"The Big Picture" - Psalm 8 - May 30, 1999

Recently I returned from a trip to the Smoky Mountains. I had an opportunity to spend two nights and two days relaxing in one of my favorite places. While there, we hiked to Laurel Falls, about a two mile hike which includes a picturesque waterfalls and panoramic views of the mountains. Every time I go there I am reminded of God’s wondrous creation. It humbles me. It helps me to remember how small I am in relationship to the Creator.

In the mountains it seems as though you are closer to the stars. The planet Venus was brilliant and the moon, which was about a quarter at the time, was very bright. Together they illuminated the night sky and you could see the outline of the mountain ridges, majestically standing in the distance.

My wife and I have an appreciation for nature. When we are in the mountains we can relax and escape the busy and demanding lives we live. The words of the Psalmist ring true for me, "When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?" Historically, this is the first Biblical text to reach the moon. On the Apollo 11 mission to the moon, this passage accompanied the astronauts as 73 nations included it in the expedition. For me, the passage has universal implications.

This Psalm has a two-fold purpose. On the one hand it acknowledges the might and power of God. On the other it describes the responsibility we humans have to care for the world we have been given. God is the creator of the universe but still mindful of humanity. We humans are God’s agents whereby God "has put all things under our feet."

We are in a partnership with God. God creates while we manage. The trail to Laurel Falls follows a natural winding pathway. At one point along the trail there was a small section that had been washed away by spring rains. The Department of Forestry will have to send workers to restore it, otherwise the trail will be impassable. Such are all the trails through God’s creation. They wear, erode, or become overgrown with weeds. We humans are forever challenged to repair and restore them to make them passable once again.

It is the same with the pathways to peace, the roads that connect countries and the relationships between nations. In the past weeks we have seen examples of erosion with the Country of China. Carelessness and espionage have eroded US-China relations. It will take years to heal and restore them. This will be a challenge for us in the future, but one that represents a huge part of what God has created. To ignore it would be irresponsible.

Being in the mountains enables me to see the big picture since it helps me to realize how small my problems are in relation to the universe. Our daily lives are so filled with responsibilities, chores, events and personal struggles that they consume us. We are prisoners to our immediate environment, responding and reacting to circumstances close at hand. Carrying out our daily tasks, doing chores at home, tending to our families is taxing and often prevents us from seeing beyond ourselves. We forget how enormous our world is, not to mention the cosmos beyond.

It has been my experience in counseling that people who come to me in crisis are almost always narrowly focused. Fear, guilt, and despair inhibit them from seeing a bigger picture. They are overwhelmed because of events that surround their lives, unable to look down the road ahead and see any sign of hope. One must be careful to discount the feelings of desperation that people have. They are real, sometimes terrifying. But, we can’t fix them. We can only be empathetic and attempt to help them to see more globally.

God uses we weak humans to care for God’s creation and for one another. God even uses the very weakest, the speech of powerless infants, to oppose God’s foes. "Out of the mouths of babes and infants you have founded a bulwark because of your foes, to silence the enemy and the avenger." Just as we are humbled by the magnificence of the mountains we can also be humbled by innocent, casual encounters.

Scott Peck tells about a time in his youth when he realized his life was self-absorbed, alienated from others and a stranger to himself. While he was at Phillips Exeter Academy, at the age of fifteen, he had a casual conversation with a classmate. They talked for five minutes then each continued walking in the opposite direction. After walking about fifty yards, Peck was struck by a revelation. He realized that before, during and after their encounter he had been totally preoccupied with himself. Before he thought about clever things to say. During the conversation he was listening, but only to show off his wit. Afterwards, he only thought of what he might of said that would have impressed his friend.

Peck realized that he had not cared at all for his classmate. Through the grace of God his self-centeredness and self-absorption was revealed. From that point on Peck became more global in his relationships with others.

Who is the enemy? Many are saying it is the Y2K dilemma. Jim Bakker says that we can expect some meteorite to pulverize the earth in the near future. I believe the enemy is pride, self-absorption, apathy and indifference. Note that the psalmist reminds us that God has "made us a little lower than God." God needs us to tend to God’s creation but in spite of our greatest achievements we are not God.

Notice that the Psalm begins and ends with the phrase, "O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!" Since the psalm is framed with the divine majesty of God it reminds us that our lives are framed with the divinity of God as well.

We are not capable of getting through life by ourselves. To live as though God is not relevant is to be both naïve and arrogant. God surrounds us, God is at the beginning and at the end. God is the bookends of our lives. We are sandwiched between the awesome power of the creator.

To leave God out of the partnership is to invite disaster. When pride grips our souls we put ourselves on the pedestal and unfortunately setting ourselves up for a fall. When we realize our position in relationship with the Creator we are more cognizant of the big picture and aware of our dependence upon God.

Dr. Keith Wagner, St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, Sidney, Ohio