The Scientific "Constant"

My daughter just completed her first school science project. She and two other friends were testing which light source was best for growing plants. Each girl had three different seeds planted in three little pots, perched under one light source in our various homes. A couple days ago, we collaborated and analyzed our collected data and drew conclusions about which light was best.

I've been trying to suppress my usual urge to question and look for the problems. For instance, we never checked our respective home temperatures. Our plants were not in an isolated room where the particular type of light provided was the ONLY source of light. No one was regulating how often or how much the plants were watered. In proper scientific method, all these factors, otherwise known as "constants," have to be regulated in order to rule out the chance of their affecting the results, thus skewing the conclusions you could draw.

So as I was thinking about this, it made me think about the importance of having "constants" in our lives. The title of my blog is, of course, drawn from the paradoxical expression, "The only thing constant is change." I chose that title first of all because I've felt like my life has been so full of changes lately it almost makes my head spin! But I also intentionally didn't use the whole phrase, because on the other hand, I believe there is one other very important thing which IS constant, and that is Jesus Christ.

In this experiment called life, with all the things that change continually, isn't it wonderful to have an anchor to hold onto, something we can rely on to stay the same? We can use the "constant" of Christ to correctly analyze the data we collect on a daily basis, and thus draw accurate conclusions which we can then use to adjust our behavior in ways that will bring us better results. Change is important. It keeps us on our toes, challenges and stretches us, and gives us the opportunity to grow and become something greater than what we are today. But thank goodness there is one great constant we can always count on as well!