"Sky"

Psalm 115:1-3, 16
Matthew 4:12-17

The conventional thought on God is in the heavens and man is on the earth is that God is somehow separate from man, living somehow above the world.  In the chapter entitled Sky in the Diana Butler Bass book Grounded, she describes her encounter with the deep dark night at Ring Lake Ranch in Wyoming and how the dark sky and its millions of stars affects her thoughts on sky.  I think this suggests we think of sky not as something separate from us, but as something that is enveloping us, all around us, part of all we are, but also much more infinite than we can ever imagine.

She writes of sky also being water in the clouds and light from the sun.  Sky encompasses all of life. So why wouldn't the psalmist describe God as being in the heavens?

The words of Jesus also remind us of this God both infinite and right in our faces.  He often talks of the kingdom of heaven as something we create here and now, not something we aspire to.  In the Lord's Prayer it says, "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven" which means the 'heaven' we speak of is something we are to aspire to create right here on earth.  In this scripture above, Matthew 4, we read of Jesus' relocation from Nazareth to Caperneum as fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah, which also says that those who have been sitting around in darkness need not do that any longer because now the sun has come up.  We have here the belief that a new day has come through the message and witness of Jesus.  Jesus says, "Change your life. God's kingdom is here."
The heavenly perfection you desire to reach.... just look around you, it's right here.

I have a children's book called ""I've Never Seen the Wind."

"I've never seen the wiind, but I know it's there.
I know it's there because it lifts my kite into the sky. the wind blows my hair and chases off the dark clouds when the rain is over."

Sky is both a concrete concept that can be explained by science and an abstract one that encompasses much of our very being.  What if we stopped thinking vertically about our faith... thinking of God (and sky) as something way up there above us and started thinking more horizontally about our faith... God (and sky) are all around me, a part of all that is and all that has been and all that will be.

Thoughts? Email me at peverhart@niwotumc.org or comment at the comments link below.