Express joy for this gift of life
I hope you’ve been able to enjoy the summer weather. It’s always nice to get onto the lake for a special time in the sun.
The water refreshes us when the air gets hot. Perhaps you’ve noticed it is hard to see into the water, until you put on a mask and dive in. With a mask on, snorkeling or diving opens new perspectives, gives clarity to objects that would otherwise get clouded by the murky blur of reflection and distortion. There are other tools for seeing underwater, like sonar, that uses sound waves to create a topographic model of what is beyond visible sight.
About a million miles from Earth, the James Webb Space Telescope is now operational. It recently opened its lenses to the deepest corners of space. Free from our atmosphere’s cloudy distortions, the images of space are from space. Through visible sight, mirrors and optic lenses explore what can be seen. Other tools, like infrared, reveal even more.
This telescope dives into the galaxy to explore the universe from within. Already, the images sent to astronomers have been amazing. But this powerful instrument has a short life span. Five or six years from now, wear and tear will catch up with it and there will be no one close enough to fix it. It has an important mission in the meantime.
As Christians, baptism launches us deeper into God’s promises of loving presence. Through the Holy Spirit, we are confirmed and commissioned into lives of reflective service and trust in Christ.
As we follow Jesus, God lives through us, so love is made visible. We are not always perfect in this calling, and part of the journey involves dealing with our own distortions, checking our lenses, and honestly recognizing that we only see a small slice of God’s larger reality. Yet as brief as life is, God is faithful, and we participate as God is expressed as our lives. Deeper than the ocean and broader than the universe, in Christ our hearts are connected to all things.
This summer, dive into the lake, be refreshed as you feel the water around you. May this experiential immersion be a living prayer of thanks for God’s love that holds you in a special way amid time and space. As you float in the cool water, on the surface of this whirling planet, in the spiral of a galaxy we call the Milky Way, in this corner of a larger cosmos, part of a dynamic universe, God is as close as your own heart. When you come to the surface, breathe deep, and as you exhale, say “Thank you.” Kick your feet and wiggle your toes as simple ways to express joy for this gift of life.
Pastor Andy Kennaly is pastor at First Presbyterian Church, 417 N. Fourth Ave., Sandpoint. He can be reached at fpcsandpoint.org or by phone at 208-263-2047.