Memorial of Saint Dominic, priest

Amid ferns and mosses
an ancient log surrenders
to bugs, worms and earth.

Think! The heavens, even the highest heavens,

belong to the LORD, your God,
as well as the earth and everything on it.
Yet in his love for your fathers the LORD was so attached to them
as to choose you, their descendants,
in preference to all other peoples, as indeed he has now done.

Galileo did not invent the telescope but he put that fascinating new tool to fine use as he studied the sky. He was astonished to discover things that were invisible to “the naked eye.” No one had ever supposed there might be things too small or too dim to see. No one had ever seen germs or cells, much less galaxies and nebulas. Who could imagine there might be planets circling other planets?

Suddenly the universe “blew up.” It was infinitely larger than anything we had ever conceived. And our God? Was he still the God of this enormously larger universe? Despite doubts in many quarters, Christians have enthusiastically reclaimed our faith in the infinite majesty, authority, beauty and wisdom of our God.

It is that God who commands us to “Think!” Ponder! Meditate! Contemplate! Wonder at the unimaginable goodness of the LORD who has chosen us as his own beloved people.

Too often, though, we don’t think. We’re so busy putting out fires, rushing off to the next meeting, taking this telephone, reading that tweet, rereading the latest Big Story, we just don’t have time to wonder at God’s goodness.

In today’s gospel the disciples were so shocked by Jesus announcement that he would be handed over and killed, they could not fathom his third remark that he would be raised up on the third day. They did not think about it. Dazzled by details, they could neither hear the Whole Story nor see the Big Picture.

Yesterday, we heard that Jesus withdrew up the mountain to pray. Perhaps he needed time to contemplate the miracle of feeding five thousand people. It would take a while to integrate such an event into the story of his life; and yet the rest of his life would not make sense if he could not fathom that incident.

Wonderful things and tragic things happen to us often but, if we do not stop and Think about them, we will be like Jesus’ storm-tossed disciples, overwhelmed and dumbfounded until he comes to save us.