“GOING UP OR DOWN"

By Ray K. Hodge

            While it is unlikely that Sir Isaac Newton ever declared, "What goes up has to come down," his findings are closely associated with what is expressed in that saying. In our experiences we know that many things which have gone up have come down and that many structures raised by men have fallen, but it seems unlikely that some things like gasoline prices, living costs, taxes, blood pressure, medical costs, and educational costs will ever come down.

            The idea of “what goes up has to come down,” relates to the pull of gravity, which, though you or I may be unable to define it adequately, has been sometimes painfully experienced by most of us, humans and animals. All of us fell many times when we were learning to walk and trying to run. And most of us made discomfiting discoveries of gravity before we knew it existed or how it could be avoided, when during early childhood we fell off a lap, a bed, a fence, or the back of a pony. Many of us experienced anguish if a coin, watch, or a treasured ring accidentally dropped into the water or beach sand, only to be lost forever. We may have received a parental scolding because we dropped an heirloom cake plate, as I did, which broke into many unrepairable pieces. We may remember the hurt we experienced and have the scars to prove it from times when we fell from a swing, a ladder, a porch, a bicycle, or a roof. Even cats must have an innate awareness of gravity’s pull, considering the way they manage to turn and land on their feet when falling or dropped. Falling is a persistent danger throughout life, and particularly for t he elderly.

            Longfellow said: “I shot an arrow into the air, It fell to earth I knew not where;..,” but fall it certainly did! All of us have experienced the reality of gravity by learning that water doesn't run uphill, that some things roll downhill in spite of our efforts to stop them, and that things can fall off a table or on our heads and feet. We have thrown balls to others, which without fail always finally move downward. Some things have been projected to great heights, like artillery shells, gas-filled balloons, and aircraft, but they always return to earth.

            Life would be very different except for gravity. Food would not stay in bowls or on a plate, plates would not stay on the tables, tables would not stay on the floor, and buildings would not stay on their foundations. In fact, nothing would stay in place without gravity, including people walking, vehicular traffic, and structures of any kind.

            Modern space probes have sent men and machines into orbit which seemed to defy gravity. Pictures of crews in manned space vehicles have demonstrated the effects of weightless environments, presenting amusing scenes of people, food, toothpaste, equipment, and everything not secured floating in air. In time however, the satellites and their refuse have fallen to the earth or have been consumed by fiery reentry in the earth’s atmosphere. During one of those missions it seemed that some of the astronauts and vehicles might never come down. It happened during the April, 1970 Apollo Thirteen mission, with James A. Lovell, Jr., Fred W. Haise, Jr., and John L. Swigert, Jr. aboard. Millions in the world were kept in suspense as a sequence of misfortunes caused America's third moon shot to be aborted. With terrifying danger close at hand on numerous maneuvers, and the real possibility of being lost forever in space, millions watched and prayed while scientists and technicians did everything possible to save those men. Their efforts were successful finally and the men were safely returned to earth.

            And so, many things that have gone up have come down. Though a tree may stand for hundreds of years it will fall to earth sooner or later, which is also true of buildings, governments, and people. Numerous great dynasties of China and Egypt, the royal families of Europe, and dictatorships which vowed to rule a thousand years have all either fallen or will ultimately fall. An individual’s being brought down was predicted by one-time heavyweight champion of the world, Ruby Robert Fitzsimmons, who said before his successful fight in 1902 with a much bigger James J. Jeffries, "The bigger they are the harder they fall.”

            The notable structures of the world either have or will fall in time, such as the tower of Babel, the Parthenon, the Roman aqueducts and temples, the tower of Pisa, the Jerusalem temple, Europe's castles and cathedrals, the world’s pyramids, and the world’s skyscrapers. Either natural disaster, war, neglect, terrorism, or time will ultimately bring them all down. And biblical words remind us that human bodies finally return to the earth’s dust, and that the human spirit, though flying high with pride and arrogance is destined to fall.

            Is there some meaning to all of this? Perhaps so, because it is reassuring to know that while some things, civilizations and economies, good and bad, are always on the rise, in time they will come down.

            Some things need to come down. We would hail the day with gladness when taxes decrease, prices drop, marriage failures dwindle, and the crime rate falls. We would be glad for a fall in the needless deaths caused by drinking, accidents, drug abuse, and disease. And we live with hope that tyrannical rulers who enslave their people and terrorize other nations will fall.