Midweek meditation from Pastor Dave August 14, 2024

     I woke up in the middle of the night and was having trouble falling back asleep. So I decided to get out of bed and go outside and gaze up in the sky. The Perseid meteor showers have been peaking this week, and apparently the best time to view them is between midnight and dawn. I figured 2:45 am would work pretty well!

     I went out on the back porch of the parsonage and looked up into the night sky. Stars shining (and a few satellites blinking) all above me. After about four or five minutes, I saw the fast flash of a meteor high above the Crest parking lot. If I had blinked, I would have probably missed it. I waited around a few more minutes to see if I could catch another one or two “shooting stars” as they’re sometimes called, but it was just the panoply of stars and the occasional lightning bug.

     As I was craning my neck skyward, I couldn’t help but think of one of my favorite psalms, the eighth one, where the psalmist inquires:

     When I look up at your skies, at what your fingers made—

     the moon and the stars that you set firmly in place—

     what are human beings that you think about them;

     what are human beings that you pay attention to them? (v. 3-4 CEB)

     Stargazing has a way of putting us in our place and reminding us of who we are, how very little we are in relation to the vast expanse of the universe. We are a blip on the screen. A drop in the cosmic bucket.

     And yet, the psalmist, in the very next verses, reminds us who we are, how God sees us, and why God made us:

     You’ve made them only slightly less than divine,

     crowning them with glory and grandeur.

     You’ve let them rule over your handiwork,

     putting everything under their feet—

     all sheep and cattle, the wild animals too,

     the birds in the sky, the fish of the ocean,

     everything that travels the pathways of the sea. (v. 5-8 CEB)

How astounding it is that God has placed God’s creation in our care. Though we may feel so small standing beneath a star-studded skyscape, God has given us a mighty big responsibility. May we be inspired to live up to what God thinks of us and who God has

called us to be.

“Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name throughout the earth!” (v. 1, 9, CEB)