Physics is broken in relationships. The truth and the word abide by no rules. They are inherently the rules themselves. Proverbs 25:15 says, “with patience a ruler MAY be persuaded and a soft tongue will break bone.”
In the physical world, soft things do generally not break hard things, but there are a few instances where soft things put up a bigger fight than expected. Flowers that grow up through concrete are one example. Water running over rock is another.
There is no new idea here. This has been written and thought about plenty. I offer no great insight, only my self-revelation. The harshness modeled to me as a young boy still lingers like a silent, deadly fart in a business meeting. Such that if I attempt to fan it away, I admit it was me.
It is clear in theory and practice that the laws of physics are broken in relationships. The laws are proved to be inadequate modes of operation. A sledgehammer is a lot of effort to break a piece of concrete, and there may be collateral damage. A river or a flower just needs time and intention.
A focused stream of water is much more effective than an inconsistent flood. The flood is much worse than the sledgehammer because the extra damage will spread wider and be severely unpredictable.
The stage of life I am in requires focused patience when hammer floods seem to make me feel much better on the inside. Outside God flooding the earth, I am not sure there is a time that hammer floods were an appropriate response.
Kellen is nine. Wow, I just started to cry when I wrote that. My son is almost ten years old. Jemma is eight. They have endured fewer hammer floods than I had to endure but more than the number of focused trickles they should have had. In some ways, it makes me think I am a terrible father. In other ways I think it makes me better than my own. I am not sure either is the best way to think about it.
This truth applies to every aspect of my life. Financially and even work. Work was my first thought, specifically the role that I play. How do you effectively work as a “COO” when the “CEO” is a concrete slab? If the proverb is true, and I think it is, then the answer is soft time.
The key ingredients are soft, focused patience. (I drew a little chart to explain this in more detail)
Again, there is nothing new here in the grand scheme of knowledge. I have discovered things long already discovered. It’s just me. It’s just a self-revelation. Growth, if ever so incremental, is good.
More than two thousand years ago, people knew these things were true. I don’t think it takes more than a few failed generations or hours to work out that honey attracts bees, and a stick gets you stung.
So, what gets me out of the less desirable situations I find myself in? Break physics. Throw the laws out the door. Grow a flower and have focused patience on that one flower. Resist the temptation to start swinging the sledge. Start a trickle and do everything possible to prevent it from becoming a flood.
Nos & Rehtaf, Dnabsuh 