Humility, or Feeling Small

This morning I woke up early & hopped in the shower to get ready for church. I turned on the radio, tuned to NPR, as I am wont to do, and listened to a program called something like "Simply Being." They were interviewing a Russian-born physicist who works with the Hubble telescope. I don't recall his name, but he was fascinating to listen to. There was one particular part of the interview that struck me; he said something along the lines of this:

Many years ago, we, as human, thought we were the center of creation, the center of the universe. Over time, as we have made more and more discoveries about the world, the solar system, the galaxy, the universe, we find ourselves, physically, to become smaller and smaller. But our minds, as we contemplate our new knowledge of the amazing universe in which we exist, continually expand. Physically, smaller; existentially, continually growing.

Shortly after hearing this, we left for church. The sermon this week was on being humble in the presence of God. The Pastor began by reminding us all about how we, as a human frailty, frequently measure ourselves against others around us, constantly assessing and trying to ensure a certain "pecking order." Somewhere near the end, he reminded us how frail and tiny we are, how humble in the presence of God. I felt a startling connection between what I had heard earlier on my radio, and what I had just heard in the sermon. It felt too much to be just a coincidence.

A few days ago, someone sent me an email that contained a photo they called "The Eye of God." This was an image taken by the Hubble telescope (I did check it out on Snopes.com, actually, so I can verify that).

In my mind, I have strung these three occurrences together into a not-so-coincidental message. A reminder to each of us that, no matter how tempting it is to put ourselves in the center of our lives, it is a mistake. We are all just a speck, a tiny part of something greater. We can make a difference, for good or for bad; I do believe that. But in the end, there is something so much larger than we can even imagine, something so much greater that created us, guides us, and leaves us in wonder and mystery.

Hubris is an easy trap to fall into, but, as my Mom always said, "Pride goeth before a fall." Life is a mystery, our purpose is a mystery, and what is next is a mystery. The only thing we can do in light of all that mystery is accept that we can only try our best, live, enjoy, and put our faith and trust in the Creator who makes perfection so amazing that we cannot comprehend it's limits.