planet earth
Last night I watched the first episode of the BBC program Planet Earth. I was stunned by the amazing camera shots and high definition images. As one of my friends said, “This looks more real than real. If I went to that place, it wouldn’t look nearly as cool.” The presentation of distant and exotic parts of the globe reminded me to worship God. I think it is very easy for us to get caught up in our problems and the things going on right around us. We can forget to praise the Creator of this fantastic world we live in. I can easily become discontent with God because things right around me don’t look so wonderful. It is also easy for modern Christians to come before God with a flippant ‘buddy’ attitude, forgetting that he is the Lord of all that is, Maker of heaven and earth.
I was talking to one of my seminary friends the other day, and he mentioned to me how amazing it is that God sees all the earth at once. I was reminded of this conversation as I stared open-mouthed at this 16″ moving picture in front of me. I could only take in one sunset or mountain range at a time, but I was almost overwhelmed. I imagined what it would be like to be in the helicopter with some of the cameramen while they were shooting these amazing scenes. Then I realized that God is always watching the sunset. As the earth rotates there is always a place where the sun is setting. Similarly the sun is always rising on the opposite side. God sees all of this, all the time, and he is glorified.
I was also stunned by the magnificence of animals. I literally gasped in amazement as I watched a slow-motion shot of a great white shark leap entirely out of the water and swallow a seal with one bite of its enormous jaws. There was grace and majesty in his movements inspiring terror in a poor college student watching him on a laptop screen a million miles away. This was just one beast that God formed with his hand, and yet our faith gets shaky when we wonder whether he can heal our bodies.
I don’t like to get into the evolution discussion. I mostly think that it wastes valuable breath and time and rather misses the point. I know some people who will talk about Genesis one and two more than they will talk about Jesus. The point of the discussion is that God created the heavens and the earth, and he created us. Many people argue evolution simply to take the credit away from God. One cannot look at the earth and not be amazed by the glory revealed in it. Because of this, people must come up with other explanations for this glory if they want to run away from God.
I’d like to end my discussion of the magnificence of the earth by looking at a stunning verse in the Bible. In Revelation, John has a vision of Jesus returning. Part of this vision is when Christ takes his place on the judgment seat. He says, “Then I saw the great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence the earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.” (Revelation 20:11) When I read this verse I tremble. All of this that I saw on the BBC program and all the earth that I have ever seen in all my travels will flee before his presence. Of course there was not found any place for the earth to hide; where would it go? The part of this verse that makes me tremble, with both fear and excitement, is the fact that we are next. The very next verse tells us that after this, all the dead will be raised and everyone will be judged. It makes you think about your life. It tells us that the dead will be judged based on what they had done. If the earth and sky fled away from his presence, how will I fare?
Praise God for his creation today, and meditate upon his majesty.
Stephen wrote:
Great Post. That was an amazing movie. I think we all should spend more time in God’s creation.
Posted on 19-Jul-07 at 8:19 am | Permalink
Ben H. wrote:
Last night, while you were watching Planet Earth, I was trapsing around dowtown Chicago amid enormous crowds of hipsters flocking to Millenium Park to see the Decemberists. I was praying in the Spirit in an attempt to see the throngs as Jesus sees them. The thought that came to me was that creation waits with groaning for the manifestion of the sons of God. I am sure that among these lost flocks walk those in whom the unlimited potential of the kingdom of God lies in eager expectation. It was humid and there was a fog that hemmed in the skyline. I felt that under the sewer grates and above the high rises hovers a spirit of longing. I wondered how often any of these people looked up from the concrete.
Then I praised God for the remnant and the true wheat among the crowds and weeds in the field of rocks. Come Lord Jesus.
Posted on 19-Jul-07 at 9:08 am | Permalink
Bjorn wrote:
“I was stunned by the amazing camera shots and high definition images. As one of my friends said, “this looks more real than real. If I went to that place it wouldn’t look nearly as cool.”
There is an extremely French postmodern (hey, wait, stay with me here) philosopher named Baudrilliard who writes about exactly the sentiment your friend expresses here. The paper for which he’s probably best known is Simulacra and Simulation. It’s translated from a philosophers french though, so it’s extremely painful to read. Wikipedia has a decent summary though.
As far as evolution goes, I won’t bother in hashing out the same old arguments (not for you, anyway). Others, however, may be interested in the Talk.Origins newsgroup archive, which has excellent material from a diverse range of contributors.
Posted on 20-Jul-07 at 4:50 am | Permalink
Anonymous wrote:
“The LORD reigns, let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad! Clouds and thick darkness are all around Him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne. Fire goes before Him and burns up His adversaries all around. His lightnings light up the world; the earth sees and trembles. The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the LORD of all the earth. The heavens proclaim His righteousness and all the peoples see His glory. All worshipers of images are put to shame, who make their boast in worthless idols; worship Him, all you gods!”
-Psalm 97: 1-7
Posted on 20-Jul-07 at 2:39 pm | Permalink
Keren wrote:
Baudrillard and his Wikipedia-summarized theories are absolutely fascinating. Somehow he managed to study the questions that seem to pop in my head 100 times a day, and he seems to answer those little questions like, “Why is it so hard for me to resist the call of the Starbucks siren?â€
However, based on the group of people Dan hangs out with (mostly undesirable to be sure), the speaker’s sentiment does not likely line up with the idea that the world we live in has been replaced by a copy world, and I seriously doubt the speaker is one for whom simulated stimuli has supplanted the original object. Appreciating/praising a copy doesn’t mean you allow that media to replace the original, does it? (My questions really are questions and not necessarily prompts.)
“This looks more real than real†seems to be referring to the fact that, well, it is. High-speed photography allows us to see real things that without technology, we would never see. If I was in “that place,†a whale jumping out of the water would be immediate and my eyes would not be able to catch the detail that slow motion allows. Nor would I be able to watch a parasite grow out of an ant’s head over a series of several days. So, if the original object doesn’t physically exist in a way the speaker can experience, can it really be superseded?
Whale’s one-second leap out of the water seen by the naked eye: Wow. There is a God.
High-definition 30-second slow-motion whale leap: Wow. There is a God. That was “cooler.â€
As Baudrillard said, hyperreality is, “the simulation of something which never really existed.â€
By saying, it is “more real than real,†the speaker proves he has an understanding of what is real and what is artificial, and that he appreciates what Planet Earth was able to achieve.
Moving on to Baudrillard’s idea that meaning is self-referential … I’m glad I have a 45-minute drive home.
P.S. After viewing Planet Earth, I do not agree with the speaker’s conclusion about what is more “cool.â€
P.S.S. Does anyone have a better word for cool? No, Paris, not hot.
Posted on 25-Jul-07 at 2:14 pm | Permalink