Humpty Dumpty (Kid Stuff)

Webster’s defines entropy as “a state of disorder or disorganization, or a hypothetical tendency toward such a state.”  The second law of thermodynamics states that an isolated system’s entropy never decreases.  In other words, when measured mathematically, the greater the disorder, the higher the numerical number, the higher the entropy.  Now, my IQ has a real hard time grasping all that but it is able to latch onto the Humpty Dumpty example:  Hold an egg in your hand and the egg exists in a state of low entropy.  Drop the egg, and once the shell impacts the floor, the state of entropy expands significantly.  And here’s the point: once entropy starts to expand, it is difficult to contain, much less reverse.  In plain English, it’s really hard to put Humpty back together again. 

And so here I sit in the still of the moment.  Alone with myself assessing the “state of affairs” and thinking of entropy of all things.  Because The Chase, at least as I know it, perfectly reflects that egg that has become such a muddle on the kitchen floor.  And much like that king with all of his horses and all of his men, the task at hand is to put good ol’ Humpty back together again – minus the resources.  Some pieces of the puzzle fit nicely together, much like two adjoining pieces of shell.  But the yellow and white pose larger issues as they slowly seep between the floor boards.

“Impossible” reverberates in the silence.  Unthinkable, impractical, unfeasible, nonviable, and unworkable play off the walls of the mind and progressively quiet into the distance.  Entropy returns.  Humpty as well.  And he has a lesson to share – along with that ever deteriorating mess on the floor.  He queries, “If you never attempt the impossible, how will you ever know how far you can really go?”

He’s become a friend.

Link:  Impossible (Psalms and Prayers)