 "Mother Earth revolves around the Sun. Our lives revolve around the Divine." ~Unknown Much of this idea of “finding God in the ordinary” involves having a presence in nature. God reveals so much of Who He is in the vast complexity of creation. For so long, I only thought God spoke to us through His Word, which can be difficult to understand from time to time. If the only way to hear God’s voice is through a text that can confuse us with its cultural undertones, how are we to know God? I’ve learned recently that He also makes His presence known through the many patterns woven into nature. I’ve always found a fascination with the stars. I guess part of it comes from understanding we’ll never fully know what’s out there. There’s always a mystery and always a new adventure for mankind to embark on. That being said, my brother and I recently got into a conversation about astronomical models (normal sibling conversation, right?). Specifically, we discussed a theory called geocentrism, which has long been rejected and superseded by the heliocentric theory. It turns out, according to geocentrism, humanity used to believe that the entire universe revolved around the planet Earth. Everything—the Moon, Sun, every star in the universe, and every planet—orbited our small Earth. The geocentric model was the predominant belief of ancient civilizations for nearly 1500 years. However, in the sixteenth century, Nicolaus Copernicus shared the idea of heliocentrism, which stated that the Sun was at the center of the universe and everything—including our comparatively infinitesimal planet—orbited it in a cosmic dance. However, it took centuries from its conception for heliocentrism to become accepted by the general population. While learning about these astronomical models, it hit me that perhaps this isn’t some random coincidence of design. Maybe it’s a deliberate reflection of how we are meant to conduct our lives. Since sin entered the world, man has gravitated toward a reality in which everything revolves around himself when, in fact, we are meant to live in an eternal dance in which our lives orbit around God’s only Son, Jesus Christ. In many ways, we’re not too different from ancient civilizations that believed for so long in this geocentric model. We’ve come to accept a geocentric way of thinking in which our lives gravitate toward the center. It shows up in the way we speak, act, live, and treat others. It comes in the pursuit of money, status, and notoriety rather than the pursuit of God’s will. Even though many of us have the head knowledge that building our lives around Christ is the best way to live, it takes a while to translate to practice, much like in the case of the ancient world’s acceptance of the heliocentric theory. Hundreds of years ago, we finally started to make the switch into a different line of thinking, that we in fact are not at the heart of the universe and there’s something bigger out there that we orbit around. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said it best when he shared that “Of all discoveries and opinions, none may have exerted a greater effect on the human spirit than the doctrine of Copernicus. The world has scarcely become known as round and complete in itself when it was asked to waive the tremendous privilege of being the center of the universe.” Maybe it’s time that we relinquish the center seat and hand over the tremendous privilege of being at the heart of all things to Jesus. Questions for Reflection
*To learn more about the history of geocentrism and heliocentrism, see: Planetary Motion: The History of an Idea That Launched the Scientific Revolution
Photocred: Unsplash
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