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The Most Astounding Fact

I've written on the subject of awe before, and perhaps I blew your mind then... but as we know, awe is great for your brain and heart, so here we go again. ;) 

 

Take a minute to stare at this picture. This universe is an astonishingly beautiful place. And it's huge. The scale of the image that you see before you at this moment is beyond human comprehension. The size of even just one of those points of white light is beyond imagination. Think about this: the star that we orbit, our sun, is SO LARGE that 1,000,000 earths would fit inside. One million earths. And yet, as we know, it's not even considered a large star. 
Each of these points of white light could probably fit at least a million earths inside them. And there's more space taken up in this picture by blackness--or, space--than by stars... simply stated, the magnificent scale of just this tiny slice of universe in the picture is unbelievable. 
If you have a few minutes and want to blow your own mind, get a better picture of the scale of the universe.
And then, you can take a minute and think about what it's made of. I'm taking chemistry this year, and learning about the building blocks of everything in the universe--atoms. And the truth is, the very same substances which constitute the churning plasma core of the earth, and the burning centers of stars, and the massive columns of "space dust", and the matter of which galaxies are made of... constitute you.
I cannot even adequately describe the wonder I have thought myself into. Here--watch this.


 Although all of this is mind-blowing, nothing can compare to the full-on realization that none of this happened by accident. From quantum foam to the Sloan Great Wall, none of it happened by chance. It was all shaped and created by one loving hand. He knows EVERYTHING about EVERYTHING. He knows everything there is to know about each of the objects, however great or small, in the universe. He knew the old, high-mass, unstable stars that exploded, spewing their enriched guts throughout the universe. And He knows those very same elements, those very same atoms, in you. He knows every atom in your body. Yes, He knows everything about everything, and this is astonishing enough, but there's more.

 He is the Lord of the universe. We are tiny, insignificant humans. But he cares about us. 
He cares about us so much that he left all His knowledge and power behind and came to earth as a tiny, helpless infant; grew up, just as we did; dedicated His life to teaching us a better way to live; and finally, He suffered incalculable amounts of pain, as big as the universe itself, and gave up His life...

And it was all for us. Us tiny, insignificant human beings.

"This is a paradox of man: compared to God, man is nothing; yet we are everything to God."

This, my friends, is the most astounding fact.

Comments

  1. UnknownApril 4, 2013 at 8:19 PM

    Beautiful post, Chip! You've touched my heart again. :)

    There's a power in awe. There really is! I am amazed at all the epiphanies that we've been able to come up with from the same idea. What amazes me, though, is that all these epiphanies are born from one idea: love.

    Take a moment to think about it. I'm firmly convinced that love is the most powerful, unbreakable, eternal emotion we know. In my mind, it's what makes the world go 'round. What do you think?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. UnknownApril 4, 2013 at 11:15 PM

      I totally agree with you Sanneke! This was really inspiring Chip! You are a very powerful and influential writer!

      Delete
    2. CatherineApril 5, 2013 at 5:05 AM

      YES, Sanneke, you're totally right! I think a lot of people don't really understand the power of love, because that word is so grossly overused in our society. But it's prettymuch the basis of everything... at least in my humble opinion. :)
      Thanks, CaRynn! And thanks for commenting, guys. :D It gives me warm fuzzies in my tummy. :3

      Delete

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