Out of Sync

Someone re-posted this video of 32 metronomes that all start out of sync but end up affecting each other so that they eventually achieve synchronization. It's a pretty interesting watch so here you go:

This is nothing particularly new or mind-blowing, but I appreciate science and watching this made my gears turn. Like any bored individual might, I browsed through the comments (the video I watched was posted to iO9). Watching this video reminded me instantly of the idea of "groupthink." One comment from "science4thewin" stated simply, "order from disorder without the interaction of a 'god.'" Of course, I have some disagreements with this comment. After some careful consideration, here is what I'm sure will come across as a rambling response.

First, I do believe God has interacted and continues to interact with Creation. That said, my question was, "Does our Creator interact with us with the intention of achieving synchronization?" My immediate and, I think, final answer is a solid NO. Just as the Creator is infinitely creative, so is Creation. Creation is not just a noun, it is also a verb (I would argue that the latter is the more important). Creation didn't just happen, it is happening. The Creator didn't finish the work to resign and wait for us to fall into synchronization. This is a process referred to as "locking" by the engineers of the Millenium Bridge in London. Here's a video of what happened when it opened.

Because of the way the bridge behaved, the pedestrians changed the way they walked which ended with thousands of people walking in a side-to-side motion that made the bridge sway significantly. We often react to what surrounds us and, like the metronomes or the people on the bridge, we lock in with each other and fall in sync with each other. However, I would argue that in our actions and in my life as a Christian, we have something that metronomes don't have. Free will. Unlike metronomes and crowds on bridges and planets and entire galaxies, our actions are not always dictated by the physical laws of our world. This is another way in which the creature/creation conflicts with itself. We are created to live beyond the laws of physics and nature, but we are also of this world and, thus, we often apply these laws to our metaphysical existence.

Here's an example. When it comes to peace, we often are so confounded in how to achieve it that we comply with the laws of physics and instead of equity, we settle for sameness. For the same reason that our finite-ness leads to us applying physical law to the non-physical, we apply the same laws to each other. Take any utopian/dystopian novel or story. Think Brave New World, The Giver, or "Harrison Bergeron." In each story, the characters' lives are dictated by rules that intend to equalize every citizen of their world (all except, of course, the people making those rules). It is completely involuntary and it always takes some kind of crisis event for one or more individuals in these worlds to overcome this oppressive equality. Sometimes, it overwhelms them altogether.

Order certainly has it's place and I am not proposing that Christians should "go against the current" just for the sake of being different. However, we have the right, privilege, and duty in many cases to exercise our will. I have a deep appreciation for the physical Creation that so often orders itself through synchronization, gravity, natural selection, and other such forces. But we are called to operate beyond these forces. We advocate for the weak and systematically disadvantaged; we strive to defy the impossibilities of yesterday; we urge ourselves not to "conform but to be transformed."

The metronomes have no will. They can't choose to be out of sync. Even the last one on the right in the second row eventually succumbs to the pendulum swing. We can choose to act instead of react. The example I choose to follow is that set by Jesus. He is the ultimate interaction between our Creator and Creation. Not just the interaction of "a 'god,'" but of the God.

Dios Bendiga

For the majority of the past week I was in Campeche, Mexico with Living Waters for the World on a mission to teach local residents how to properly use the water filtration system and clean water. The small group we went with was comprised of my pastor, a member of our church, my roommate, and myself. This was my first real mission trip. I have done alternative breaks and the like, but never a real mission trip. Going into it, I wasn't sure what to expect at all. I had common images of what one would refer to as a "village" in my mind. I remember wondering if I should even wear my simple daily jewelry for fear of both seeming out of touch and of losing it. The hotel we where we stayed had all the basic commodities, wi-fi included. The city itself was as nice as any (and somewhat nicer) than the ones close to me here in Mississippi. The way that the country of Campeche is arranged geographically, most of the higher SES population is found in the lower elevations closer to the water. The higher up you go into the hills, the poorer the residents. Our partner church was right outside the heart of the historic downtown area and, like our hotel, was not very unlike any other here in the U.S.

The water that the new filtration system will produce will be used to serve those who live near this church as well as the mission churches they have planted in the hills for the poorer populations. In this kind of set-up, we don't serve as a drop off service but, instead, we strive to create and maintain relationships with our friends in Mexico. We are a part of a ripple effect that helps other help themselves and those who have even less than they.

On the way back from our trip, our pastor asked us to consider what it meant to both be a blessing and to be blessed so that we could share that with our church this Sunday. On the plane ride I wrote down a few of my thought and I wanted to share some of them here.

Although I could see our positive impact we made, I don't feel like I would go so far as to call myself or my presence in this trip a "blessing." I mostly just hope that I was in some way a vessel of God's love for the world. I spent most of the trip feeling incredibly insufficient and incompetent. My Spanish is limited at best so communication was no simple task. Had it not been for our wonderful translator, teaching the daily lessons would have been impossible. That said, we soon found other ways to communicate. My roommate and I brushed up on the Spanish we learned in our undergrad years and managed to hold brief conversations. We connected through music, kindness, laughter, and food. Especially through food.

And that's where we switched from "being a blessing" to "being blessed." I was blessed by every act of generosity and patience, both of which were more than hourly occurrences. I have never met such hospitable and gracious people in my life. They constantly told us how grateful they were for us and for our service, but it was me who was grateful. Despite our lack of language skills, we were met with compassion and love and kindness to a degree that I rarely experience in my day-to-day life. Whether I was a blessing or not, the Spirit of God was undeniably present throughout our trip. I am convinced, now more than ever, that we are all truly created in the image of God. And for that, I feel deeply blessed.

P.S. Pictures to come soon!