In Oct. 1983, Professor of Bible Jeff Miller was walking through a college gymnasium as a 10th grader, attending a big youth event — like a version of the Tennessee Christian Teen Convention or Christ in Youth.
“So I’m walking into this Christian event in a gymnasium,” he remembers, “I’m all by myself and I dropped my Bible, and it had some church bulletins in it, and the person in line behind me stooped down to help me pick it up. We’re married today.”
Miller says he would have never met his wife, Dana, if he didn’t go to that conference and drop his Bible and his life would be very different today as a result.
This could be an example of the butterfly effect. This theory from the field of physics says a tiny shift or different decision can drastically impact the future trajectory of someone’s life.
The theory has roots in the work of Edward Lorenz, a mathematician and meteorologist from the mid-20th century. Lorenz came up with the theory while testing weather prediction data. He ran two sheets of the same data five minutes apart and found that the data sets were off by less than one-tenth of a percent. This may seem like a small difference, but that one-tenth percent is the reason we can make more long term predictions about weather today.
“The outcome was sensitive to the initial conditions,” Associate Professor Nate Wentzel, who teaches physics, said when asked about Edward Lorenz and how he made this discovery.
According to the butterfly effect, one small change, miscalculation, impact or unknown element can have big effects. “So we can’t really predict that far in advance,” said Brian Eisenback, professor of biology.
Predicting the future with certainty would require knowing every outcome or possibility, Eisenback said, and that is impossible since only God can do that.
So, what does the butterfly effect have to do with Christianity and faith?
“At the heart of the butterfly effect, it’s not just one butterfly. Everything that happens becomes more complicated,” Miller said.
The story of Ruth comes to mind for Miller as an example of a butterfly effect in the Bible. If her husband didn’t die and if her mother-in-law’s husband didn’t die, Ruth and Naomi wouldn’t have moved to Bethlehem.
“Just thinking of her genealogy, you have King David a few generations down and then Jesus several more generations down,” said Miller. Without the famine, King David wouldn’t have existed, and then neither would Jesus.
Phil Kenneson, professor of theology and philosophy, said an example of a butterfly effect in the Bible for him is the feeding of the 5,000 in the book of John.
The young boy with five loaves and two fish doesn’t look like much. There was no way to feed so many people with that. But the little boy was willing to give up his meal, and God used that to do more than anyone thought was possible.
Kenneson had a similar experience in his life where God used unexpected people to bless his life.
Both Kenneson and the young woman he was dating each had a family member pass away around the same time. “Her mother died not long before my exam in the fall semester,” said Kenneson, “I had this English teacher and he pulled me aside ahead of the final exam, and he said ‘Why don’t you not take the final exam because I know you’re grieving and the girl you’re dating is grieving.’ t It was so kind. You don’t expect for someone in high school to see you that way. To actually see you, to see you.”
Before that moment, Kenneson never thought of being a teacher. Afterwards, he wanted to be a teacher like that and never forgot the kindness that was shown to him, even after 50 years.
I’ve seen the butterfly effect at work in my life. Three years ago, I went on a mission trip to Eastern Kentucky and got to work with kids in early childhood. Through this experience, God opened doors for me to work in the church more. Now, God is leading me on a path where I’m finding part of my purpose in serving with young children. If I had never gone on that mission trip, I don’t know if I would have realized that I like working with kids and would not have gotten the experience that has led to so much good in my life. Looking back and realizing this moment as a butterfly effect was monumental in God helping me see his plan for my life. “Our lives can have sensitivity to initial conditions,” said Wentzel. One small act can spark bigger effects later in life. Wentzel said this idea of the butterfly effect can “inspire us to think about the potential power of small changes,” similar to how one dropped Bible began a love story.
Cover Photo: Butterfly hovering around royal magenta petunia flowers right outside of Sutton Hall (photo credit: Danielle Roberts)
