Size - 11/21/11

Contemplation is a tool I sometimes use in order to remember the vastness of the universe.  It affords me, if only briefly, a tantalizing glimpse into infinity.  When I look within, quietly contemplating my own self-awareness,  I will occasionally discover an unfolding piece of the universe.  Worlds within worlds, spanning untold legions....where size and scale is so enormous and incomprehensible that it leaves me utterly dumbfounded if I linger on it for more than a few seconds.

Truly, the depth and breadth of existence is unbelievable.  Staggering.  It will rock you to your core if you let it; if you allow the memory of size to surface within your awareness for even a moment.

Some pictures taken by NASA, such as the Hubble Deep Field and the Pillars of Creation, are wonderful examples of the scale of our universe, but still....they lack the feeling that accompanies our experience of them.  We can KNOW that space is beyond measure, but until we feel it, this knowledge is meaningless.

We have all of the knowledge and wisdom of life itself within us, but more than that we have the total sum experience of this knowledge as well.  The feeling of these incredible phenomenon are with us always, lying in wait, unknown, unbidden, but there nevertheless.  As God incarnate, we are inseparable from it.  We only need a means to access these feelings in order to appreciate them.  Music and meditation are methods I use for remembering.  They both fill me with energy, with immediacy, and instil in me a sense of wonder and grandeur that is unequivocal in its scope.  Perhaps you have your own means for recalling your place within the cosmos; how small, insignificant, and incredible you are to be here and aware of any of it at all. 

I hope the memory of scale humbles your spirit and fills you with gratitude and love for the opportunity to be alive. This Thanksgiving consider the extent of our universe, and appreciate how lucky you are to exist AS you are.

To quote Stephen King's 'The Gunslinger': The greatest mystery the universe offers is not life but size.