the centripetal force that keeps pulling me back

Yes, I’m in physics class…. well, “in” is kind of an understatement! Maybe more like drowning, suffocating, swamped, and stressed… that’s more like it. And I am wondering how I will survive five weeks of physics 2 that starts in a week!

See, in layman’s terms, centripetal force is the force that pulls you around the roller coaster’s loop-de-loops, the force that keeps NASCAR cars on the track around the banked curves, and the force that makes you dizzy on a merry-go-round. If you want to get all technical F_c=mv²/r. It’s the force that keeps pulling the object towards the center. It’s constant throughout the whole circle. It changes with the mass of the object and the speed at which it’s going “round ‘n round,” but it always has the same effect. Without it, the seatbelts wouldn’t keep you from falling out of the roller coaster cars, the hula hoop wouldn’t be a favorite playtoy, and David wouldn’t have been able to kill Goliath with his sling. It’s kind of important.

It can’t be seen; only its effects can be seen. You can’t touch it, but you feel its results. And it’s always pulling towards the center of the circle of movement. It keeps the object in motion and counteracts the effects of gravity.

And then God shows me Himself in my physics homework. He shows me that He’s pulling me back to the center, but unlike gravity that keeps pulling and pulling until the object theoretically arrives at the very source of the gravitational pull, God wants to keep me in a constant circle moving around Him. He wants me to impact my sphere of influence, but still be attached to His heart. To keep moving around the circle, but remain “center-seeking.” And when I change speeds, reverse directions, or attempt to hide my real mass, He changes the pull on my heart to reestablish the equilibrium. He changes His tactics to remain constant because even “if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.” 2 Timothy 2:13