This is from an old 70's documentary called Powers of Ten (for those of you who might recognize it from High School Physics class), and I've sped up the footage, dubbed music over the narrator, and added scriptures at the end. I've named the clip My Work and Glory for obvious reasons once you've watched it through and read the scriptures.
Every time I watch this, my heart is touched because it so directly reflects my personal testimony of our Heavenly Father's plan for us. The message of this video is for everyone: Latter Day saints, Christians, and any child of God who is seeking to somehow understand his or her place in the grand scheme of things. As Latter Day Saints, we believe in a book of scripture called the Pearl of Great Price which contains the scriptures referenced in this video, including additional words of Moses as companion to those he included in the first part of the Bible, specifically the book of Genesis. He tells of this experience where he was carried away in vision to a high mountain where he spoke with God face to face and was permitted to see many of God's vast creations on this world and throughout the cosmos. And as referenced in the video, Moses' reaction left him reeling in a powerful sense of insignificance and nothingness. Those fans of Douglas Adams might say Moses was sentenced to the torture of the "Total Perspective Vortex".
Whether you are a Latter Day Saint and feel that this experience and these words of Moses are indeed true or not, the sentiment expressed by Moses in these words is one that we all share regardless of our religious beliefs. For me, my greatest moment of insignifance and wonder was on a boy scout trip at the age of 15. We were on a river rafting trip, sleeping on the ground in our bags out under the stars, far from any city lights on a cloudless, moonless night. That night, I saw more stars than I ever realized existed. The sky glittered with a bright sea of brilliant lights that stretched from one horizon to the other. The stars were so closely spaced, that I would have failed miserably in attempting to pass off any requirements for my Astronomy merit badge in identifying constellations. In fact, I marveled that any of the ancients who walked this planet could ever have identified specific constellations from that massive glob of stars smeared across the night sky. Sure, I had sat through astronomy lessons in science class and realized that the planet earth was not alone in the universe, but I had never come quite so close to that realization in such a physical and personal way. And given my testimony that all of these wonders were carefully crafted by the hands of a loving creator, like Moses or perhaps many of you, I could only cower in a grand sense of insignificance and nothingness as I looked up in awed amazement.
God's creations are so vast and incomprehensible that all I can do is stand in amazement and exclaim How Great Thou Art! And yet, despite his countless creations and our relative nothingness, I know that we are everything to Him. He sent His son so we might reach our full potential, so we might become even as He is. Of all God's creations, we--you and I--are His greatest, and He will give us every opportunity to achieve eternal life.
As a father of two beautiful children, I can't help but reflect on what I wouldn't do for my kids, what I wouldn't give to see them protected and able to realize their greatest dreams. And if I then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto my children, how much more shall our Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? How blessed we are to have a loving Heavenly Father who cares so much about us and will give us eternal life, the greatest of all gifts, as we embrace His son and obey His few, simple commandments.
God Bless!
Whether you are a Latter Day Saint and feel that this experience and these words of Moses are indeed true or not, the sentiment expressed by Moses in these words is one that we all share regardless of our religious beliefs. For me, my greatest moment of insignifance and wonder was on a boy scout trip at the age of 15. We were on a river rafting trip, sleeping on the ground in our bags out under the stars, far from any city lights on a cloudless, moonless night. That night, I saw more stars than I ever realized existed. The sky glittered with a bright sea of brilliant lights that stretched from one horizon to the other. The stars were so closely spaced, that I would have failed miserably in attempting to pass off any requirements for my Astronomy merit badge in identifying constellations. In fact, I marveled that any of the ancients who walked this planet could ever have identified specific constellations from that massive glob of stars smeared across the night sky. Sure, I had sat through astronomy lessons in science class and realized that the planet earth was not alone in the universe, but I had never come quite so close to that realization in such a physical and personal way. And given my testimony that all of these wonders were carefully crafted by the hands of a loving creator, like Moses or perhaps many of you, I could only cower in a grand sense of insignificance and nothingness as I looked up in awed amazement.
God Bless!
