Chemistry

I never completed my minor in chemistry.  I completed four classes in two years.  I have no idea how I got that far.  I think I wanted to prove that I could master something difficult once in my life.  But, when I finally realized that I would not become an expert in four years of undergraduate work, I left off the journey, deciding to replace the study of microscopic collisions for the more enjoyable and visceral collision of ball and pins at Alex Alleys on Friday afternoons.  Can you blame me?

I'll say this, though:  I have not stopped in any way trying to figure out how things work, how this affects that.  In fact, I'm back to the slow, methodical work of hypothesis and experimentation, of arduous note taking and occasional exam.  I want to learn the system, the system of relationships.  And the system teaches me this:  the laws of chemistry are an excellent basis for building a theory about God and humanity.  

There are three laws of chemistry particularly worth noting:

1.  In any system, conservation of energy is always sought.  Systems demand homeostasis.  This  is not damnable in itself, but is so given the second law ...

2. ... that all life includes friction and the dissolution of energy, what we call entropy.  Entropy acknowledges that without some kind of outside, generating force, things run down.  Because of entropy (i.e. - stress), all things begin to lock themselves up, which leads to the third law ...

3.  ... that even if a system has no generating source, it will resist becoming entirely inflexible ... that is, becoming frozen.  I would call this grace, that only by God's involvement do we resist becoming entirely frozen in the friction of our sins.

But what is really attracting my attention is how the basic assumption of chemistry - that reality is determined by how individual components react and are affected by one another - also holds true for human relationships.  I have been rereading Edwin H. Friedman's work Generation to Generation again, and he emphasizes this "systems" approach to life.  Friedman's work is particularly interested in how family systems influence pastoral work and relationships.  If you're looking for a foundational work on family systems, though, your best bet is probably The Eight Concepts of Bowen Theory by Roberta Gilbert.  Or, you can go right to the source and read Murray Bowen's Family Therapy in Clinical Practice.  Good luck with that.

Wes