Space

One of the things I’ve quite liked about the lockdown is the feeling of space. I like being with people, but I’m also quite introverted. Which means I like my space. Part of the problem with my job is that, for people like me, it’s people heavy. Don’t get me wrong, I like being with people. I love being in front of people, but not always. And the challenge with the job is how to keep the balance between people and space. I need space to think. I need space to read. I need space to prepare and write a talk. I need space to imagine. And if I’m going to be creative, I need space. But it can’t be all space. I have a recurring nightmare (well for me it’s a nightmare) of being ready to speak when there in no-one on the congregation. That doesn’t work! There must be a balance between people and space. Turns out that most of the universe is space. A friend told me that. But apparently it’s true. There’s a lot less stuff and lots more space between (that’s my unscientific explanation which I’m quite proud of until someone tells me otherwise). If I’ve remembered this correctly, if the nucleus of an atom was the size of a walnut (which I know it’s not), then the electrons moving around it would be two hundred miles away! The point is the space between, compared to the size of the nucleus and electrons, is huge! And then when you start to think about the size of the universe itself, it’s mind boggling. The distance to the sun is ninety-four million miles. And the sun is just one of two hundred billion stars in our galaxy. It’s actually hard to get your head around it. It’s absolutely huge. There is so much space. Literally! And then there’s God, who created the whole thing. Huge. And so much space between us. Us and God that is. Except there isn’t. There should be. And in one sense there is. But, in fact there isn’t because God stepped right into the space. He came a pitched his tent with us, He walked right here with us. Extraordinary, that he would do that. He did it because he wanted to close the gap. He did it because he wanted to get close. And he still want to get close. Close enough to be known by the likes of me and you. Mind boggling. But good news. Very good news indeed. The King of the universe, the creator of all this space and all the stuff that’s in it, wants to be known by me and you. When I think of space, of the universe and realise quite how tiny I am it’s quite daunting. And yet the one who made it all, who put the whole thing in motion has me on his mind, always has and always will. I need space to get my head around that.