It’s been one of those seasons the last few days. As I prepared for the Dodge Society Founding Member event to unveil our new donor wall on Sunday, the air conditioning in the Parish Hall conked out, one of the chandeliers went dark, and a light fixture right in front of the display burned out. It felt like an embodiment of Murphy’s law – if something can go wrong, it will! That’s not entirely fair or accurate, but it can certainly feel that way. Many of us know that sensation from other experiences.
For example, we often complain about a slower car on days we’re trying to get somewhere on time. You may have even said something like, “It’s always when you have some place to be!” I know I have. That’s not exactly a true statement, but it feels true, in part, because of how our brains work. We humans tend to remember negative things better than positive things. It’s a survival tool, to a certain degree. We also tend to hold on to events that reinforce some preconceived notion of reality. I play a card game with my kids, and we always notice when a ten follows a jack, not because it changes the game in any way, but because it’s become something a person points out – and is confirmed periodically enough that it reinforces the statement that “a ten often follows a jack!” To be fair, so do other cards in the deck, but we aren’t looking for those.
If something feels like bad luck, we also tend to feel it and remember it, whereas good fortune doesn’t register. Probably because so many things would be considered good luck if we were weighing them against the worst possible outcome, which thankfully we don’t do most of the time. We also know that we forget the routine parts of our lives, the parts that tend to go well most of the time. I can’t recall all the countless trips I’ve taken without a flat tire or a dead battery, but I can recall the trips where I had to deal with those hurdles.
Murphy’s law is an Air Force term that began with a quote by Captain Edward Murphy Jr. In 1949, engineers wired every sensor on a test pilot backward before a test, preventing them from collecting any data on that flight. Realizing the mistakes after the test, Murphy essentially said, “If something can go wrong, it will.” Another officer coined the phrase Murphy’s Law at a later press conference, explaining how the Air Force would put systems in place to prevent such mistakes. I’m guessing that those systems still don’t prevent all mistakes, but it at least introduced a program to help avoid them. The popular phrase has had lots of variants over the decades, and it has created humorous add-ons, like the one that says, “Murphy was an optimist!”
We want to be careful with this mindset when it comes to our spiritual life and our faith in God. We can more easily remember the times when prayers didn’t seem to be answered, or when things didn’t go our way, and assume God is to blame. That’s not a fair assessment, however, especially if we’re not keeping score of all the prayers that are answered, and all the blessings of this life. If God is responsible for one outcome, isn’t God responsible for all of them? When we speak of God’s abundance, it includes the mercies we overlook so easily, like waking up every morning, having enough to eat, living in a beautiful place, or the health of a loved one. When any of those things go wrong, it can make us feel like God doesn’t care or doesn’t respond, but that’s not entirely fair or productive.
Fortunately, we live under God’s Law, not Murphy’s Law. God’s Law represents the truth of God’s love for us and the abundant blessings that make up most of our lives. Even those who suffer and go without can find blessings to give thanks for. Sometimes those who have the most going for them have the hardest time seeing God’s goodness! There is always blessing, and often so much that we could scarcely quantify it if we tried. We may be hard-wired to remember the things that go wrong, but we can train ourselves to remember God’s goodness, and praise God for God’s never-failing love for us.
Despite the trials on Sunday afternoon, we were able to change light bulbs in the hallway; the other five chandeliers provided enough light for the reception, and we got the air conditioning repaired (on Monday). All was well, and we had a lovely and powerful event to celebrate our legacy society. I don’t think I will remember the little hiccups in a few weeks, but I will remember the presence of the Holy Spirit and the goodness of God evident in the stewardship of those we were there to remember and celebrate. I guess that just figures, what with God’s Law and all.
