Gravity and the Consequences of Poor Decisions

The better we understand the world, the more effectively we function in it.  Part of the duty of parents and teachers and of the broader community that supports them is to help children and youth learn about how things work so that they grow up to become productive and healthy members of the community.  If we neglect this duty, they will learn many more lessons than needed “the hard way” and will suffer as a result.  We do not want to see our children suffer, so we teach them as best we can.  God is our Loving Father, and He desires the same for us: that we grow in understanding so that we can become productive and healthy members of the Community of Love that is in Him.

One of the most fundamental things that must be learned, both by children if they are to grow into good men and women and by all of us if we are to grow into saints, is that ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES.   More specifically, we must learn that good decisions have positive consequences, and that bad decisions have negative consequences.  With children, we set up a series of punishments and rewards to teach them this fundamental truth.  These systems are largely artificial: there is no eternal connection between going to the potty and eating candy; or of finishing homework and playing video games; or of throwing a fit and loosing access to entertainment.  As adults, we set up these artificial systems to prepare children for the “real world” where the consequences of poor decisions are more brutal and damaging; and where the unyielding logic of “action and consequence” are often final. 

Our family rules may be somewhat arbitrary, but there is nothing arbitrary about the way most of the real world works.  And if you do not understand how the world works, you will get hurt and you will end up hurting the people around you, even the people you love.  We have to learn how the world works.

Take the example of gravity: it is part of the way the world works.  We can say that there are “laws of gravity”, but that is just a figure of speech.  There is no Court of Gravity; no lawyer that will plead your case when you violate it; and no judge that will consider the merit of granting you mercy for extenuating circumstances.  When we say that there are “laws of gravity” it is just another way of saying that gravity works in such and such a way; that things fall when dropped, that the speed of the drop increases with distance, and so on.  Gravity works a certain way.  We have to learn it, we have to respect it, and we have to order our lives accordingly if we want to be healthy.  Actions have consequences.  Making decisions that are in accordance with the “laws of gravity” will have positive consequences; making decisions that ignore the “laws of gravity” will have negative consequences.  That is just how the world is. [Note that I say “ignore” rather than “break” the “laws of gravity” because you cannot actually “break” the laws of gravity… they are not that kind of law.]

The study of Physics provides many such obvious examples, but the wise man realizes that there is an order to every aspect of life, and that everyone must learn of and live according to this order if they are to thrive.   Actions have consequences; if you don’t submit your plans and decisions to the way the world works, the consequences will be harmful.  Let me give some more examples from other scientific disciplines.

In economics, if you produce more of something than people want, or price it too high you will end up with extra product on your hands.  If you don’t produce enough or if you price your goods too low, you will run out of product too early.  You can call this the “law of supply and demand”, but as with the “law of gravity”, this is just shorthand: there is no economic court.  But just as in physics, if you act as if there was no order to economics, then you will hurt yourself and those around you.  You cannot pay bills from an empty account.  As with gravity, we can pretend economic reality is subjective; but not even the government can sustain such a fantasy for long.  All actions have consequences.

In biology, your body is made to function a certain way.  If you interfere with these functions, you will suffer.  For example, if you consume more calories than you burn, you will gain weight.  If you gain too much weight, then systems within your body will begin to break down.  Your body requires constant care; if you violate this “law”, you will suffer the consequences.

In sociology, there is a fundamental logic to relationships and the way they work.   If you want to sustain a relationship, then you have to understand and act in accordance to this logic.  Again, you can study this and develop “laws of marriage” just like scientists have developed the “law of gravity” and the “law of supply and demand”; but all you are really saying is that actions have consequences; and that just as a dropped ball falls, if you engage in things like pornography, gossip, extramarital flirtation, adultery, leaving the seat up, nagging, refusing to communicate, laziness, pre-marital sex, and so on, then your relationship with your spouse will suffer.  We can pretend that the “laws of marriage” are subjective; we can pretend as if we can change them or opt out of them; but the underlying reality they describe cannot be changed and the dreadful consequences of such insanity are inevitable.  [Of course there are “Marriage Courts”, but while a judge can grant a divorce or recognize a marriage, she cannot undo the years of cumulative damage done by ignorant, mean, or unbalanced people do to themselves and their spouses.]

The Logic of the Spiritual World

The spiritual world is inseparable from the physical world, and it, too, has an underlying logic that cannot be ignored.  In the spiritual world, actions have consequences just like they do in the world we see with our eyes.  Today, God is trying to teach us, His children, a little bit more about this world and how it works.

Today the Apostle Paul uses the example of violating kosher to teach us that we must always consider how our actions affect those weaker than ourselves; and that if we don’t then we will do damage to them and ourselves.   He teaches us that the strong must make allowances for the weak; and that we can often do more good through humble, generous, and loving condescension than we can by an unyielding example or even a gentle word of correction.

Christ Himself uses the Final Judgment to teach about the underlying logic of charity:  we learn that just as gravity rewards the dropped ball by pulling it to the earth; God rewards charity and love by pulling charitable and loving people closer to Him.  We learn that just as those who deny gravity will be punished with broken bones and the like; those who deny charity will also suffer the very real and inevitable consequences of their willful ignorance.

Love is the most fundamental reality there is.  Even the effects of gravity are relative: they diminish as you distance yourself from the Earth; and there are places in this world (such as in space) where dropped objects do not fall.  But there is no place that Love does not reach, and there is no way to avoid its logic.  You can deny it and pretend it does not exist; you can ignore the beggar; you can refuse to share your life and your goods with others; your can convince yourself that you are good just the way you are.  But all these things are foolish because they ignore the logic of love.  You can describe this situation in many ways.  You can say hatred, selfishness, and apathy violate the “Laws of God”; you can call God the Judge that enforces His Laws; You can say that He punishes those who refuse to love others; you can even step away from theology and use labels like “immoral”, “sinful”, or mean” to describe such hard-heartedness; but all these things are just ways of saying the same thing:

Actions have consequences. 

Brothers and sisters: live your life in love.  Give generously to the poor.  Sacrifice yourself and your pride for the person beside you.  God built the world around Love.  Live according to this Love, and the consequential blessings will be both real and eternal.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

PS  It is true that we get no lawyers when we break the laws of gravity, economics, biology, & sociology, but we do get one when we break the Law of Love:  Christ-God Himself (e.g. 1 John 2:1)! 

PPS  Approaching the question of judgment in this way shows just how shallow attacks on the morality of it are:  First, would we prefer a world based on something other than charity and love (e.g. “tooth and claw”)?  Second, (and forgive my simplicity) God has given us an automatic “get out of jail free” card in the form of His Son, if we just submit to Him and the power of His sacrificial love.  Third, those who live outside of Love and reject Christ’s offer to represent them get an eternity of exactly what they wanted - a life apart from the Love they did not want.  The last may sound harsh, but what could be more moral?!