Macro-skies, Micro-self and God's Presence

Greg Boyd has written a book on practicing the presence of God (Present Perfect: Finding God in the Now), and one of the features I like so well about it is that he includes a number of practical exercises that the reader can do in becoming more aware and awake to the reality that God is with us every moment.

One of these practices is what he calls "standing in the middle of infinity", and I want to share this practice with you. Boyd says the following:

"...Over the last century science has discovered that we live in a mind-boggling universe that is virtually infinite above us as well as below us. Above us, the universe is unimaginably large and expanding at ever-increasing speeds. It contains billions upon billions of galaxies, each spanning hundreds of millions of light-years and containing hundreds of billions of stars, many of them much larger than our sun. The universe below us is equally unimaginable as we are discovering particles so tiny they could pass through light-years of solid steel before they'd likely collide with another particle. There is, in fact, as much 'small reality' beneath us as there is 'large reality' above us.

...we can think of ourselves as situated in the middle of a virtual infinity extending beneath us into incomprehensible smallness and above us into incomprehensible vastness. To remain aware of the awesomeness of the God whose presence engulfs me, I find it helpful to remember this fact as I experience events around me."

Here is the exercise Boyd suggests: "Sit in a comfortable public place and simply observe events around you...try to remain aware of the virtual infinity extending above and beneath you and everything you observe...

I find it helpful to zoom out past innumerable gigantic galaxies as I observe things while I also mentally zoom in on a particular tiny segment of what I'm observing (a blade of grass or a pebble, for example) and envision a veritable universe of particles  flying around inside the tiny segment...I then remind myself that however far out and far down my mind may go, God is present there...

The incomprehensible greatness of God's glory expressed in the unfathomable vastness of reality above us and unimaginable smallness and complexity of reality below us is exceeded only by the absolutely unlimited, unending, and unwavering perfection of God's love, revealed on Calvary...

As you engage in the discipline of situating yourself in the middle of infinity, therefore, be sure to remain aware that you are surrounded every nanosecond by the infinite intensity of God's burning, perfect, Calvary-like love."

The language of Psalm 8:3,4 (from The Message) captures the essence of what Boyd is talking about:

                               I look up at your macro-skies, dark and enormous,
                                     your handmade sky-jewelry,
                              Moon and stars mounted in their settings.
                                    Then I look at my micro-self and wonder,
                              Why do you bother with us?
                                    Why take a second look our way?