“Did you know
that there once existed a
single man who,
more than a century ago,
MADE ONE MOVE …
that still dramatically
affects how you live
today?”
Andy Andrews asks us that
question in The Butterfly Effect.
He’s referring to a
hypothesis presented in 1963 by Edward Lorenz, mathematician and meteorologist:
“A butterfly could flap its wings and
set molecules of air in motion, which would move other molecules of air, in
turn moving more molecules of air—eventually capable of starting a hurricane on
the other side of the planet” (Andy Andrews, The Butterfly Effect).
In the early 1990s, physics professors
around the world proved Lorenz’s hypothesis was accurate and is now known as The Law of Sensitive Dependence Upon Initial
Conditions.
But the butterfly effect is about
more than butterfly wings!
Andrews describes it this way:
“Science has shown the butterfly effect
to engage with the first movement of any
form of matter—including people.”
Andrews provides an example through the
story of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, a young, inexperienced Colonel in the
Union Army who, in Gettysburg on July 2, 1863, led his men against one fierce
rebel charge after another.
After surviving the day’s fifth brutal charge, Chamberlain and his men braced for a sixth—and even bigger—rebel
charge.
Only 80 of Chamberlain’s
300 men remained.
Three sergeants huddled at
Chamberlain’s feet, yelling, “Do something! Give an order!”
But what could Chamberlain do? His men had run out of ammunition.
He stood on a wall at the top of a
hill, watching the approaching Confederate soldiers. Then he turned and ordered
his men,
“Fix bayonets! … Fix your bayonets
now!”
Knowing he faced overwhelming odds, Chamberlain
led his men downhill, ripping his sword left and right.
Within ten minutes, Chamberlain had
captured a Confederate captain, and his eighty
exhausted, broken remnant of men—with no ammunition—had captured over four hundred rebel soldiers.
According to Andrews, historians
believe that (1) had Chamberlain not charged on that particular day, rebels
would have won at Gettysburg; (2) the South would have won the war; (3)
possibly the U.S. would be two nations, the Union and the Confederacy; or
(4) the U.S. would look more like Europe, divided into as many as thirteen
nations.
Andrews goes on:
“Which means: When Hitler swept across
Europe … had Chamberlain not charged on that afternoon so long ago, there would
not have existed a United States of America to stand in the breach.”
When Hirohito invaded the South
Pacific, “there would not have been a country big enough, strong enough,
wealthy enough, and populous enough to fight and win two wars on two fronts at
the same time.
“The United States of America exists as
it does today because of a single man: One thirty-four year old … and one move
he made more than a century ago.
“Don’t
you see? Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain is a human example of the butterfly
effect. One man who made one move whose effects still ripple through your life
today.” (Andy Andrews, The Butterfly
Effect; emphasis mine).
Did you catch that?
What young Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain
chose to do on July 2, 1863,
rippled throughout the generations
and still ripples through your life today.
Think about people whose lives still
ripple through your life today—
a soldier, doctor, policeman,
a grandparent, teacher, missionary,
a stranger, singer, preacher,
even people from generations past:
maybe a nation’s leader, a spiritual
leader,
an explorer, scientist, inventor.
Who were they? What did they do? How
did their choices and actions impact yours?
Take time—make time—to discover the ways God has gone before you, preparing
for and carrying out the plans He has for you (Jeremiah 29:11, Psalm 139:
15-16). Notice the ways God has used people in the past to bless, protect, and lead
you according to His purposes for your life.
And then: Write your
stories!
Flutter your butterfly
wings. Your children and grandchildren need to
know about those people.
“There are generations
yet unborn
whose very lives will be
shifted and shaped
by the moves you make
and the actions you take
today.…”
(Andy Andrews)
