Okay, so, science.
I’m not very good at it and never have been, really. I do all right with simple scientific principles such as “don’t combine baking soda with vinegar unless you want a volcano” and “plant a seed in the right kind of dirt, give it the right amount of water and sun, and it will grow”. I even find basic science (as in the really basic kind) pretty interesting sometimes.
It can also be pretty funny now and then, as in the video above. One hamster is running in a wheel that’s lying down. The challenge for poor little Puffy (or whatever his name is) is that the ground is spinning beneath his feet. Puffy is running in place as fast as he can, in order to keep from being spun off into oblivion.
Then, Muffy comes walking along, and she sees Puffy running for his life. She thinks, “Hey, that looks like fun”, so she climbs in and starts running, too. The two of them run together for a little while, until, WHOAH, Muffy can’t keep up and gets plastered to the outer wall of the wheel as she goes helplessly spinning around and around.
Eventually, she gets back to her feet, and she joins Puffy, who is still running. Now they’re both running in place, until, YIKES, Muffy loses it again, and then spins into Puffy, causing him to lose it too.
Okay, so here’s the point: I hate to ruin a fun, cute little video (it has hamsters, for pete’s sake), but there are tons of spiritual implications in this for us, as well.
You and I have all had times when we felt like Puffy and Muffy, being spun around against our will and out of our control. Somehow, we get our feet back under us, and then, BAM!, it happens again. We’re spinning.
Sometimes, it’s because we don’t stay as close to the center as we should.
There are times in every mom’s spiritual life when she feels like she’s this close to losing it. Like she’s running as fast as she can and can barely keep up. And sometimes, no matter how fast she runs, she will get swept off her feet and spun out of control.
But it’s a lot less likely to happen if she’s staying close to the center.
It has to do with force—the scientific kind of force. Whether you’re a hamster on a wheel or a kid on a merry-go-round at the park, the most stable place to be is right at the center. As you leave the center and get closer to the edge, the forces are greater. You’re much more likely to get ripped off the edge of a crazily spinning merry-go-round than you are off the center.
Spiritually speaking, you’re a lot less likely to get swept away when you’re staying close to Jesus. When you’re clinging to Him, it’s a lot harder for Satan or circumstances to fling you into out-of-control-ness.
So what are you doing to make sure you’re running in the center of the bowl? You don’t want to fall, and you don’t want to take anyone down with you, as poor Muffy did, just because you failed to do what you knew you were supposed to do—to stay center.
Stay center, moms. It’s more than science. It’s good spiritual practice.
Psalm 63:8—My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me. (ESV)