St George's Cathedral, Cape Town

The Butterfly Effect

Editorial in the Cape Times, 12 April 2006, by the Very Reverend Rowan Smith

No doubt you have read of the theory of butterfly effect which seems to suggest that a butterfly, flapping its wings in Brazil, can effect a storm in far off Asia. The idea seems to be preposterous but not to the African mind if we take ubuntu seriously, our inter-relatedness. The rising and dominating individualism in our present culture is an import which runs counter to the African concept that I am because you are – or, as the poet John Donne put it, "no one is an island", we are all inter-connected. Thus to claim that "as long as it does not hurt anyone else" as some do in their defence is false because we are all part of one body.

The recent reports in the media around the rape trial of Mr Zuma, the murder of children at school or at home, the civil violence in Iraq and Iran, for example, are not events simply for recording but reflect on the fabric of all human life. So too does the rape of the world's resources by the "developed" nations, the corruption in corporate boardrooms and the abuse of human rights by various democratic governments. We appear to be growing cold and indifferent to the plight of others and are not able to see that "every person's death diminishes me". In part it is due to our age-old weakness, some Christian traditions refer to it as our "fallen nature", that is our inability to take responsibility for our actions. We need to blame someone else, we need to find a scapegoat. When, in the opening chapters of the book Genesis, God asks the man the question:

"Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?"

He responds, "The woman whom you gave me to be with me gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate."

The woman, you may recall, replies in similar vein: "The serpent tricked me, and I ate." And, as some wag has said, "The serpent had no leg to stand on."

Our inability to take responsibility for ourselves when we are caught out seems to be part of our genes. "It was the skirt she wore". "It was the alcohol I took", "I was under pressure at home."” We are all afraid of admitting our wrongful behaviour or, to put it into context, unable to say "I have sinned." Sin is a refusal to love, if to love is to will the good of the other.

Thus in our Christian understanding the God who created us in the beginning for love has to take the initiative to restore our fallen nature by showing us that our true humanity; our true nature of being who we are can only be accomplished through love. But this love comes at a cost, that is through the self-emptying of God in Jesus the Christ. From the crib to the cross we are confronted with the cost of love to the extent that Christ takes upon himself our sin and becomes the scapegoat, the bearer of our sins.

The death of this one man is like the butterfly effect by releasing life through death and embracing all the violence and pain of our world. The Cross is in itself the victory. This is what makes the pain of our present world bearable, not by denying it, but by embracing it and allowing ourselves to be transformed by this amazing love we are offered. We cannot enter into this mystery nor plunge the depths of this love until we too are, like the Crucified One, are stripped naked so that we are able to embrace our true humanity alongside all who suffer today. How different our world would be if those who exercise power over the lives of others could see themselves and all persons made in the image of God and so encounter God in the poor and vulnerable. The Cross proclaims that evil and death are not the victors, rather love which conquers their power and new life is born like the butterfly coming forth from the cocoon. Every experience of forgiveness and reconciliation is an experience of resurrection and new life. Every Easter proclaims the Risen Christ through whom hope is reborn and God's amazing love experienced in Good Friday leading us forth to life each day.

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