The Harried Mystic

Newton’s Law of gravitation states that the attractive force between any two objects is directly proportional to their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them . [In the equation above, “G” is the gravitational constant.]

I reflect this evening on the spiritual implications of this important law.

The greater the distance between any two objects in the universe, the weaker the attraction between them. While the gravitational force is weaker than others, especially in the case of objects of small mass, I extend the law nonetheless, taking considerable poetic license, as a metaphor for effects of distances between people.

In 2009, the world is predominantly virtual. We increase physical and spiritual distance between people with increasing reliance on remote means of connecting and staying in touch.

Weakened psycho-spiritual energy among people is directly linked to our addiction to electronic community. Face to face interaction takes time and money, and so we are seeing greater reluctance to work at drawing nearer each other. We depend instead on remote conversations by teleconference or web connections as more of a substitute rather than supplement to direct dialogue.

Many are twittering and tweeting, texting  and instant messaging, when what’s really needed is greater commitment to direct contact. As a practice for spiritual development it pays to think about on how much time I spend in virtual vs face to face communications to ensure a wholesome balance.

I will apply this immediately over the next 24 hours to the work of thinking about those at a distance from me and how I might interact with them more regularly and with deeper listening. I will also keep a tracking report of how much time I set aside to have more direct face to face conversation.

In a world of mounting depersonalization, we need to practice the art of re-enchanting the human encounter, one face looking into another, to feel the force and presence of our friends, colleagues, and new acquaintances.

Inverse Square Law

© Brother Anthony Thomas and The Harried Mystic, 2009. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.