To change means to move, and to move means that a force is acting to cause that movement. In physics, the physical quantity (such as length or time) applied to an object when moving a bicycle or lifting a stone is called “force.”
Force also has directionality. The force used to push a cart and the force used to pull it are equal in magnitude but differ in direction. There is a gravitational force that pulls objects toward each other, and there is a repulsive force that pushes them apart. The same force can be used to build a building or to bring it down.
There are forces that give life and forces that take it, even when their magnitudes are the same. There are also forces such as political power and financial power. These are forces that shape human relationships through money, status, and honor. Military power manifests as the offensive or defensive capability of an individual or a group. A nation’s strength is also determined by its power, wealth, and military might. These are the forces that ordinary people in the real world take for granted.
These forces share a common trait: they compete by prioritizing magnitude. Since superiority is determined by size and intensity, hierarchies emerge, and discrimination is accepted as normal. People strive to suppress others and rise above them. Everyone competes to build up their own power. Yet the more they do so, the more anxious those building it become. The paradox of “security anxiety”—where the pursuit of security paradoxically breeds anxiety—is an inevitable consequence of everyone, not just oneself, accumulating power for their own sake.
And that is not all. The demands of a results-oriented society that urges us to create two more after making one, the shackles of neoliberalism that champion free competition, and the contradiction where “human intelligence” is pushed aside the more artificial intelligence is developed—these contradictions continue to amplify. Short-sighted humans use this power to enjoy short-term gains, only to find themselves enslaved by it before they even realize it. They even drive non-human beings into a world of death. Is there any hope? What kind of power should we pursue, and in what direction?
Physicist Michael Faraday (1791–1867) believed that all forces were merely various forms of a single, universal force. He viewed a vast reality—existing prior to and independent of objects yet lacking the properties of objects—as the source of change in the physical world. From this, he developed “Field Theory,” which posits that this “field of force” manifests as individual natural phenomena. In other words, lowercase “forces” emerge and move within the capitalized “Force”.
However, while physics explains the structure and principles of force, it does not inquire into its value or direction. In contrast, there are those who question the value of force and seek to move in the direction that value other points. Movements aimed at finding and embodying the right values within the force that moves all things have also persisted. Religion is a prime example.
Jesus said, “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:45) This is a call to recognize the values of universality and fairness within the vast field of God’s power, and to transcend discrimination and alienation.
Since there is no dichotomy of good and evil, or justice and injustice, within God’s power, there must be no more killing of others. Both the great and the small, the many and the few, are part of God’s perfect world. God is the source of life, sustaining all living things. We are called to realize this principle and move toward a path of sustaining all life, rather than killing others. This is likely the message of the Solemnity of the Resurrection of the Lord.
Resurrection is not a selfish concept reserved for those who kill others to save themselves. A life that reveals the fundamental truth that God’s sun and rain shine upon and fall upon everyone is a life of resurrection. This is because God is a power that gives life, not a power that takes it.
