The Center of the Universe

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Galileo got in big trouble.

He didn't believe that the earth was the center of the universe.

He thought Jupiter was the center of the Universe.

In any case this didn't sit well with the Church because the Church''s official position was that the Earth was the center of the Universe (why the church should have a doctrine on that is beyond me.)

Copernicus thought there was no center of the universe. Others thought it was the Sun.  But a vast majority had a strong embedded belief that the earth was the center of the universe.

An why not?

It was all they knew.  They lived there. It was their existence.  In essence, it was the center of their universe so why not have it be the center of the universe?

I suffer from the same "thinking error." Especially when it comes to my faith.

I put myself as the focus of my own religion and then whirl the aspects of it around me.

How does this make me feel?  Where will this take me?  etc...

But really, why blame me?  It is the attitude we have all had since birth. The world revolves around me.

That's why Easter and Resurrection Sunday gets glossed over even more than Christmas.  Everyone loves the little baby-chile in the manger, but to really gaze upon the grotesque horror of the cross causes us to look for Bunnies and hidden chocolates.

What can be more selfless? Jesus willingly endured the torture and torment, the betrayal and abandonment, the death that he was completely innocent of.

We watched "The Passion of the Christ" Friday night.  It was the first time for Christian and he and Wesley asked such good questions in the midst of it.  It is not a "nice" movie, but it is effective.

Ultimately we are the most peripheral of characters in our "religion" with Jesus being the absolute focus. the axis by which the universe spins.

Yet he doesn't treat us as peripheral players.  He places us at the center of His affections, indwells us, and makes a home for us.

Happy Easter,

chris