rooftops, the universe, and an overarching metanarrative

The other night me and some of my friends were hanging out at my parents' house on their roof, they had left town for the holiday. We had been lying on our backs looking at the sky when my friend Jesse said "look at the universe I mean it's just right there." As I looked up at the sky the realization came over me that our earth, as large and amazing as it is, is only a fraction of a percent of all material, and I was only a dot on that globe. It occurred to me that this thing above me spun and whirred in perfect timing and beauty, this display of massive power suspended in endless space goes on without me.

Not that I am arrogant enough to think otherwise, but it was for some reason specifically impressed upon me how exponentially greater this thing is compared to me. I go about my life as if I were the main character, however the infinity of the universe dwarfs my story. This frightened me and indeed it is a frightening thing to live a life trying to play the lead in an infinite and uncaring universe.

But then I was comforted; I remembered that God made the night sky to be beautiful for him and to share with us his power and love for us. He made nature to express himself to us and he expresses himself excellently. When I stare the universe in the face at night I see what he made, and with it he says to me "Look Ryan, I love you this big!" Then he holds out his hands to the span of the universe. This gives me courage to take up the pen and write my story playing not the lead but a supporting role in a story by a master author.

here goes

This summer my two house mates are going to be out of town most of the summer, Stuart Brand is taking his canoe from the headwaters of the Mississippi in Minnesota to it's delta in New Orleans to raise money for Cancer research. My other housemate Cory Mac is going to be going on various trips throughout the summer with a preacher as part of his Seminary training. They both have begun blogs to chronicle their various adventures throughout this season.

This got me thinking a little, as I have always had an inclination to write down my thoughts, meaningful or otherwise, out in order to process, share, or at best create some kind of meaning out of experience. I feel a blog is probably a pretty good way to channel these creative juices. With this blog I aim to put form to the gestating ideas in my head. To catalogue learned lessons or arguments reasoned. So here she is for better or worse my first blog post.

who knows?