Schrödinger's Cat...

There was an experiment done back in 1935 where Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger and Albert Einstein were exchanging letters discussing an article that Einstein had co-written called the EPR article [named after its authors: Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen] which highlighted the strange nature of quantum superpositions (the collection of all possible states of a system at a given point in time).

To make a long story short, "Schrödinger's cat" refers to a theoretical experiment proposed by Schrödinger that if a live cat was put into a box with a vial of poison, and the vial broke open at a seemingly-random instant (won't get into the details of subatomic particles and Geiger counters and all that), then until the box is opened, the cat exists (in theory) in a state of being both alive AND dead, and the only way to eliminate the theories and be absolutely sure is to open the box. [This is a grossly oversimplified version of the experiment, meant only to serve as a launching point for discussion, so if there are any physicists out there, please forgive me.]

My point is, this was something that seemed like a very simple concept when I first read about it (we don't know until we know, right?). But the more I thought about the illustrations and its implications on my life up until now, the more I can't help but realize, to my great shame, that I've too often left the cat in the box, afraid to open it and find it dead. So instead of taking the risk of finding it dead by opening the box, I would consistently leave the box unopened, and simply be content with the theory that the cat inside COULD be alive. This is a fear that I've struggled with for as long as I can remember. I don't know what initially brought about this fear, but it very often leads to indecision and inaction on my part, whether dealing with family, school, jobs, relationships, etc. Everything suffers from this illogical fear.

This is one of the many things that I hope God leads me through during my time here in Korea. I can't tell you how many times I've lost out on opportunities to see God move in situations where I needed Him to, simply because I refused to open the box. This is also a significant part of the reason why I chose to come here, because I'd left that box unopened for far too long, and it's time to dive in despite my mountain of fears and insecurities.

I'll be back in the next few days to give an update on how things are going here. Thank you for all your prayers and support!