center

"Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.  Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness." (Psalm 29:1-2)

So Kyrie Irving believes that the earth is flat.  Interesting.  He's entitled to his opinion, right?  From where I stand--right here, right now--I could buy into that theory.  I mean, from my own little vantage point in this great big world, that's the way it appears to be.  The problem is that time after time I have found that my own little vantage point is not a reliable place to begin.  The larger picture is the one that shows the truth.  The spaceships and satellites that have orbited our planet tell us the real story that our limited vision cannot see.  Oh sure, I can deny all of the evidence to the contrary and live in my own perception of the "truth," but that doesn't change the fact that the truth will still be the truth whether I acknowledge it or not. 

I'm sure Copernicus had the same conversations when he helped us to see that the earth is, in fact, not the center of the universe, the sun is.  There is just something within us that refuses to believe that that's true.  Our default, both then and now, is to believe that we are the center of the universe, that everything revolves around us.  And, unfortunately, I tend to live my life that way.  That's where the Psalms can be so helpful.  They remind me that this life is not about me.  I am not the center of the universe, God is.  And when I begin to truly believe that, and to live as if it were true, it changes everything.  The truth is that my life is not my own; I was made for bigger purposes.  My tiny little story isn't the main story.  I am participant in a story much bigger and much more amazing than I could dare hope or dream.  I was made by God, for God.  My life revolves around him, not he around me.  When I begin to recognize that truth I am able to begin to see things as they really are, and to engage in the life God made me for.

Eugene Peterson said it so well in his book Answering God: "The Psalms were not prayed by people trying to understand themselves.  They are not the record of people searching for the meaning of life.  They were prayed by people who understood that God had everything to do with them.  God, not their feelings, was the center.  God, not their souls, was the issue.  God, not the meaning of life, was critical."

O Lord God, Creator of all things, please remind me again today that I am not the center of the universe, you are!