Where the rubber meets the road
A force exerted means
That motion rotary converts
To motion linear.
In other words:
The wheels turn;
The car moves.
A curious relationship!
Change the gripping force
Between the tire and the road;
Change the motion.
Too much friction
Glues the surfaces together.
Now they’re stuck!
Too little – like the snowfall –
And the tire spins.
I’m stuck again.
Friction makes me move.
Friction brings me gently to a stop.
There is an analogue
In human social interaction
(Imperfect, like all metaphors).
Some stickiness in my relationships
Helps them to move.
A little roughness, touch of grit,
Prompts conversation,
Spurs communion.
Lacking friction, a relationship
May glide like skates upon the ice
Until abrupt collision with a wall
Or languish, stuck, unmoving, dull.
Too much friction makes us motionless as well
No longer dull,
But joyless.
So God, may there be friction
Between us, you and I,
Sufficient to propel us
From the place we are
To where we ought to be,
From tedious stability
Or furious contention,
To ministry in motion.
ordainedgeek 