Cosmology meets Dr. Seuss

This picture was taken by Voyager I from the edge of our solar system, approximately 3,762,136,324 miles from home. This is what cosmologist Carl Sagan said about it.

"Look again at that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every ‘superstar,’ every ‘supreme leader,’ every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there — on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds.

Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves."

 What a statement devoid of hope. He goes on to deliver a thrilling demand that we care for our one speck, which is so unique as to shelter us. However, it is here that I must dispute Mr. Sagan. 

It is true, that looking at that picture, some incredulity may surface that a God could possibly focus his attentions and energy and love on such an invisible, fragile dust mote drifting through an inconcievably immense cosmos. How does that fit with the character of God? How, looking at that picture, can we not shrug our shoulders as Mr. Sagan has, and decide that everything we do here is completely futile?

And why not? Why not take an existential and hedonistic path, choosing to pursue all of our fleshly desires, when we are so obviously inconsequential? Why not follow the path of Mr. Sagan, a drug addict  who plowed through three different marriages? I would submit we find a greater purpose, not in SPITE of the being merely blemish on the face of the universe, but because of it.

We are Seuss' Horton Hears A Who. We are a speck sitting on a pink flower sitting on the end of an elephant's trunk. We may be the Who who plods around Whoville determinedly ignoring all the signs, and stubbornly believes that there is no one, no power, nothing, outside of the clouds surrounding our little universe. We may be the one guy who SCREAMS with all his might, hoping to be heard, hoping to pierce the atmosphere.

This brings us to Horton. Luckily for us, there is Horton. For reasons we cannot begin to comprehend, He chose us out of an immense pink field. He focused his attention upon us. He claimed us as his people. He protected us, a speck, in the midst of a world of danger, and He cared for us. He continues to do so. He is the answer to why our little life is not meaningless. It may be true that a great God certainly doesn't need our help or permission any more than an Elephant needs a dust mote to be able to effect change in our little world. However, it is since we are so tiny that we should be all the more drawn to be constantly giving thanks to Him for choosing us. While Carl Sagan may have pierced our humble atmosphere, he sadly failed to see into the world beyond. He missed the great love that was there waiting for him. Let us not follow in his footsteps. Why would we, after all, when there is such a greater expanse to blaze our own path through, freed to trust in one greater than ourselves.

                                      

micah music.

As you may or may not know, Jon Foreman, the lead singer of Switchfoot, has four albums of his own. Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer. They're the epitome of thoughtful, slightly emo indie strummy strum strum music. Also known as: my favorite. One of my FAVORITES of these is on the autumn album, and is entitled "Equally Skilled." I'd encourage you to go look it up. It's amazing.
But what blew my mind, is that the lyrics mirror Micah 7 exactly. I eventually looked up Micah, because I kept thinking "MAN this is like that one sermon...." and then POOF. It's basically like, a paraphrase. Here's the lyrics, and then Micah 7. If it wouldn't take me 8 years to format, I would stick them next to eachother to shorten the post, and also for visual awesomeness. BUT NO COMPLAINING ABOUT THE LENGTH! IT'S BIBLE! JUST READ IT! =) =P


How miserable I am
I feel like a fruit-picker 
Who arrived here
After the harvest
There's nothing here at all
Nothing at all here 
That could placate my hunger
The godly people are all gone
There's not one honest soul left alive
Here on the planet
We're all murderers and thieves
Setting traps here 
For even our brothers

And both of our hands 
Are equally skilled
At doing evil, equally skilled
At bribing the judges 
Equally skilled
At perverting justice
Both of our hands
Both of our hands

The day of justice comes
And is even now swiftly arriving
Don't trust anyone at all
Not your best friend 
Or even your wife
For the son hates the father
The daughter despises even her mother
Look, your enemies arrive
Right in the room 
Of your very household

And both of their hands 
Are equally skilled
At doing evil 
Equally skilled
At bribing the judges 
Equally skilled
At perverting justice
Both of their hands
Both of their hands

No, don't gloat over me
Though I fall, though I fall
I will rise again
Though I sit here in darkness
The Lord, the Lord alone
He will be my light
I will be patient 
As the Lord
Punishes me 
For the wrongs I've done
Against Him
After that 
He'll take my case
Bringing me 
To light and the justice
For all I have suffered

And both of His hands
Are equally skilled
At ruining evil 
Equally skilled
At judging the judges 
Equally skilled
Administering justice
Both of His hands

Both of His hands
Are equally skilled
At showing me mercy 
Equally skilled
At loving the loveless 
Equally skilled
Administering justice
Both of His hands
Both of His hands.


Micah 7.

Woe is me! For I have become
as when the summer fruit has been gathered,
as when the grapes have been gleaned:
there is no cluster to eat,
no first-ripe fig that my soul desires.2 The godly has perished from the earth,
and there is no one upright among mankind;
they all lie in wait for blood,
and each hunts the other with a net.3 Their hands are on what is evil, to do it well;
the prince and the judge ask for a bribe,
and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul;
thus they weave it together.4 The best of them is like a brier,
the most upright of them a thorn hedge.
The day of your watchmen, of your punishment, has come;
now their confusion is at hand.5 Put no trust in a neighbor;
have no confidence in a friend;
guard the doors of your mouth
from her who lies in your arms;6 for the son treats the father with contempt,
the daughter rises up against her mother,
the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
a man's enemies are the men of his own house.7 But as for me, I will look to the Lord;
I will wait for the God of my salvation;
my God will hear me.

8 Rejoice not over me, O my enemy;
when I fall, I shall rise;
when I sit in darkness,
the Lord will be a light to me.9 I will bear the indignation of the Lord
because I have sinned against him,
until he pleads my cause
and executes judgment for me.
He will bring me out to the light;
I shall look upon his vindication.10 Then my enemy will see,
and shame will cover her who said to me,
“Where is the Lord your God?”
My eyes will look upon her;
now she will be trampled down
like the mire of the streets.

11 A day for the building of your walls!
In that day the boundary shall be far extended.12 In that day they will come to you,
from Assyria and the cities of Egypt,
and from Egypt to the River,
from sea to sea and from mountain to mountain.13 But the earth will be desolate
because of its inhabitants,
for the fruit of their deeds.

14 Shepherd your people with your staff,
the flock of your inheritance,
who dwell alone in a forest
in the midst of a garden land;
let them graze in Bashan and Gilead
as in the days of old.15 As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt,
I will show them marvelous things.16 The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might;
they shall lay their hands on their mouths;
their ears shall be deaf;17 they shall lick the dust like a serpent,
like the crawling things of the earth;
they shall come trembling out of their strongholds;
they shall turn in dread to the Lord our God,
and they shall be in fear of you.

18 Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity
and passing over transgression
for the remnant of his inheritance?
He does not retain his anger forever,
because he delights in steadfast love.19 He will again have compassion on us;
he will tread our iniquities underfoot.
You will cast all our sins
into the depths of the sea.20 You will show faithfulness to Jacob
and steadfast love to Abraham,
as you have sworn to our fathers
from the days of old

and because this was the post that started me going on this...

So I listened to this John Piper Sermon while running today ( 4 miles ftw.) And I was super convicted about some stuffz. So then I went into the the locker room and journaled for 20 minutes instead of doing weights, lol. But anyway, yeah, the rest of this is an excerpt from my journal. *GASP!*

3:04 PM
Why do we not ask? James says it's the only reason we don't receive. I Corinthians says we are united to a Christ who is an infinite well of wisdom, strength, and power, and that that well is at our disposal since he loves us so unconditionally.
So ASK already[for things that glorify Him] and trust to receive!
We sit and grumble and complain about church. All the petty, meaningless things. On a GOOD day we might wonder arrogantly how we might help "whip things into shape" before quickly discarding the notion. Why turn to God who is capable of ANYTHING and EVERYTHING instead of sitting around causing dissension?!?!

This is a prayer by John SomethingorOther of Dundee, England, prayed about his church in 183something. A few months afterwards, his church was blessed with a revival, and over 300 were brought to Christ and added to the church.

"Oh Lord, as you are often accustomed to do
Show your great power
in the absence of our righteousness.
Send a remarkable awakening
that results in hundreds coming to Christ.
Old animosities being removed
Marriages reconciled and renewed
Wayward children coming home
Long-standing slavery to sin conquered
Spiritual dullness replaced with vibrant joy
Weak faith replaced by bold witness
Disinterest in prayer replaced by fervent intercession
Boring Bible reading replaced by passion for the Word
Disinterest in global missions replaced by energy for Christ's name proclaimed among the nations
Lukewarm worship and lives replaced by zeal for the greatness of God's glory.
In Jesus Name, Amen."

Totally awesome. I pray that the Spirit might take hold in this way in individuals, in families, in church leaders, in congregations, in sister churches, and in the whole church and body of Christ.

The possibilities of His great works are infinite. Lord, we know we have nothing to do with any of this.


So transform us.


In Jesus Name, Amen."

exquisite revelations of my 10-year-old mind.

Heheheh. 

Recently, I re-discovered an old journal from when I was 10, and a folder of poetry from when I was 11. This is a letter from myself at 10, to myself at 16. It's quite.... =D Well. You can read it for yourself.

Oct 26 2003
Dear 16-year-old Ellen,
WHO ARE YOU DATING? 
[this wildly scribbled out. =D way to skip to the important topics, 10yearoldme]
I'm figuring you're in your first year of college. 
[nice job! I'm impressed!]
You're probably studying either Writing or Anthropology. 
[heh. you're close.]
I bet you're dating a guy with red hair, and grey blue eyes, and maybe a turned-up nose. 
[...]
I bet your favorite sport is Volleyball or Gymnastics, I bet you're at least 6 feet tall. 
[HA! Gymnastics?!? And no, thank goodness.]
What I can't decide though, is what university you're at. 
[frankly, me either.]
Today it's a Sunday. Pastor Lyon is out hunting though.
[Somethings never change. =D ]
I hope with all my heart I'm converted now. 
[ =) ]
That's a funny thought! I wonder if I'm still I'm still [sic] friends with Bethany Hammermaster! 
[who's she?]
Love
10-year-old Ellen.

Heh. I'm curious though, why I asked in the first place who I was dating (assuming I'm dating someone at 16? Shocking.) when CLEARLY I had it all figured out, lol. Perhaps that's why I scribbled it out.

Through this journal, I have tons of random research about random cultures, and plenty of half-started, forgotten novels. Some of them focus on slavic mythology, and the "pelopponesian[sic ;) ] war", but my most developed story was about a dragon named Excilia. She was a warrior princess engaged in an epic battle between the evil dwarves and the "dark unicorns". I distinctly remember writing this story to make the aforementioned Beth mad, since she liked unicorns so much. =D

Coming soon, a collection of my bizarre poetry...about myself. I describe myself as noodly. It's pretty. incredible. In the original sense of the word. =D