Physics and Relationships

³ Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, ⁴ not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.  – Philippians 2:3~4

In high school, one of my teachers told us that physics was a tough subject. So when I entered college to take up engineering, I was apprehensive as to how I would cope with the subject. I survived my fourth year physics, but I thought that college physics should be a lot more difficult. I was afraid yet determined.

After a few classes, I gradually realized that there were already formula that would guide us students in solving problems. So the real challenge for me was to keep this bunch of formula and equations from jumping out of my head during the exams, and to know when to apply these. Fortunately for me, I found a way to make my life easier. I forced myself to love physics and I backed it up with lots of hard work. Yes, it was a shotgun marriage, but it worked!

I knew of some students who would grimace when they heard the word ‘physics’ and make a puke gesture. I can understand that. But now let me tell you why I like physics. Physics is simply beautiful. Once I got over the common cliché attached to it like ‘hard’ and ‘difficult’, I saw a world of matter and energy interacting ‘perfectly’ with one another. It's beautiful because it attempts to explain this ‘perfect’ interaction, an interaction made ‘perfect’ by God Himself.

Once a phenomenon is fully understood, the theory used to explain and predict it is elevated to a higher status called laws. Some of the famous laws are Newton’s laws, Einstein’s laws, Thermodynamic laws, etc. As a rule, a law should hold through in any and every conditions and circumstances.

Our interaction, our relationship with each other is also governed by laws that if followed will lead to great relationship. Fortunately for us, we don’t have to have an IQ similar to Einstein, Newton, etc. to discover these. All we have to do is to open the book of God, the Bible.

Take for example these words taken from the book of Philippians:

           Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.

Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.             

Put it simply: For a relationship to work, everyone involved should stay humble, unselfish and look after the best interest of the other first. The model, to me, should look like a circular chain with each link supporting the other.

This is quite contrary to what is practiced by many people today. This should explain why our world is what it is right now. We are globally interconnected by the internet, but there’s no sense of global brotherhood and unity. Even in the confines of our homes, this holds true sometimes.

It’s about time to put God’s way into practice. What was spoken 2000 years ago still holds true today. Let us start with our own home, and our own community. This is quite a daunting challenge, but with God’s grace nothing is impossible! God doesn't intend for us to do it alone, but we have to start with ourselves.