Discovering the Real Jesus in Monroe

I was at MCCC today doing some things and saw a bald eagle above, his white head and tail and black body clearly defined against a perfect blue sky. I, probably like you, have seen a lot of eagles in Monroe in the past several years. We’ve got eagles in Monroe! Is anyone else excited about this?

I was sitting on my deck this afternoon when a sparrow suddenly left the feeder and nearly flew into me and then our house. The reason: a large hawk landed in a tree next to the deck and the sparrow wacked out. I sat still – this was a holy moment for me. (”Holy,” in Greek, means “set apart.” This was a small, “set-apart” moment for me.)

Last night some of our church’s musicians were recording a cd and when we came out of the building we saw the orange moon on the horizon. Linda and I stared. Holy.

Psalm 8:3-4, in a translation called The Message, reads:

“I look up at your macro-skies, dark and enormous,
your handmade sky-jewelry,
Moon and stars mounted in their settings.
Then I look at my micro-self and wonder,
Why do you bother with us?
Why take a second look our way?”

When you’re a theist like I am and believe the universe was created, hence a Creator, nature reveals the glory and majesty of God. Such earthly things were God’s idea, fashioned in the mind of God.

This includes you and I. In this regard Psalm 139:13 says: “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” Verse 14 then says, “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” My microbiologist and biochemist professor-friends go ga-ga when they study the human cell and the human genome. I’ve talked for hours and hours with scientists who are theists and love it when their eyes get glassy and their words get poetic as they try to express the wonder and the glory. The God who created the macro-skies “bothers” with our tiny micro-selves.
Here’s a picture I took last night of the moon with the tiny zoom lens on my Canon Powershot. Holy, holy, holy Lord, heaven and earth and Monroe County are filled with your glory.