It shouldn’t be a surprise that things are stable most of the time because they are
- Free to move about to a certain extent but also
- Interlinked.
In this way creation reflects the Trinity, the creator. An atom isn’t an immutable particle, as originally conceived, but a complicated nucleus with a probability-governed blur of electrons around it. Stars and galaxies, the other end of the scale, don’t generally exist on their own but in whirling communities and the interdependence of the universe means today’s stars are the recycled remains of older ones.
Life develops because of interdependence as much as through survival of the fittest; without both together the engine of evolution doesn’t work.
So it is no surprise that the Creator is himself a Trinity (yes, language is strained), a whirling interdependent dance of Father, Son and Spirit. The dance, not the individuals in the dance, is the deep reality.
All of which explains the limits of humans (or perhaps, nations) going solo, going me first, striking out on one’s own. Interdependence in everything is slow but essential. Hillary Clinton (remember her) was fond of what she understood to be an African proverb: ‘If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far [or I would say, last enduringly] go together.’
A reflection on Trump?