Ah, perspective.

I've been reading lately
    about our universe,
and what we know of our universe
    is mind-boggling.

Perspective.

Before we get too caught up
    in our personal drama
it helps to catch at least a glimpse
    of the considerably bigger picture.

Consider for a moment
    the period at the end of this sentence.

Have you paused to look at it?
    Think of that dot representing the earth,
the little (and fragile) planet we call home,
    which we easily (and unconsciously)
imagine to be the center of things.
    (Indeed, at times, 
we each consider ourselves
    to be the center of things.)

If that dot represents earth,
    then our entire solar system
represents the universe.

That dot
    with all of us crowded on board.

But wait, there's more!
    In comparison to our own galaxy, the Milky Way,
our solar system is but a fuzzy little dot as well.

A dot.
    We here on earth
         are dots
            hidden in a dot,
                hidden in a dot.

There are 100 billion stars in the Milky Way–
    100 billion.
But our Milky Way itself
    isn't much more than a dot
among the 180 billion galaxies
    in the known universe–
180 billion.

And science now suggests
    ours is not the only universe;
we live in a multiverse.

Perspective.

Now for some God-talk:

What wonders has God worked
    with the populations
of innumerable other worlds (or non-worlds)
    in all of these billions of other
galaxies/solar systems/planets/existences-beyond-our-imagining
   throughout the billions of years (13.7)
that our universe (or multiverse) has existed?

What weirdly awesome things are out there?

And if you are a follower of Christ,
    what part has Christ played
in whatever scenarios
    have unfolded elsewhere?

Christians believe
    that all things are created
in and through Christ,
    so what are the implications
of all this incomprehensible vastness?

And we may confess our need
    for Christ as savior,
but perhaps we're the only ones
    who've needed one;
what role does Christ play
    in populations untouched
by selfishness and hatred?
    We know Christ incarnated
first in creation,
   then in the man Jesus,
but in what other ways
    has Christ incarnated?

Perspective.

So to review:

    I'm a dot on the earth,
        which is a dot in our galaxy,
            which is a dot in the universe,
                which may, it turns out,
                    be a dot in a multiverse.

All wrought by God.

So the next time I (or you)
    get too big for my (or your) britches,
remember the dot.

Brain-bending, soul-touching perspective,
    and one that's oh so humbling…

Text and image © 2020 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.
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