When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them? Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor. -- Psalm 8:3-5
As someone with an amateur interest in astronomy, I have found myself thinking – on more than one occasion – about the idea behind the psalmist’s words in Psalm 8. This universe of ours is huge – indescribably, unimaginably huge. The image here, known as the Hubble Ultra Deep Field, gives us a glimpse of just a few of the billions of galaxies scattered through space. I’m sure most people have had the experience of peering up into a bright night sky, gazing at the stars, and thinking, “It’s beautiful, but it makes me feel so small.”
Yet one of the themes running through this week’s lectionary texts is the notion that while this universe we call home may be a staggeringly enormous place, human beings have been given an honored position by God. After all, we read in Genesis, God grants Adam the honor of naming every other living being: “So out of the ground the Lord God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name” (Genesis 2:19).
Continuing in this vein, the psalmist adds, “You have given [human beings] dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas” (Psalm 8:6-8).
At first glance, passages like these can seem like an exciting license to do whatever we choose. If we are just “a little lower than God,” with dominion over all of God’s works, don’t we have free reign over the earth and its creatures? Indeed, some have interpreted such texts to mean just that.
But I would like to propose that if we believe that human beings have been granted special favor by God – special standing on this planet, or in this universe – we have likewise been tasked with the responsibility to act with great love and care towards our fellow creatures. See, for instance, Jesus’ admonition that “from everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required” (Luke 12:48).
We humans are lucky creatures. We live on a beautiful planet. We can speak, sing, dance, and play. We can compose incredible pieces of music or works of literature; we can engage in wonderful acts of caring and compassion. We can be agents of love and service in our families and our communities, and the world at large.
Sometimes, though, we forget that being human means that, if we're not careful, we can also be agents of cruelty, or of wastefulness and destruction. We need to be constantly aware that our actions, big or small, have consequences for ourselves, our neighbors, and our world. These days there's more talk than ever about being "green" and environmentally conscious -- and that's a terrific thing! But let's not let the ongoing dialogue about care for our fellow creatures and our planet become just background noise.
In Hebrews, we read, "For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters" (Hebrews 2:11). That's a pretty powerful image. We may be tiny in relation to the whole universe, but Christ still calls us his sisters and brothers.
Having been given such a gift, perhaps one of the best ways to respond is to think about ways that we can be a gift to our world -- whether by making an effort to eat locally, adopting a rescue animal, composting our kitchen scraps, riding a bike to work, or any of the myriad other ways to take care of creation.
For a sobering look at how much of an impact our lifestyle can have on the earth, check out this footprint quiz.
Photo credit here.
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