Posts Tagged: the vastness of the universe
“The Vastness of the Universe and God
Versus the Smallness that is Me”
I learn a lot from my dog, particularly about philosophy and theology. No, I’m not joking; I’m dead serious.
The other morning, I awoke with some very disturbing thoughts. The universe is so big, and God (if God exists) is so much bigger than the universe that God created, how could God be at all interested in the smallness that is me? And how could the smallness that is me possibly understand such a big God?
However, even when you have huge doubts, the coffee still needs to be made and the dog still needs to go out to do her business. So, I put the coffee on and took the dog out. She got down to the business of doing her business very rapidly. This was good because it was raining cats and dogs.
But when she came in, she started acting really weird. She wasn’t interested in a Pup-Peroni treat. She adores those things, so I began to worry when I gave it to her, and she just let it lie on floor.
And then, she didn’t want to go back and lie on the bed with my wife. That is as special to her as enjoying her dog treats. So, I let her sit on my lap as I worked at my desk. She usually likes that. She had to be picked up and put on my lap. Almost immediately, she hopped down, went down on her front haunches, and looked at me appealingly, with her eyes looking at me with this pleading look. “Do something!” her eyes seemed to be saying. Like babies and very small children, pets can’t tell us what is wrong. Or perhaps, they can talk, but we can’t listen. In view of our difficulty in understanding other human beings, I think that this might be so.
I didn’t know what to do, so I did the only thing I could think of in that moment. I carried our little dog downstairs and lay her on mama’s bed and woke up my wife at 6:10 a.m. “Something is wrong with Laylah,” I said.
As it turned out, there was nothing seriously wrong with our little girl. She curled up at my wife’s feet. They went back to sleep, and when Laylah woke up, she was herself again. My sweet wife forgave me for waking her, realizing how worried I was.
What has this got to with my questions about the vastness of the universe and of God? Absolutely nothing. Or so I thought until God brought my earlier questions to my mind again. It felt as if God was saying to me, “Child, your little dog only weighs about seven pounds. Yet you love her so much and are so concerned when she isn’t feeling well. Don’t you think that I can love you in the same way?”
DOWN TO EARTH BELIEVER
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- “Delighting in Being Told What to Do?!?” February 23, 2024“Psa. 112:1 Praise the LORD! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commandments! 2 His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. 3 Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures […]
- “Character is the Real Lesson” January 19, 2024I am often confused about what lesson I’m really supposed to be learning. For example, this morning I was trying to knock out several Spanish lessons. My intentions were a lot better than my internet connection. I’ve done three lessons. Or rather, I’ve done two lessons. One of them I did twice because the internet […]
- “The Year of Becoming Un-Planked” January 1, 2024Each year, I try to come up with one word or a short phrase for what I intend to work on in the upcoming year. 2024 is “The Year of Becoming Un-Planked”. What?!! What does that even mean? So glad that you asked! Jesus said to his disciples, “Why do you look at the speck […]
- “Searching for the Noble One” December 26, 2023My wife and I were reading Luke, chapter 2 on Christmas Day. Luke 2 talks about the shepherds being told to look for this very special child—in fact, this King—in a stable. I prefer the word “barn”. I grew up on a farm. I know what a barn is. A stable is entirely too biblical […]
- “That Don’t Impress God Much” December 14, 2023DTEB, “That Don’t Impress God Much” “That Don’t Impress Me Much” (Song by Robert John Lange and Shania Twain) Micah 6:8 (MSG) “But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women. It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be […]
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