“We praise you, we bless you, we adore you, we glorify you. We give you thanks for your great glory, Lord God, Heavenly King, O God Almighty Father.” (Gloria prayer from Mass)
It can be fun to go a little cosmic as we give thanks for God’s great glory.
He is, after all, infinite. If we happen to be in a dark place without “light pollution” and are able to gaze up and see stars that seem to be endless … that still is not infinity. There’s an end to our universe, but not to God.
While starry skies may make us somewhat breathless, a glimpse of infinity would likely put us on the ground, much like the three disciples at Jesus’ transfiguration when God merely spoke to them from a cloud (Mt 17:6).
Although overwhelming and uncomprehen-sible, God’s infinity is, strangely, good news for any of us who feel miniscule and rather depressed by the thought of being just one of billions of people in the world today. It is because God is infinite that He is able to know and care about each individual.
We hear that to God “one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day” (2 Peter 3:8). Our own experiences of days that fly by or drag, but are still 24-hours, only hints at God’s perception of time.
Similarly, we might say that to God a tree is like the universe and the universe is like a tree. Just as time does not bind God in any way, so also size and space. To One who is infinite, size doesn’t matter. Little is just as important as big, and large is just as tiny as small.
So, what does weigh in as important to God? The saints all point to one thing: Love.
St. Thérèse of Lisieux notes that God is drawn to us when we love, a bit like a moth drawn to light. Our love attracts Him to us, you might say. “Our Lord does not look so much at the greatness of our actions, or even at their difficulty, as at the love with which we do them,” Thérèse says.
She provides other wise thoughts such as: “What matters in life is not great deeds, but great love,” and “Remember that nothing is small in the eyes of God. Do all that you do with love.”
She also notes: “Each small task of everyday life is part of the total harmony of the universe.” Little everyday acts of love matter to God who sees them all.
We can see God’s love behind the amazing care He took when He designed all the creatures of the earth. In spite of the fall of Adam and Eve and the subsequent suffering in all that followed, creation continues to be beautiful, clever, oddly cute, unusual, and even nonsensical in ways that make sense.
We can figure that God gets a kick out of an ostrich’s eyelashes, a giraffe’s tongue, a baby’s hiccup, a tiny bug’s racing car stripes, a cat’s purr and all the other details found each day in creation around the world.
God must be thrilled when we appreciate and are kind to His creatures and, especially, when we accept and are kind to people who are different from us. He wants us to accept His love and love others with that love.
It follows then that God is repelled by hatred, by indifference, by a lack of care for Him and His creation. God’s infinity should serve as a warning for us if we tend to turn away from all that is good and beautiful, embracing instead the base, crude, ugly and destructive habits, actions, creations and trends of society. We know what they are and, with our free will, can choose better, with the wisdom God has given us.
Of course, we can’t picture God other than through the humanity of Jesus. But that should not hamper our efforts to connect with our Father in heaven through prayer and the Bible and by listening, being still before the Almighty, infinite, and glorious Maker of heaven, earth … and us, created in love.
Let’s go a little cosmic and ponder God and be amazed at His love for, and desire to be near, each one of us.
