The enormity of God

As creator of the universe God is beyond our comprehension, said spiritual life director Gord Park at Wednesday's chapel, but he's for you.

Park said he has always been fascinated by space and inspired by its immensity — from the Star Trek television show, to Star Wars movies, to laying in the backyard with his son and looking at a night sky full of stars.

"Stars have always inspired me," Park said, "the infinite nature of stars."

Park shared some amazing facts and figures about stars, such as:

The sun travels 220 km/second.

It takes the sun 225-250 million years to complete an orbit of the centre of the Milky Way.

The sun is 149,600,000 km away.

The star Betelgeuse is 427 light years away and the star Canis Majoris is 2,500 light years away. The Whirlpool Galaxy, with its 300 billion stars, is 31 million light years away. "And it is only one of hundreds of billions of galaxies in the known universe," Park said. "The more you know, the more you are blown away. It staggers the imagination."

Park compares a golf ball sized earth to the enormity of the sun.

And God made it all, Park said, quoting Nehemiah 9:6

⁶ You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.

And quoting  Psalm 33:6

⁶ By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
    their starry host by the breath of his mouth.

Yet God, the creator of the universe, did it for you, Park told students, quoting Psalm 8.

³ When I consider your heavens,
    the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
    which you have set in place,
⁴ what is humankind that you are mindful of them,
    a son of man that you care for him?

He did it for you, Park said, quoting Psalm 139.

¹³For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

"You are created in the image of God," Park said. "You are created to be creative," and whatever form that creativity takes, whether it's repairing an engine, writing a song, acting in  a play or nurturing a friendship, "do it so that your creativity worships him."

Park challenged students to live lives that worship God, that worship creatively, and that take care of God's creation — both of the earth and of themselves.

He also told students to look for God: "When you pay attention, you won't miss him, and when you take care of yourself, you honour God."

A student praise team led worship with "Whom Shall I Fear God of Angel Armies," "How Great is Our God/How Great Thou Art," and "Build Your Kingdom Here."