Faithfulness

Gravity is more mysterious than we give it credit for.  Simply because we have given an observable and predictable phenomenon a particular name does not mean we have thoroughly understood it.  The tether that pulls on the falling pencil off the desk towards the center of the earth is at least invisible and, as far as we know, not electromagnetic – but it is there and it is pulling.  Should you be inclined to doubt the existence of it, I do not recommend testing your doubts by flinging yourself off of the nearest building.  Nonetheless, it is gravity – or at least not merely gravity in an ultimate, final, and fundamental sense that keeps the world spinning; and lest you are compelled to propose another law of physics, namely momentum, then you have still made a category error.  It is not physics at all; it is metaphysical.  And in order to dispel yet another proposition, though this time in the proper category, it is not money that makes the world go around.  It is faithfulness.  Yes, it is as simple and as mysterious as that.  Yes, I do mean that is the faithfulness of hard-working father that gets up before dawn to train his body physically and to pray for his family, and then shows up on time to work so that his slothfulness or apathy does not cause a whole cascade of deficiencies both at home and at work.  When he is at work and at home prepared to do his necessary duties, it is his routine faithfulness that has led to the capacity to fulfill these duties well and that does not leave someone without a fixed engine, or a neglected diagnosis, or a clogged sewer, or worst of all, a dirty diaper.  It is the faithfulness of preparation and execution of men and women that does not leave tasks, both necessary and beneficial, undone and serves their neighbors.  Yes, I do mean just that.  But I also mean something truer, deeper, and more mysterious.  It is faithfulness that keeps the earth spinning.  It is faithfulness that keeps your protons from repelling one another, and you, to oblivion, though they are all tightly packed positive charged lumped together in each nucleus of every atom in your body.  Call it the ‘strong nuclear force’ if you want – you haven’t explained it, and you’ve barely waved your hand at it.  It is faithfulness that brings the rain in season.  It is faithfulness that causes the sun to rise each day and the stars to return to their course each year.  It is the faithfulness of one who didn’t fling himself off of a precipice, and also in whom all things hold together, that will lead us home.