We're All That, And A Bag Of Chips

Psalm 8

Yesterday, in our pre-Confirmation gathering, we asked the Youth, Young Adults, and Adults who were there to answer one question; what was the one thing you learned or the one thing you enjoyed most about the Confirmation process?

The answers mostly circled around what their favorite moments were, as opposed to what their favorite class was. As we went around the circle, giving everyone an opportunity to speak it became obvious there wasn't one overall answer to the question, nor was there one particular moment. It would seem that as each person spoke and gave what was their memorable class, teacher, or subject all the others agreed and a conversation  about whatever that thing was began.

We laughed as we told our own stories and in the end everyone felt really good about the process which brought us to that particular day. We saw, even though we may not have realized, that we had grown closer in relationship with one another and with God - and maybe along the way we grew a little closer to our self.

I would like to think this is what our Psalmist is reminding us of today. As humans we're always in God's mind, which seems amazing when we think about it. The world is full of so much beauty - majestic snow-capped mountains, shimmering sunlight on the ocean, red-orange skies spotted by silver puffs of cloud as the sun sets - that sometimes we forget God has time for us.

It's when we gather in a room, willing to be open and non-judgmental in a civil conversation, that we begin to understand just how much God thinks of us. In my opinion there's no way 12 people, all of different backgrounds, each with a different reason for being there, can get together and openly share what is on their mind and in their heart, unless they are all willing to listen.

The Psalmist puts an enormous amount of importance on the human race as caretakers of the earth. I think in order to be effective caretakers of God's creation we need to first be caretakers of each other. What I witnessed in that room yesterday seemed to be a great beginning, and an even better example, of just how we can take care of one another.