Friday, April 11, 2008

Law of Universal Gravitation



Let's talk about Physics this time, my favorite subject back in highschool (yikes, nerdie!) The theory of universal gravitation was first formulated in Sir Isaac Newton's work Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (thanks Wikipedia for this info). Simply put, the theory states that every object in the universe attracts every other object with a force directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance separating them. Stated algebraically:

F = G ma*mb/r2

where:
F is the magnitude of the gravitational force between the two masses
G is the gravitational constant with a value of 6.67 x 10-II Nm2/kg2
ma is the mass of the first point mass
mb is the mass of the second point mass
r is the distance between the two point masses

A certain professor was lecturing on this topic before an engineering class when a student raised his hand and commented: "I don't think Newton's law is that universal, because it cannot be applied with God as the other object." Strengthening his argument, he continued: "Nobody has seen God and therefore His mass cannot be determined, or at least be approximated. This being so, the numerator of Newton's equation will yield zero and the force of attraction to the teaching of my religion that God loves us all very much; hence He must be attracted to us with a great force, musn't He?

The professor wanted to make his query a class assignment but he was certain that it would definitely frustrate the students so he was obliged to present his views.

The wise prof said, "Indeed, God loves us all, and while we have but only one God, He exists as God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Jesus, God the Son, was sent to earth as human being and lived as a mortal person without sin among us; therefore, His mass can somehow be approximated. Now, if God's existence as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are identical, then by the transitive property of an equation, the mass of God in Newton's formula can very well be substituted with that of Jesus', making the equation plausible this time. Pondering on the Universal Law of Gravitation, it can vividly be seen that the farther we are from Jesus, the weaker our attraction to Him becomes. As we continue to live against His plans, the lesser we are attracted to God. Surely, God does not approve of this. The option for us to be attracted to Jesus with greater or lesser force is for us to decide, but have I cleared your doubt about the law?" Without hesitation the student replied, "Yes sir, truly, God's love is universal."

So, there is a scientific basis why I should avoid the occasions and places of sins - because the nearer I put myself to it, the greater is its pull on me unless God's grace prevents me from falling into it. I must not of course presume that God's grace will be at hand always especially when I willfully put myself in danger.

It makes sense to me.


(Source: Ancilla Domini, a publication by the Contemplatives of the Two Hearts of Jesus and Mary)

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