The Greatest Story In the Universe
Ever since I was little I have always enjoyed listening to stories and now that I am older I still find myself being fascinated by tales of adventure discovery. Recently, however, I found myself being very suprised at myself by being interested with stories of different kinds. For this semester and the following semester I will be taking a couple of courses in geology for a science requirement and over the past couple of weeks I have been finding myself getting really excited about the content. Most of it has been about identifying minerals and rocks, but recently we have begun studying the forces that form volcanoes, valleys, mountains, and the landscape of the earth in general. I just find myself getting more and more intrigued by the content, because it almost feels like a huge story is being unfolded before me and I am getting to discover a story that has been and is being written for millions of years.
These feelings and ideas are actually not new to me. I actually began developing these thoughts over the past summer, when I spent about three months living in Yosemite National Park. Yosemite Valley and the surrounding terrain is a biological and geological wonderland and many elements of the surroundings can be very thought provoking. I remember one hike that I took deep into the Merced Lake Trail, a trail that follows the Merced river deep into the remote high country of the park, and as I walked along and saw the changing landscape, I had the feeling of almost reading a book with many chapters as the river bended and twisted and carved out the Merced Canyon, a trend that has been going on seemingly since the beginning of time. As pondered this, I was amazed by how much it felt like the story of the world was stretching out before me in profound and striking ways. As a history student, I am used to analyzing and deciphering the story of human progress and evolution, but it took on a very different context when contemplated the earth and the universe as well.
Too many times I think we try to describe the progress and passage of time within a strictly human point of view. Within that context, the insect world is considered incidental, any thing beyond our small solar system is unconsequential, and a million years sounds like an eternity. How would our perspective change if we started to understand the world and universe with a less earthly point of view, with our spiritual lives included. Perhaps we would stop seeing the work of God being centered solely around the salvation of human beings alone, but perhaps a plan for God save and perfect His creation as a whole, making everything have the ability to enjoy and desire Himself as he had intended it. With this point of view, perhaps we would see even the creation around us in a different way, more in touch with how God had originally planned it.
In everything around us, whether it is a complicated leaf, a tropical fish, a grinding iceberg, a towering mountain, a distant galaxy, or a fellow human, God is continuing to send us messages about Himself, His nature, and giving us a desire to continue to seek and know Him better in a strong and personal way, weaving together the greatest story in ever told. So, in one of thinking, through the eyes of Creator, the greatest story ever told in the universe is exactly that: the universe.
Friday, September 15, 2006
Monday, September 11, 2006
The Stale Life
Sometimes life gets stale. Sometimes it gets boring, mediocre, and generally uninteresting. But is this really how life should be? To paraphrase of C.S. Lewis, all christians are interested in being happy. They aren't christians because they want to do good deeds, want to be seen as good people, or out to be famous. Essentially, all christians know that the life that they lead will give them ultimate happiness and is a better life. It might not be easier, but it is better. God didn't necessarily want life to be easier for us but he does intend for us to live a joyful life of genually loving following Him and being in His prescence. But what happens when we don't feel that joy?
Shortly after a meeting with the leaders of the ODU Intervarsity Coordinating Team, one of my good friends commented, "Are any of you tired?...of being in this role at least...it seems like all we are doing is busy work." After some conversation, we all realized that we were all getting worn out and burned out from all the coordinating and desicion-making we had been doing. With that being revealed to us, we seemed very disheartened and even more discouraged, especially since we really didn't know what to do about it. After thinking about it further, however, I thought about my friends comment about us just doing busy work. I thought that maybe all we have been doing was busy work, and the one of the only ways for this to become busy work was if God was somehow being pushed out of the picture.
Through all of our planning and coordinating, perhaps we have lost sight of the core of why we are doing all this work. Without Christ, all of our efforts are fruitless and pointless. In the same way that it is meaningless for a professor to make assignments without intending to teach anything worth learning, perhaps all of our efforts are also pointless without Christ being the center and the reason for all the effort. Granted, Christ's will will still be done, but we will learn more, see more, and genuinely enjoy more of what we do and our time with our Creator when we are mindful of His will and His purpose. At the very core, that is the very reason why we want to spread the gospel to others, not because we want to boost numbers or gain fame for ourselves, but because we genuinely know that the life we are living through Christ is better than the life of being without. Without it, life is just busy work, with no rewards, no lessons, no joyful communion with the Creator.
Perhaps the C-Team doesn't need to change any of the things we are physically doing, but perhaps we need to find where we have pushed out God and tried to infuse ourselves into His place. At the very core of the matter, I believe God wants to make this year joyful and beautiful for us all on the C-Team and in all of IV, maybe not easier, but genuinely bringing us closer to Him and to His heart. The only way that can happen is through a life of repentance and life of keeping God in complete control. We are definately there yet, I pray that God gives us the knowledge, insight, and experiences to guide us on that road closer to His heart.
Sometimes life gets stale. Sometimes it gets boring, mediocre, and generally uninteresting. But is this really how life should be? To paraphrase of C.S. Lewis, all christians are interested in being happy. They aren't christians because they want to do good deeds, want to be seen as good people, or out to be famous. Essentially, all christians know that the life that they lead will give them ultimate happiness and is a better life. It might not be easier, but it is better. God didn't necessarily want life to be easier for us but he does intend for us to live a joyful life of genually loving following Him and being in His prescence. But what happens when we don't feel that joy?
Shortly after a meeting with the leaders of the ODU Intervarsity Coordinating Team, one of my good friends commented, "Are any of you tired?...of being in this role at least...it seems like all we are doing is busy work." After some conversation, we all realized that we were all getting worn out and burned out from all the coordinating and desicion-making we had been doing. With that being revealed to us, we seemed very disheartened and even more discouraged, especially since we really didn't know what to do about it. After thinking about it further, however, I thought about my friends comment about us just doing busy work. I thought that maybe all we have been doing was busy work, and the one of the only ways for this to become busy work was if God was somehow being pushed out of the picture.
Through all of our planning and coordinating, perhaps we have lost sight of the core of why we are doing all this work. Without Christ, all of our efforts are fruitless and pointless. In the same way that it is meaningless for a professor to make assignments without intending to teach anything worth learning, perhaps all of our efforts are also pointless without Christ being the center and the reason for all the effort. Granted, Christ's will will still be done, but we will learn more, see more, and genuinely enjoy more of what we do and our time with our Creator when we are mindful of His will and His purpose. At the very core, that is the very reason why we want to spread the gospel to others, not because we want to boost numbers or gain fame for ourselves, but because we genuinely know that the life we are living through Christ is better than the life of being without. Without it, life is just busy work, with no rewards, no lessons, no joyful communion with the Creator.
Perhaps the C-Team doesn't need to change any of the things we are physically doing, but perhaps we need to find where we have pushed out God and tried to infuse ourselves into His place. At the very core of the matter, I believe God wants to make this year joyful and beautiful for us all on the C-Team and in all of IV, maybe not easier, but genuinely bringing us closer to Him and to His heart. The only way that can happen is through a life of repentance and life of keeping God in complete control. We are definately there yet, I pray that God gives us the knowledge, insight, and experiences to guide us on that road closer to His heart.
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