It's another quiet night

Feel the ground against my back,

Count the stars against the black.

Hmmm I miss another Gadsby opportunity and quote Dave Matthews instead. Oh well. The most beautiful thing about being a Jeep owner in Southern Ohio is being able to drive in the late summer with the doors off and the top down in the middle of night and stop abnormally long at stop signs to look up at the stars.

How small am I?!?!? Every little point of light a billion billion miles away, some from stars that are presently dead, we are just to far away to know yet. And then there's the waining crescent moon. Even that is farther away than I can fathom, and yet I become accustomed to these things in my life and forget the sheer magnitude of them.

I stay far too busy in my life and the first thing I lose is my sense of awe. I know everyone has looked at the stars in their lives, its hard not to be amazed, but when was the last time it happened? When was the last time that you zoomed so far out of your life that the universe seemed to envelop you? When the vastness of East to West put you in your place?

And here's the real kicker, Why does that make us feel at ease?

Because there is something infinitely good about things unimaginably bigger than us. When is the last time that you felt, saw, and prayed to God who is big enough to surround all of your problems and distractions and give you comfort.

"But [Jesus] holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens." Hebrews 7:24-26.

"He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names.
Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure" Psalm 147:4-5

My other thought was that many of these stars are the same stars and constellations that Luther, Calvin, Bonhoeffer, and Edwards would have looked at. It reminded me of the eternal priesthood of believers that we are a part of in Christ. We will someday feast with all those who are saved, and not only those on our latitude, but Augustine, John of Damascus, Paul, et al who didn't see the stars we look at here, but knew the light of truth that we claim.

God's vastness is an amazing and necessary truth in my life, and when it isn't, things grow appropriately out of proportion.

One more un-theological quote to end the night...

If you've never stared off into the distance, then your life is a shame. ~Counting Crows