For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Ephesians 2:10
On my way to my friends house yesterday, I heard about the Butterfly Effect. Just the word butterfly itself was enough to grab my attention because of their symbolism, what came next captured it. The person explained how in the 1960’s Edward Lorenz a meteorology professor found that it was virtually impossible to predict long range weather forecasting because there were too many seemingly insignificant variables and complexity in nature that become pivot points that make changes that create a much bigger consequence. Lorenz noted that nature is so complex and interconnected that a butterfly flapping its wings could begin a cascade or events that could cause a tornado or could stop one. Hence the “Butterfly Effect.”
His point was that these changes can be so small, they can’t be tracked and so it makes outcomes inherently unpredictable. Mathematicians coined it the “chaos theory”. Lorenz’s original thought that began with the study of weather patterns turned into studies into every area where there can be cause and effect, including human nature and how our personal actions bring about indirect effects into play. Do we ever consider how what we say and do can have a cascading effect on others and their lives? Or are we so self-centered do we not only consider it, but worse, we don’t care how what we say and do affects others.
By the way, I had a wonderful visit with my friends, and in conversation he told me he was experiencing times of overwhelming anxiety that was causing physical issues. Then he remembered when I had preached about placing our hands over our hearts and patting our chests gently singing Jesus Loves Me. He did that and he experienced a calm and peace and his anxiety disappeared. What a beautiful example of the “Butterfly Effect” and a reminder of how what we say and do does affect others.
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