“Does the flap of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil set off a tornado in Texas?” is a concept made popular by scientist Edward Lorenz. It references a theory that small, seemingly insignificant changes contribute to the initial conditions and those tiny changes may, in fact, alter the course of a tornado elsewhere. The flapping wing does not cause the tornado, in the sense that it does not create that much energy; however without the flapping the initial conditions would be changed and the tornado may not exist.
Can a whisper spoken in Georgia set off a movement that changes the lives of people around the world?
Yesterday as we dialogued about finding your voice. Some people see the world’s needs, have great passion, have the skills they need for that passion, and have their head wrapped around a plan to accomplish meeting those needs. The result is a large “voice”. Most of us do not have all of that accomplished and figured out. So we are at Project Searchlight, taking the next step after a year of seeing needs and discovering passions then returning to the, “Now what?”
As we worked on our matrix I admit a bit of frustration. I recognize and feel strongly about several needs, my passions are extremely varied and I have been unable to see how to bring it together to begin looking into the needed skills and plans. This voice seems a little small.
However if you look at it from the butterfly effect perspective, even a whisper can create significant changes. Add to that the knowledge that in the hands of our God small things can exponentially multiply (the widow’s oil, the loves and fishes, the number of believers…) and the potential results is astounding.
So until that voice grows, which it will, there will be whispers and that is okay – even those will change lives.
