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| View from the top of Lingira hill. |
One of my favorite places is on the top of the hill which
runs like a rocky backbone down the middle of the island.
A 20-minute hike up the stone-embedded and grass-covered
slope and you reach the top. The stunning 360-view makes the breathless
endeavor so worth it as you take in the immense lake, the other islands and the
landforms of all shapes and sizes.
On the hilltop I gain a different perspective; I feel small.
Not insignificant, just small in comparison to the vast panorama.
As I sat atop the hill last weekend, my ears were alerted to
chirping and “clicking.” My eyes scanned the skies and I saw tiny birds flying,
swooping and riding the air currents. I no longer felt like the small one as I watched
these little creatures in their own world.
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| Looking toward the southeast from the hilltop. |
I realized one’s vantage point can change one’s perspective.
I imagine in their own environment, my winged friends prize
their station. But when they ride the massive waves of the air, they are “put
in their place.”
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| A bird's eye view of the island. |
Bigger than they, I feel significant in “my place” and the
island I call home seems large enough – until I climb the hill and gain a new
vantage point. The lake and landforms stretch as far as the naked eye can see.
Lake Victoria is the second largest freshwater lake in the world, with
thousands of islands scattered across its surface. The wide and long panorama
puts me back in my humble position once again.
A massive lake with numerous islands and yet on a map, Lake
Victoria shrinks in comparison to the continent on which it sits. It is put in
its place. Africa has 54 countries and is the second-largest continent and the
second most populous in the world.
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| Uganda in East Africa. |
My home of Uganda is the world’s second most populous
landlocked country, trailing only behind neighboring Ethiopia. (1) And it is
the 35th largest country in terms of population. Yet, it can be
difficult to find on a map, compared to the enormity of the continent it is
enveloped in and to the rest of planet Earth.
Africa itself is home to 1.13 billion people or about 15%
percent of the world’s population. Its expanse covers six percent of the Earth’s
total surface and 20 percent of its total land area. (2)
Speaking of the Earth, I love those film documentaries that
show our planet from space – giving again a greater view.
On our blue and green globe, we feel pretty important. We
used to think we were the center of the universe, until we took “a step back”
and gained an accurate perspective.
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| Earth |
According to NASA, if the sun was as tall as a typical front
door, the Earth in comparison would be the size of a nickel. (3) As an
inhabitant of our “important” planet, how do you feel now?
Again, according to NASA, there are billions of solar systems
in our galaxy and billions of galaxies in the universe. (4) Have you ever tried
to count to a billion?
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| Our solar system orbiting the sun. |
Each time I look at the star-studded night sky, I am
reminded of the immensity of the universe.
In our own realms we seem to know “our place” and our
importance. Yet it is not our geographical location nor our status that gives
us significance, it is the fact that we were created and are known by our
Awesome Creator.
The same God who sees the tiny bird atop my small island is
the same One who takes in our “immeasurable” universe in one glance. Just try
and wrap your mind around that.
A sparrow cannot fall to the ground apart from His notice
and yet the nations are a drop in the bucket to Him. (Matthew 10:29, Isaiah
40:15) How is this possible?
I don’t know and I can’t wrap my mind around it. But
recognizing God’s amazing power and omniscience reminds me my problems are not
difficult for Him. It is enough that He sees me and knows me as a unique and
prized individual (Psalm 13) and expresses that what is important to me is important
to Him. This is incredible, incomprehensible love.
When the status of our lives or our country or of our world
begin to birth anxious thoughts in our hearts and minds, may I encourage you to
watch the sparrows or look up at the night sky. Our God is an Awesome God. He
sees all, He knows all; He is sovereign. Yes, He intimately knows our troubles,
but He tells us not to worry because He’s in charge and always will be.
He’s got the whole world and so much more in His hands.
“Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your
glory in the heavens.
Through the praise
of children and infants
you have established
a stronghold against your enemies,
to silence the foe
and the avenger.
When I consider your
heavens,
the work of your
fingers,
the moon and the
stars,
which you have set
in place,
what is mankind that
you are mindful of them,
human beings that
you care for them?
You have made them a
little lower than the angels
and crowned them with glory and honor.
You made them rulers
over the works of your hands;
you put everything
under their feet:
all flocks and
herds,
and the animals of
the wild,
the birds in the
sky,
and the fish in the
sea,
all that swim the
paths of the seas.
Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your
name in all the earth!” Psalm 8 (NIV)
4. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=SolarSys
