You may have come across “Chaos Theory”, and in particular its most famous illustration, the “Butterfly Effect.” This suggests that there is a connection between a butterfly flapping its wings in New Mexico and a tornado in China several weeks later. It has been argued that the flapping of wings, which creates a miniscule change in the patterns of air pressure around the butterfly itself (obviously), contributes directly either to the existence of the eventual tornado (an air-pressure-related-weather-event) or, at the very least, to the path that such a tornado might take around the world. It should be noted that others have disputed these claims, and still others have observed that popular culture has misunderstood and misrepresented the ideas – so I’m not going to attempt to explain any further, lest I mislead people! However, underpinning the concept is the fact that our physical world operates on a cause-and-effect model in which the interconnectedness is incomprehensibly complex. A small action here or there in order to achieve a particular short-term and localised goal might well have side-effects we might not anticipate in the wider world and in the longer term. Allow me to illustrate with a couple of non-weather examples…
You will all have heard of the giant technology firm, Microsoft. From time to time, their experts identify issues which need resolution and they update their software to improve things for the users. This is clearly good. However, many of us will have had first-hand experience of turning the computer on following a “Windows 10” update to discover that some things just don’t work the same way anymore. I have found that Windows updates have sometimes severed the established connections between my PC and my network drive. This is the computer equivalent of the painter-decorator you’ve employed to decorate your house arbitrarily deciding to change the locks too!
A second example might be J.B. Priestley’s excellent play, “An Inspector Calls” in which each person at the Birling family’s dinner party is shown to have some connection with a woman called Eva Smith, and, more importantly, some liability for her suicide. Their motivations were certainly not murderous and their actions towards Eva might have been understandable and even justifiable from within their own frames of reference, but on a wider plane and in conjunction with the effects of other actions not their own, they have resulted in a bigger storm – and the death of a young woman.
A flap of a butterfly wing may not actually create a tornado, but the interconnectedness of our world and the people who live upon it are worth bearing in mind when we make decisions of how we should act and what we should say. We will never know the full impact of our words and deeds upon the lives of the people with whom we share our planet. However, God calls us to love our neighbour as ourselves and in case we are in any doubt about it, the Bible explains that love is entirely other-person-focussed. This is perhaps best expressed in Jesus’ own words, “Greater love has no one than this; to lay down their life for their friends” and his own subsequent practising what he preached. Love is deliberate, not accidental. Love is careful, not neglectful. When you flap your wings, do so in love…
May God help you to love your neighbour well.