I Hate Entropy

I had a terrible headache when I came back from Utah/Las Vegas on Monday, and what was my solution? Go running. If I can somehow redirect the blood flow in my body away from my head to the rest of my body and alleviate all the pressure I was feeling in my skull by doing some exercise, then that's what I thought would work best. I haven't had a headache like that in a long time, and you know what? It totally worked. While on my run, I started thinking about entropy as it relates to my body, and then how it affects other parts of my life. You know that scene from A Few Good Men where Tom Cruise's character is panicked because he can't find his bat and that's what he needs to think? That's kind of what exercise has been for me. Except for team games.

Anyway, entropy is the concept that nature tends from order to disorder in isolated systems. It's part of the second law of thermodynamics. That is a very simplified version of the concept, but it explains it well enough for my purposes.

This is one of those natural laws that seems to have so much application across the board in all aspects of our lives. A simple example is your room. Over the course of a week, or a month, or however long it takes you to get around to cleaning it up, unless you exert an additional effort to tidy it up, it will tend to move toward disarray. Not until you impose that energy from outside of the system to bring order, or cleanliness, back to the system (your room) it will progress into chaos. This is true with physical health (conscious efforts to eat right, exercise regularly, etc.), and spirituality.

I think this is the root reason why they say that you can't stand still in the gospel. It just does not work to try and do the same things day in and day out and expect to continue on a path towards eternal life. For example, I've noticed this in the last several months to year or so with my scripture study. For the longest time it worked for me to just read chronologically through the books of scripture, through General Conference editions of the Ensign, etc. And I finally reached the point about a year or two ago where that just does not work for me anymore. Not only am I not engaged in my scripture study, but it has not even been invigorating enough for me to stay motivated to keep it a consistent habit. So the result of the same continued course of study over the years not only prevented me from accessing greater knowledge, but removed me from my ability to maintain a vital element in spiritual progression. However, as I've looked for different ways to alter my study habits I have noticed a huge increase in my ability to feel the spirit during my study. Once again, there are very obvious moments in each of my days where I can honestly point to an exact piece of information and say with confidence that I received revelation at precisely that spot, and this or that is what I was able to recognize. This in turn has helped me to feel more engaged and keeps me coming back for more. Making those kinds of course corrections and adaptations are absolutely essential to staving off entropy. That injection of new energy into what is normally an isolated system helps to increase order and limit chaos. As I get older, I realize more and more how important order is to becoming closer to God.

As I was running, I started to think of entropy in terms of water, and what happens to water when it stops flowing. It becomes stagnant water, which can be a major environmental hazard. Not only can water stagnation lead to a breeding grounds for mosquitos which carry all sorts of diseases, but the water itself becomes impure because it becomes a better incubator of different forms of bacteria. For these reasons, it seems appropriate that the symbols of living water and the association that is commonly drawn between Christ being the fountain of living water seems so apt. When you read about Lehi and Nephi's vision of the tree of life, think about the ways that it talks about water in that vision. One is described as the fountain of living waters, and the other as filthy waters. There are many other examples of living waters described throughout the scriptures, but when you come across them, think about them in terms of entropy.