Rube Goldberg

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction — Newton's Third Law

Newton’s Law makes the Rube Goldberg device possible. It would be great if it applied to people. Sadly, it only works in the realm of physics. Even knowing the laws of physics, it took Honda 607 takes to get everything to work right in the commercial. People are even less predictable. Granted if you punch someone in the face, you are somewhat likely to have the equal and opposite reaction of receiving a punch to the face. Aside from knee jerk reactions, there’s no way it could apply to people, could it?

Tom, my boss, was asking every employee for their opinion of his new haircut. It was his typical haircut. No one would have likely noticed it aside from his queries. As any good employees might, we decided to tell him it was a little short on the right side (even though it wasn't). As expected, he grew increasingly concerned. We figured we’d let him off the hook before the day ended. However he surprised us all by disappearing for half an hour and returning with a much shorter hair cut.

So what was the equal and opposite reaction to what we had intended as a good-natured joke? We employees spent the day setting up a prank that, if properly executed, would have us all laughing together with Tom when we let him off the hook. In our failure, we felt bad for making him get a second haircut. Tom was upset that he needed a new haircut and a little embarrassed that he’d been wandering about with a supposedly off-kilter coiffure most of the day.

It goes much further than that though. Our customers suffered for half an hour while we covered for Tom’s absence. Some might have left angry. A hairstylist missed out on a paying customer fixing a mistake that didn’t really exist. The stylist who originally cut Tom’s hair might have been reprimanded. Some  long-haired customer likely waited an extra fifteen minutes during Tom's second haircut. Perhaps that customer was late for an appointment . . . and on it might go, like the ripples after someone tosses a bunch of stones into a lake.

What would have happened if we’d told Tom his hair made him look just like David Hasselhoff instead? Honestly, I’m not going to speculate on every path of joy he might have spread. Let’s just say that Tom was a very emotional leader and we would have all been getting proverbial pats on the back. No one would have gone home and kicked the dog after work.

I have a friend in the T-shirt business. He created a shirt that read, “I’m for the Separation of Church and Hate.” At first glance I found the shirt offensive—not because I’m a fan of hate, but because someone would think that the church is. If you’re spreading hate in the name of Christ, then you need to read your Bible a few more times. When you find the part that says God hates you or where Jesus preached a message of intolerance, feel free to email it to me—I apparently skipped that part more than once. I realized after I thought about it, I’m for the separation of church and hate as well.

Almost everyone knows that Jesus said if someone strikes you, turn the other cheek. (Luke 6:29). Did he literally mean that you should let someone beat you senseless? I doubt it. What if he simply meant for you to snuff the equal and opposite reaction? The second half of Luke 6:29 reads, “If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them.”

Huh, if we responded to anger with love, how would that work? What would happen if:

• When someone is having a bad day, we gave them a pat on the back instead of insulting them?
• We spread love and encouragement to anyone we can?
• We bite our tongues instead of saying something negative?
• If someone attacks us, we respond with kindness?
• We did a better job pulling pranks on our boss?

I wonder what the equal and opposite reaction of that might be?

Hebrews 12:15 Make sure no one misses out on God's wonderful kindness. Don't let anyone become bitter and cause trouble for the rest of you.