Scientists recognize the unpredictability of nature,
And have been trying to make sense of it.
Even the most seemingly simple events
Are governed by this unpredictability.
When and where will bubbles appear
In a pot of boiling water? What patterns will be made
By the smoke of a lit cigarette?
How does the position of water molecules
At the top of a waterfall relate
To their eventual position at the bottom?
God might just as well have taken all
Those water molecules under the table
And shuffled them personally.
The new science of chaos is attempting
To predict the unpredictable
Through intricate mathematical models.
In the classic example,
A butterfly flutters its wings in Texas
And there is a typhoon in Tokyo six days later.
The connection may not seem obvious, but it exists.
That little change of air pressure
Caused by the butterfly
Can get multiplied and magnified,
Resulting in a tornado.
But it can never be entirely predicted.
That’s why weather forecasters seem to be wrong
So often, and why any forecast longer
Than about forty-eight hours away is unreliable.
Yet among all the possible occurrences in the world,
Weather is more predictable
Than just about anything else.
What this says on a spiritual level is that
We can never really know
What direction life will take,
What changes those small butterfly-flutters
Of intention and action might cause in our destiny.
At the same time, it also tells us
That we can never really truly know the mind of God.
We can never fully understand
The how, where, and when of anything,
Even something as simple as boiling water.
We have to surrender to uncertainty,
While appreciating its intricate beauty.
