My Universal Camera (or Laura's First Big Thought)

Sometimes when I’m stressing out, I pretend I have a camera. And I zoom in on my feelings and thoughts. They’re all mixed up and thrashing around in my braincells.

Slowly, and the speed is important, I zoom out. I see all of myself now. I see my mind, body, and spirit. And I zoom out farther. I see me among my friends and family.

I zoom out more until I see my town. It’s small and lets off little lights at the edge of the highway. I zoom out farther and see my province. A big large chunk of land stuck beside some lakes. 

I zoom out further and see my country. It’s a sweet little place that sits on top of another country. It’s very quiet.

I put on a special kind of lens and zoom out until I see my planet. It’s white and blue and turns ever so slowly. I zoom out further and see the Milky Way Galaxy. It’s a breathtakingly gorgeous white spiral.

I gulp before the next one. It’s the hardest for me to do. I turn the zoom control as hard as I can and I see the universe. The Milky Way is just on the edge there. I have to blink several times to try to wrap my mind around it.

I then hit it one more time. I zoom out to see the universe like a ball of yarn. All twisted and knotted. It’s full of time, matter, and energy. All the noise and action of every being is contained within it.

I can just make out the outline of a great big tri-fold spirit. They’re weaving their way in between the yarn. They are reaching out, whispering, and loving. They are gently ferocious. They created it and they can destroy it. But they don’t. They continue to love the infinitesimal creatures and pull them towards their selves. 

At the moment there is a tiny microorganism that is being evolved in a planet on the other side of the universe. They are watching and helping it along the way. 

My camera’s zoom function snaps and I’m back to only seeing myself. I inhale fresh oxygen into my lungs and exhale it out. And in that action, I know.

I know that I am alive. I know that I am cared for. I know that I have a purpose. I know that I am so very very small. And I know that there is Someone who loves me just as much as that microorganism that just recently evolved. And just like that microorganism, they are watching, listening, and helping me along the way.

Everything is small.

Everything is temporary.

Everything but this beautiful tri-fold spirit. 

 



God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. They continue to whisper through my life and yours. They desperately want to sweep away our selfishness, our anger, and our grief. They wait and call for us to come home. They are so filled with love and partner with us to change the universe. Everything that is good and beautiful in the world is their handiwork. They love what they’ve created and love to share it with all of us. They are eternal, never-changing, joyful, and intensely good.

And I think no matter what I’m facing, I’m going to try to keep the focus of my lens on what is permanent. And from the camera that I own, that is God.

(This is just how I see it. Everyone sees the universe differently. And that’s what I think God loves about us. We’re so different. Not one of us the same. I think that drives him crazy with excitement and curiosity.)