What is a law?

I have a wonderful six year old who loves to ask questions. He will eat an apple and say "Dada, what's an apple?" Riding in the car he will ask "Dada, what's a car?" At first these sorts of questions seemed nonsensical, but I have learned over the years to treat questions from my children with great respect because their sense of wonder and their innocent inquisitiveness is often profound and beyond immediate comprehension.

His questions of this sort are still coming. The latest is: What is a law?

I found myself trying to explain the different sorts of laws. There are the laws of nature, like gravity and inertia. There are juridical laws that governments make which have the common good at heart. (Sadly, in this impoverished country, laws are changed by judges through precedent or whim without even the consent of parliament.) There is the natural law which is written on the heart.

My son's other favorite question, which amazes me to no end, is "What happens if you don't?".

What happens if you disobey the law of gravity? Well, it could cost you your life. You can learn the law of inertia by leaving your seatbelt off. You may not die, or you may. There may or may not be a civil law to tell you to wear a seatbelt. And this brings us to the crux of all laws:

Laws, true laws. are grounded in reality and truth. Spend some time thinking and praying on that thought and you will come to see that our society is in trouble. Once the laws of a country stop having direct relation to truth, what is to stop them from becoming truly insane altogether?
The answer is scary: nothing.