Winter is a cruel season. I don't like the cold and snow and sleet and mess, as anyone who reads these posts will know. But, that is not all the bad news winter packs into its months.
Yesterday, we dealt with humid, rising air, fueling instability and being developed by an advancing pressure gradient. We got towering super cells. These storms rose up to 12 miles into the atmosphere, hurling all the energy and vapor stored in that vertical column down to earth with savage glee.
The storm giants attacked yesterday. And their advance stretched from the coast of Louisiana to the remnants of the North Woods in Maine. In February, over 1800 miles of America pretended it was August, and watched tornadoes and straight line winds thrown by the storm giants topple the small toys of man. As in any attack, there were casualties. Though, I cannot report that we slew any of the storm giants.
This is rather melodramatic way to say that there is not rhyme or reason to the various pitfalls of life. There are clear connections to choices and actions, you reap what you sow. But, this is a remorseless world and life. Regardless of choices and actions, this life can be over in an instant. That is a terrible and sobering reality.
Many take the approach that given the random suddenness by which "this" can all be over, we should wring every ounce of "this" out of "this" that we can. I am not sure what that means, or how that circular logic works. The people that argue with me about God, sight our mighty science as proof of their theories. Being somewhat well versed in the science, I always ask the simple question, in the understanding of science, is energy eternal? Do you at least accept that there is something eternal in the Universe?
Many of us will remember from our foggy time in some laboratory/classroom in school, the 3 laws of thermodynamics (probably not, but assuming you all do makes me feel less like a nerd). For those that do not: 1. Energy can neither be created nor destroyed. 2. The entropy of a closed system always increases. 3. The entropy of a system approaches a constant number as the temperature of a system approaches absolute zero.
In reverse order, #3 entropy (the chaos or waste product energy or messiness of your house) stops changing as the temperature (available difference in energy between the system and outside or the difference in cleanliness levels of your living room and garage) approaches absolute zero (as low as you can go). That is a practical truth we all know, if the living room is not clean, the crap will end up in the garage. If the living room and garage are both clean at the same time, they tend to stay clean.
#2 entropy (messiness) increases in a closed system (your house). I don't think I need to discuss this one, as I do not know anyone that does not need to routinely clean their house, whether they do it or not, the need (entropy) always increases.
#1 energy (stuff) can neither be created nor destroyed. There is a finite amount of stuff. It can be in the living room or the garage, or it can go away from the house and increase the amount of stuff outside the house. But, stuff never, ever goes away. It just changes location. Like those relatives that you don't like to have visiting when company comes over. That is stuff, energy.
So, if it can neither be created nor destroyed, it can only change location, (and intrinsic value, that lamp I set on the curb because it is ugly, ends up in someone else's stuff as a prized treasure) doesn't that mean it is eternal? If you are not into God, that statement is that just before the Big Bang micro instant, at absolute zero, the temperature (difference in messiness between the proverbial infinitely small dot and the indescribably large nothing) was zero, but there was a huge amount of energy (stuff) in the closed system. Because stuff cannot be destroyed, when the messiness in the infinitely small dot reached infinity (all that there is) entropy happened in the indescribably large nothing. Big Bang.
I just gave you a very concise primer for Newtonian physics all based on how much I dislike cleaning my house. (Thank you Katrina, BTW, for everything.) I don't subscribe to this theory of the universe as an explanation, though I concede that the designer of the universe did input these parameters for us. They do not bind Him, He is ultimately in and is the Matrix. Lord, I am nerding out this morning, please get me back on track.
But, energy, us, our soul, our life force, our us"ness" is eternal. Newtonian Law, as amplified and better applied by Einstein, says so. It can't be created or destroyed. It exists forever and has forever. That statement is important. I have, often in my life, been referred to as an old soul. Less often now that my body is reaching old, but back in the day, it happened alot. I think we all are old souls. I have science on my side to prove it.
The problem with thunderstorms, tornados, straight line winds, lightning, are not that they exist, it is that they can convert your life energy from you, like you are right now, to the you that you are in the presence of God. Big Bang. You do not cease, you change state. I do and I don't want to go through that process. I am not seeking help because I want to end my life, but I take Paul seriously in the Bible, and concur, I really want to be in the presence of God, praising and glorifying Him, just like I was designed to do. The thought of being in that state does not scare me. However, I don't think I want to ride lightning to get there. If that makes sense, if any of this makes sense.
I do not fear storms, really never have. I respect their strength and fury. I find the storm giants interesting and entertaining to watch. I truly enjoy being witness to the power of the world around me. I am a science geek and always have been. It entrances me to watch what simple evaporated sea water in the warm waters of the Carribean and Gulf, can do and produce in North Carolina. Something that has almost zero substance, weight, almost indescribably small, water vapor, becomes a force that overcomes even the best engineering of man, thousands of miles from where it originates.
I had science teachers that were romantics and story tellers. I include my grandfather in that. I don't know where, or when, he discovered the weather engine description, but he did, and he told it to me as I sat on the porch, in that metal swing with him, watching lightning dance and wind blow. It was incredible to see and experience.
Yesterday was tragic for many. I don't take any glory or delight in the destruction that was caused. I just don't worry about those folks that are tragically lost. They are where they were created to be, and science says so. You don't even have to believe in the Bible. I suppose you could refuse to believe in the Bible, and refuse to believe in the empirically derived laws of science. You could deny them both and live as a lawless and meaningless dot that is bound by and to nothing. That is a sad, sad life and I choose not to contemplate that.
I am happy I did not get called home. I will be happy to be there, but going like that kind of scares me. It has to hurt like crazy. I am happy that no one I know, at least as far as I know, got called home by the storm. I was a sailor for a long time. You appreciate, respect and always pay attention to the weather. It is a force that you are not equipped to defeat, only to ride out and avoid as much as you can. On land, that is harder. You are kind of where you are.
It was windy here. We lost some branches. But, we did not see the violent weather that others experienced. Our entropy did not increase significantly. For that I am thankful to the Big Guy, who ordered and set in motion the Big Bang, and controls everyone's final Big Bang. If for no other reason, that is sufficient to find joy in the rainbow. It is no longer windy here, but it will not stay calm.
The world is a gigantic house that always needs cleaning, and we dirty it up crazy fast. Too much stuff in one place, and it has to go somewhere. It is science, as organized and set in motion by God. For that, I am also thankful. We made the mess, caused the need for these Newtonian Laws. We get smarter about the nit noids, and dumber about the big picture. That part is sad, regardless of the rainbow.
I think about that every time it gets windy, and I try to clean up my mess. I hope and pray that you will too.
GLYASDI
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