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A Perpetual Instruction in Cause and Effect

A few months ago I was skiing on a beautiful snowy day with my good friends. All was going well, and the skiing was amazing. My friends and I decided we should go to the terrain park since we had skied most of the powder runs earlier that day. 

"Week A - Revision Skis Rail Jam" by Camp of Champions is licensed with CC BY 2.0.
To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

As we arrived at the top of the terrain park, I had a decision to make. Should I go on the big rail to the left or the little jump to the right? At that moment, I made a rash decision and decided to go on the big rail. Immediately, as I jumped on the rail, I knew I had made a mistake. The rail was unexpectedly slippery. I tottered for half a second before flying back and landing on my shoulder, hard. I felt a sharp crack and knew something was broken. Fast forward to the radiologist’s office;, they told me that this was no sprain, but a large crack through my humerus. My poor choice to go on the rail, even though I knew it was probably unwise, created a deleterious effect on my body and life for the next two months. 

We become more thoughtful about our decisions when we experience the side effects of poor decision-making. Breaking my arm allowed me to see the full potential of cause and effect and how it can change lives for better or worse. The Bible also illustrates cause and effect in the book of Galatians chapter 6, verse 7, when Paul wrote, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” Paul understood that the kind of seeds you plant in the ground are important, and what you do with the seed after it has been planted. If we choose to nourish the seeds we plant we will see the fruits of our labor. Sometimes we forget we are in charge of our lives. We can choose our path, and we can choose our outcome.

Ultimately, although we may experience challenges, it's fully up to us to how we react to those difficult things. If we nourish the seeds we plant, many good things can arise from it. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Cause and effect, means and end, seed and fruit cannot be severed. Life is a perpetual instruction in cause and effect.”

Josh


Comments

  1. Lindsey PMay 18, 2021 at 11:04 AM

    What do you think are some examples in our society of us failing to see cause and effect? Or us avoiding cause and effect, and then the consequences of that? I'd love some youth insight in teaching my younger kids.

    ReplyDelete

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