Today’s Word from Pastor Jim…
“Praise him, sun and moon, Praise him, all you shining stars.” Psalm 148:3
Go ahead and read all of Psalm 148. I will wait for you to return.
Our family got away for a couple of days, to a beach home at Ocean Shores, loaned to us by a generous family member. The beach home was our base camp. Much of the living occurred across the dunes that stretched some 400 yards toward the Pacific Ocean. It was nice to smell the ocean air and sleep with the sound of the mighty waves which have broken upon this shore for millions of years. My grandsons are 4, almost 2, and three months old. Felicia and I took the older boys on a trek down to the beach. The boys, who were full of energy at 5:00 a.m., were now too tired to walk 400 yards. So, like pack mules, we carried them on our shoulders, with beach toys, towels, water, and sunscreen in our arms.
Little boys love to shovel and this sand was just right for a construction project. We dug a hole and the hole got bigger. Soon we could fit in the hole, so we built a bridge to span the gap. There were many precarious crossings and more than a few laughter-filled falls into the pit of sand. By this time, this pack mule was tired. We retreated to find their Daddy. After some rest, we returned to our construction site. Their Dad loves projects; soon there were stairs and driftwood walls. The work continued as masked visitors walking the beach stopped to admire our handiwork.
We tossed bucket after bucket, shovel after shovel, of sand out of a hole which was now five feet deep. I held a bucket of sand and told Camden that there were more stars in the heavens than all the grains of sand in the bucket. Actually, there are more stars than all the grains of sand on the earth. There was a pause and a debate among the adults; the concept was simply mind blowing. The boys just kept tossing sand, not the least bit concerned with mysteries that were beyond their comprehension.
When we returned to base camp, we consulted Mr. Google. After all, there was an ice cream cone on the line now. The answer was this: if you were to add up all the grains of sand at Ocean Shores, Whidbey Island, Hawaii, Mexico, Australia, and the rest of the world including the Sahara Desert and all other deserts, they would number one tenth of the number of stars that are visible from earth with the help of telescopes. Of course, even then, that would be only be a small percentage of the unknown universe. As I was eating my ice cream, my son-in-law, now three dollars poorer, said, “we are not alone, are we?” I said, “no, we are not alone, but to quote Larry Norman, ‘if there’s life on other planets, I’m sure that He already knows and He’s been there once already and He died to save their souls.’”
What does this all mean? You tell me. I think it means that we should live with a deep appreciation for the fact that the God who created heaven and earth and all that exists, took the time to create us. Not only that, we were created, male and female, in the very image of God. I think that it should give us a sense of awe, wonder, and humility. We are clearly a product of evolutionary genius. Humans continue to evolve; I trust that God is still working on us. Creation continues to evolve even today. Evolution? Yes, but we were never an accident. We were created with intention, and love, and purpose.
“Oh Lord my God when I in awesome wonder consider all the worlds thy hands have made. I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, thy power throughout the universe displayed. Then sings my soul, my Savior, God to thee, How great thou art, how great thou art.”
One day closer.
Pastor Jim
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