HEINRICH'S LAW: HOW TO SPOT GOD'S GRACE BEFORE A MAJOR INCIDENT
Photo by Adi Putra
In a scene from the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's, Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn) is seen hosting a massive house party while her Japanese neighbour Mr. Yunioshi, who lives on the top floor, enjoys a tea ceremony by himself. At the party downstairs, drunken Mag Wildwood cuts in on Holly and Rusty's flirting to get her man Rusty back. However, before angry Mag can do anything to her man, she finishes the last sip of her drink and blacks out while standing up. That's when Holly yells, 'Timber!' People clear out the space in front of Mag and the camera from the floor captures her falling flat on her face.
The party goes on, but the sound from Mag's heavy fall finally incites Mr. Yunioshi to call the cops. As the cops arrive, Holly and Rusty leisurely exit the building while Paul, Holly's new neighbour, anxiously watches them leaving from the window.
The movement of Mag's stiff, unconscious body falling to the ground is akin to the felling of a big tree in the woods. The tree takes time to pick up the momentum of the fall, and God's grace lies in such simple yet profound moments. Even a falling tree does not fall over immediately.
Likewise, when anything happens in life, no matter how tragic or sudden it may seem, it takes time to build up. In the moments leading up to major incidents, one can notice many clues and signs, serving as warnings. But we do not pay much attention to them and miss the opportunities to either prepare ourselves or prevent the incident’s occurrence in the first place. Usually, when these major incidents occur, people perceive them as surprises, and some people even consider them as evidence that God is being unfair to them.
Heinrich's Law perfectly explains the act of God's grace taking effect all around us. As a safety engineer, Herbert W. Heinrich learned that for every one major accident that occurs in a workplace, there are 29 minor incidents and 300 near-miss unreported incidents. Essentially, until we get surprised by a major shock, we have 29 'you got lucky this time' and 300 'oops' moments all rooted in the same cause, which, in turn, eventually lead to the major incident, when the energy has built up to its tipping point. Some take years while others take decades.
From Heinrich's theory, we deduce that God shows at least 329 various signs and clues for us to change the direction towards which we are heading. However, while we experience these 300 ‘oops’ moments — which can easily be noticed by people who have been in the field for a long time and people who are in tune with the universe — we slowly acclimatize to the inconveniences and become dull. As a result, while we live through the 29 lucky moments, we become experts in nursing our wounds and moving on to the next tasks. Finally, when the major bomb drops, that is when we desperately visit churches and temples and cry out, ‘Why me?
People often ask me, ‘How can you predict the future if the birth chart doesn't clearly show anything specific about the future?’ The answer is very simple. I notice small, inconspicuous things that they would not pay much attention to on the basis of their strengths and weaknesses. Big things are the results of many small things. Someone who undertakes many small incorrect actions will eventually have to reckon with a big bad one, and someone who performs many small correct actions will eventually reap the sweet fruits of their efforts.
Another way of spotting signs and clues is to observe what happens to the people around us. For example, when we hear that something has happened to a friend of a friend first, and if before long, a similar thing happens to our close friends or relatives, then soon it will also happen to our immediate family or ourselves. So next time you repeatedly hear about any good or bad news, instead of being jealous or thinking someone just got lucky or ignoring it altogether because 'it could never happen to you,' try to be truly happy or sympathetic instead. Furthermore, be more observant of yourself in certain areas so you're not left unaware of things quietly approaching.
Having said all this, please do not panic if a bomb has just been dropped on you. God's grace shines upon us until the tree completely falls to the ground. Once you truly understand how things have developed up to this point, there is still a chance you can avoid being crushed by the tree. Once you safely remove yourself from danger and take a break to realign, you'll have the opportunity to either return to your old ways and perform the same actions in an improved way, or start something new built on the solid foundation of the lessons learned from the past
The bomb drop is not a punishment but a result. If you are somewhere between several to 329 incidents, fix things that are out of order as soon as you notice them. When we proactively rectify small things and build a structure in life, God's grace will shine brighter on our future.
Maggie H is a Life Cartographer, Eastern philosopher, Qigong master, Buddhist and Taoist meditator, Feng Shui practitioner, and researcher of Buddhist scriptures. She lives in Hong Kong, and regularly travels to both India and South Korea to further her spiritual growth and development. Her lifelong motto is: "benefit to all humankind."