The Physics of Faith

One of my favorite podcasts is also a weekly TV show: StarTalk with Neil deGrasse Tyson. Now that I have both the National Geographic Channel and a DVR, I can watch the show (hooray!), though I’ll keep listening to the podcasts because I’m reasonably sure that more of the main interviews is included there than on the TV show.

Tyson’s guest this week was high-wire artist Philippe Petit, best known for his traverse of the space between the tops of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City in 1974. Their conversation included much talk of the physics of balance, especially concerning the 26-foot pole we all recognize as a tool of the trade. The pole serves as an extension of the artist’s arms, allowing him/her to recover from missteps and (in the case of heights and depths) wind gusts by counterbalancing the fall. These poles bend downward but do not go below the wire, which means that the center of gravity is still within the artist’s body; poles do not prevent falls but do make them less likely…at least in the hands of a skilled user. I’d probably fall using one while walking on flat ground, but that’s because I’m a klutz who has been known to trip over thin air, as well as ramps up and down, curbs, leaves, and my own toes.

Tyson then used a cork, a screw, and two forks to demonstrate the principle at work in the pole. He inserted the screw into one end of the cork and then stuck the tines of the two forks, concave side down, opposite each other into the sides of the cork. Anyone who ever played the game  Tip-It will know the concept: the whole thing will balance evenly on head of the screw on your finger if the forks are placed properly, but if they are offset, one side will be higher than the other. Enough difference and there will be no way to balance it at all. The key is that the handles of the forks need to hang below the cork, lowering the center of gravity, for the balance to be even. If the forks are hanging correctly, the cork will always be balanced.

So why don’t high-wire artists use poles that bend below the level of the wire? Because such a pole would essentially anchor them in place. They would not be able to shift their weight from foot to foot in order to take steps because the pole itself anchors them down.

This got me thinking about religion and faith.

First let me define the difference:

Religion, I think, is the imposition of someone else’s understanding of the Divine on your conscience. Religion has laws and rules, dogma and doctrine, that are designed to circumscribe communities and exclude those who do not “fit.” Religion at its worst discourages questioning and doubts by having clear-cut, zero-shades-of-gray answers to every problem of life. 

Faith, I think, is one’s individual understanding of the Divine developed individually and in community with others who have similar thoughts and feelings about the Divine. There may be loose definitions that set a permeable community boundary, but few are excluded…and the few that are excluded generally have behaved in ways that threaten the safety of the gathered community rather than because of what they believe. Faith at its best encourages questioning in the midst of doubts and has multiple answers to every problem of life.

I am, to coin a phrase, “Faithful but not religious.” (Apologies to the “spiritual but not religious” crowd; I did claim that for a while, but it’s not quite enough to describe my relationship with God.)

Life is a high-wire act. We are all one misstep or unexpected gust of wind away from catastrophe. We all know people who are walking life’s high wire without any kind of pole at all. Some of us may have been that person in our younger days, or are now but know it’s not sustainable for the long-term. We likely all know people who are walking life’s high wire with the kind of pole that takes the center of gravity below the wire, anchoring them to one place on the wire. Maybe some of us are that person, or were in an earlier part of life. And I’m sure we all know people who use the pole that the pros use to keep and recover balance but not to anchor them to the wire. My contention is that we should all aim to be the last kind of high-wire artist of life.

The folks who traverse life’s high-wire without any kind of pole either don’t last long or figure out fast that they need something to help balance them. Drugs, alcohol, and other addictive substances and behaviors might at first look like the supple professional poles, but can quickly become those heavy, drooping poles that anchor wire walkers to a very, very thin wire with frayed ends (an entirely different kind of challenge and one often not realized until that wire breaks). Meditation, therapy, properly prescribed medications, exercise, and civic involvement are all supple poles that do not take away the challenges of life but help people maintain and recover balance.

Those who walk the high-wire of life with the heavy pole of religion are stuck in place. I have worked with people who are so anchored to one place on the high wire that not only are they stuck in place, their eyes and hearts are focused on their feet to the point that they cannot acknowledge any other point on the wire. Any idea about God that does not match their own, any interpretation of the Bible or a theological point that isn’t exactly their understanding, any choice of behavior that doesn’t line up with their expectations—all are challenges will be met with obstinate resistance as they stand in their one place, anchored by religion. This heavy pole often prevents them from reaching for other resources such as therapy and medication when needed, or burdens them in such a way that becoming involved in communities other than the religious base is impossible. The hardest part about this thinking is that the “right” answer may not solve the problem and that heavy pole may break, resulting in a painful fall from that seemingly secure anchorage. The physics of religion does not allow for improvisation and uncertainty. Religion is Newtonian: it may answer some questions well, but it falls well short of answering all the questions. (To put it philosophically, religion is absolute.)

In contrast, those who walk with the supple pole of faith can respond to challenges nimbly. Faith allows us to engage for understanding without the necessity for agreement. Faith gives us the courage to accept that one person’s answers don’t have to be the answers for anyone else; I may choose to jump over an obstacle on my high-wire while you might decide to step around the same one on your wire and someone else may kick it off his or her wire and all three are legitimate ways to resolve the problem. The supple pole of faith gives us access to many ways to maintain and regain balance because we are not locked in to a single answer or source…and sometimes, we need to be able to swap out supple poles (or add length to the one we love) to keep going on that high-wire because sometimes, God isn’t enough. Sometimes, we do need therapy or medication or meditation. Sometimes we need to be involved in the community outside our faith. The physics of faith is all about improvisation and uncertainty. Faith is quantum: it has answers to all the questions, but most answers are unknowable until the question gets asked and the answer may not be the same each time the question gets asked. (Philosophically speaking, faith is relative.)

Every high-wire walk is different, but the constant for the artist is that supple pole. The high-wire of life is different every day, but the constant for people of faith is that supple pole that is faith.

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And in other news, I'm now in with THREE school districts as a sub and have an interview with a fourth on October 5. I'm also now the TA for an amazing philosophy course at Lancaster Theological Seminary, which is an honor and a privilege. Could this be the open door to an academic career in conjunction with pastoral ministry? Who knows? I guess it depends on whether I can actually grade tests and papers as well as I can write them!