So Much More

Divine Majesty and Human Dignity
To the leader: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David.

O Lord, our Sovereign,
   how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory above the heavens.
   Out of the mouths of babes and infants
you have founded a bulwark because of your foes,
   to silence the enemy and the avenger.

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
   the moon and the stars that you have established;
what are human beings that you are mindful of them,
   mortals that you care for them?

Yet you have made them a little lower than God,
   and crowned them with glory and honor.
You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;
   you have put all things under their feet,
all sheep and oxen,
   and also the beasts of the field,
the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
   whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

O Lord, our Sovereign,
   how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Psalms 8 (NRSV)

Hey, thanks for taking the time to watch this week’s Oldtown Short. I wonder, have you ever looked up at the night sky and thought about all the stars and the planets, the galaxies, and the universe? Have you ever been at the beach and looked out over the sand at the ocean and wondered about the waves and the sea life, the fish and the crabs and the coral? Have you ever been to the Grand Canyon or Yellowstone National Park or some other place where you found yourself surrounded by the beauty of creation?

The truth is the world is so big and so beautiful, and there is so much more than we can ever imagine! And you and I? We’re just tiny pieces of it. Now by tiny, I don’t mean that we don’t matter, because we do. But the crazy part is that the God who created the stars, the planets, the galaxies, and the universe is the same God that created the sand on the beach, the crabs, the fish, and the sea creatures in the ocean. It’s that same God that created the Grand Canyon and the redwood trees, the Rocky Mountains, the Mohave Desert, and so much more! And it’s that same God that created you and me.

Now don’t worry, I’m not talking about something that supposedly only took six days. I’m talking about something millions of years ago, something in this very moment, and something in every millisecond in-between.

Personally, I use the name God, or Creator, while others use Great Spirit or Yahweh, or Jehovah and Adonai. But the truth is, our names are just that–they are our names. And our understandings and descriptions are our understandings and descriptions. The truth is there is so much more about God that we can’t even begin to understand that we have to make up our own names and stories and understandings.

For thousands of years, we, as human beings, have thought that we could contain God in our books, in our neatly wrapped boxes, in our sanctuaries, in our belief systems, and in the stories that we tell. But the truth is God can’t be held in any of those, because God is bigger than we can ever imagine. God is more beautiful and more amazing and more awe-inspiring than we can even begin to understand. God is so much more than our human words and stories and understandings that we can never come close in our descriptions. So, let’s not worry about the details and the number of days. Let’s not fight about our understandings and beliefs. And let’s not stress over the things we can’t explain. Because there is so much more!

There is so much more to celebrate and to enjoy. There is so much more to care for and to commune with. There is so much more to stand in awe of and to wonder about. So, friends, let’s just spend a little more time each and every day, appreciating, giving thanks, and standing in awe of the mystery and the majesty of God, and in the amazing gifts that God has created and continues to create in our lives! Because that is so much more!