Size Matters

Been trying to find a way into this topic, Brothers and Sisters, but no luck. Maybe if we just chat awhile it’ll dawn on us.

And there are a lot of us’s. Seven billion human beings and counting, alive right this instant, each pumping out many thousands of thoughts in a  day, emotions zigging high and low, body heat, breath itself: life affirming and toxic in each heartbeat.

Question: Do the dark, angry, petty, self pleasing thoughts outweigh the kind, mild, gentle selfless thoughts? In total, I mean, all seven billion. In what ratio? Half empty or half full doesn’t really convey the size of the glass, does it?

That is a challenge for the imagination we decline. We get our thirst for the outsized quenched in imax theaters. Now, nature lovers, I hear you, most of us have had the experience of being dumbstruck by the size, scope and power of the natural world. But being brought to a different mind set by surrendering to the majesty of Nature is not exactly the same thing as keeping all of Human Consciousness in mind.

Or trying to imagine it at any rate, to return the challenge at hand. Because of course the problem is, what image do we use to imagine all of humanity, each of the seven billion souls alive now, the humans leaving life as I write this line, the humans being born just now. What image stands for the totality of mankind?

You know where this is going.

The only image in human consciousness that encompasses all of us is Jesus, the Christ.  Only He is transcendentally large enough for the job. The Calendar of the Western World was broken in half by his birth. Everyone has heard of Him, the vast majority have thought about him, tried to picture him. (It is always a near miss) Many billions have adored him. All of those thoughts, prayers and adoration’s have accumulated for 2,000 years. Leaving the question of his divinity aside, Jesus is surely the most revered and respected human being to ever walk the earth. Think of the sheer volume of positive intentions directed at Jesus over time and across the world.

Excuse me, I’m being rude. I ask you to chat and don’t let you get word in.

Can you think of another image in our heads–man, thing, or spirit–that is universally recognized as a symbol of humanity?

Stumped? Then think of the image of Christ the Redeemer in Brazil, arms outstretched, beckoning all of us individually and all of us as God’s creation. It is entirely welcoming, assuring, loving. And it”s message is clear.

Our lives, by the billions, our thoughts, by the decillions, are eventually, inevitably poured into Christ.

The glass only He can measure is overflowing with his Living Water.