Excerpt from Luke 12:4-7

"Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies?  Yet not one of them is forgotten in God's sight."

Reflection by Martin B. Copenhaver

When I spend time at the ocean, as I have this past week, I can feel very small.  The horizon is so distant that really it is nothing except the limit of human sight.  Sometimes the waves are so powerful that they can toss a grown man about like a fragile toy.  At night the sky is sequined with stars that are beyond counting.

Even picking up a handful of sand can be awe-inspiring if you remember the oft-cited comparison that there are as many stars in the universe as there are grains of sand on the earth.  Of course, no one really knows how many stars or grains of sand there are, but the point remains—there are a whole lot of both.

There is value in being brought down to size every once in a while.  After all, most of us live with an inflated sense of self-importance.  As someone once said to me, "I used to put myself at the center of the universe, but then I realized it is just too crowded there."

So it is good to be reminded just how small we are.  But that doesn't mean that it is easy.  Often, to feel small is to feel vulnerable, insignificant, perhaps even of no account.

That is one reason why, when I have spent time by the ocean, I am particularly eager to get to worship.  There I can also feel small in the presence of our awesome God, but I am also reminded that God values small things—mustard seeds, pinches of yeast, sparrows—most of all.  

Prayer

God, when I experience your magnificence, I can feel very small, so I am grateful for the assurance that you love small things.

About the Author Martin B. Copenhaver is Senior Pastor, Wellesley Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, Wellesley, Massachusetts. He is the author, with Lillian Daniel, of This Odd and Wondrous Calling: the Public and Private Lives of Two Ministers.

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