It is a beautiful, cloudless day.  In the east there is an area of sky that gets more and more orange, showing where the sun is going to rise over the mountains.  Precisely at 6:30 the first ray hits my eye, and in a matter of a few more seconds the entire sphere has risen above the horizon.  (10 September 2016)

It happens rapidly, and with great order and dependability.

I’m lucky to live in this place where I can observe the progress of the day, and where I can actually see the world and how big it is.  Such observations aren’t possible in many other places.  In Vanuatu, or on the east coast of the United States, you’re so surrounded by trees that you can’t see the vastness of your surroundings.  Or in a big city you get the impression that the city is all there is in the world.  It’s all that you can see.

I live on a hill overlooking a broad valley.  Behind me, to the west, are huge 8,000-foot high mountains.  I’m so close to them that I can’t see the tops.  To the south, 10 miles away, I see Baker City.  To the north, 10 miles away, is the town of North Powder.  Due east, 5 miles away, is the town of Haines.  Encircling the whole scene are mountains.

Tropical Vanuatu in the South Seas was breathtakingly beautiful, but so is this—and there’s more of it.  I can see much farther here than I was ever able to do in Vanuatu.

And yet I’m only seeing a tiny speck of the creations that God watches over.

One day during my time in the U.S. Navy I found myself up on deck in the bow of the ship in the early morning before anyone else was up and about.  It was a still, cloudless morning like this one.  I was struck by the vastness of my few surroundings.  There were only five things in my world.  There were the sky, the sun, the sea, the ship, and me.  As far as I could see there was nothing but ocean and sky.  I felt smaller than an ant on a tiny cork in the midst of immensities.

My limited vision only let me see the tiniest bit of the true immensities that surrounded me.  The sun that I saw in that vast sky was 93 million miles away.  The next nearest star is four or five light years away.  Both stars are part of the Milky Way Galaxy which scientists now think is composed of perhaps 400 billion stars and at least as many planets.

Beyond that are billions of other galaxies.

As I was standing on that small ship nearly 50 years ago I was awestruck and instantly humbled.  A scripture came into my mind which ever after has carried great meaning for me.  I can’t read it now, even after all these years, without being taken back in my mind to that instant.

“When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;

“What is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou visitest him?

“For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.

“Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet.”  (Psalms 8:3-6)

These creations were made for me.  God is aware of me.  God loves me.  I am His son.  His creations are vast.  His plans for me are vast.  He has made me a little lower than the angels, and intends to elevate me above them.