“Sheesh, Rector. I didn’t open the church newsletter for a lesson in the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Yet that is the headline you just threw at me. Stay in your lane, rector, and leave the science to people who know what they’re talking about.”
So, that headline IS the Second Law of Thermodynamics, but it is also a profoundly biblical truth. Everything in this fallen universe is infected with its own death and decay. It’s harsh, I know, but it’s the law. Blame Adam and Eve if you want to skirt responsibility; blame yourself if you’re more humble and honest.
Last night Gelind and I experienced a sad reminder of this. We went to a concert by the pop-folk duo, the Indigo Girls, at UAB’s excellent Alys Stephens Center. We’ve been fans of the duo for decades and are contemporaries in age. And yet, we were not expecting a night of unfiltered joy. A few days ago we watched a harrowing video on YouTube in which one the Indigo Girls, Emily, talked about the onset of an incurable and degenerative neurological condition which is severely debilitating her singing.
We didn’t really know what to expect from the band, given this solemn news. But within a few bars of their opening song it was clear that Emily’s distinctive and powerful voice had been savaged by her illness. We were deeply moved by her willingness to simply get onstage and perform for the fans with the painful realization that her singing was a shadow of its former glory. Professionalism and humility, hand-in-hand. We were also lifted by the love of the audience who shouted out their gratitude to Emily and sang with her those songs where her voice was normally dominant.
So we came away from the concert with very mixed feelings. The heaviest was the sadness that this will almost certainly be the last tour the Indigo Girls will undertake. The world will be deprived of a great performer. All things move towards chaos, and in Emily’s frailty we saw our own inevitable physical and mental decline.
But in the solemnity of our post-concert drive home we also admired the band’s humble acceptance of reality, their willingness to perform in their weakness, and their trust that their fans would still love them and would carry them through the experience. You see, the Second Law of Thermodynamics is not the only force at work in the universe. There’s another, more glorious law. It’s the law of resurrection.
The same divine power that raised Christ from the dead is at work right now – even in our own lives. It gives us the priceless perspective of seeing decline as the gateway to peaceful acceptance that in Christ all things are working together for the good of those who love him.