisions about what to do to overcome them. We can't cop out when we live this way - we have to face truths about ourselves that we would prefer to avoid.

I hope no one thinks I'm talking about legalism or earning grace or seeking perfection. As I've said before, we don't have to be good at everything. But I do think we are called to live lives of purpose and focus and make the best of what we've been given. Churchy types call this good stewardship, and non-churchy types might just call this being a "good person," but the goal - not to waste what we've been entrusted with - deserves our attention. We shouldn't let our raw material go to waste.

Are you waiting for the good news? I think this is the good news. :) I think God's empowered us to make decisions and take responsibility for ourselves. I think that's a pretty amazing (and perhaps intimidating) opportunity.

Those are my post-Thanksgiving ponderings. I would love to hear some of your thoughts as you chow down on leftover turkey and never-stuffing-always-cornbread-dressing.

Have a great weekend!

*I am not a scientist. I do, however, watch the Big Bang Theory on a semi-regular basis, and am therefore more than qualified to explain complicated scientific concepts. Plus I googled it.