For Want...

I just finished A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L’ Engle, which is the second book in her time travel quintet. In the novel she quotes from

the proverb For want of a Nail. In the book it is used to show how a microscopic creature can affect the fate of the universe, and is the impetus for much of what takes place. Here is the proverb:

For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

This is a proverb that I have been ruminating on as I begin the New Year. The idea relayed by the proverb- that my seemingly minute attitudes, beliefs, and actions could have catastrophic or constructive effects on my life. The idea in physics known as chaos theory or the butterfly effect viz., that all events are linked and affected by initial conditions.

Proverbs 4:23, Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

Happy New Year!