Opus 2023-225: Question Tangents

Anyone who attends church or synagogue is familiar with the verse,

(Psa 8:4 KJV)  What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

My mind always goes on tangents.  I find myself looking at it from the other side.  What is God that we are mindful of Him?  Or perhaps you could phrase it, “What is man that we are mindful of God?”

This is a real question.  Why do people contemplate God, or gods?  What even brings such a topic to our minds?  As far back as we have any historical records there seem to be people seeking to know the answers to the big questions like, where did we come from and is there meaning to life?  

I am sure that being created in the image of God has something to do with it.  We are designed to look at the night sky and wonder what those lights are.  We visit the zoo and recognize a basic difference between us and the animals.  Why are all of them on one side of the bars and we are on the other?  We are weaker, slower and helpless for years, yet we are at the top of the food chain.

A second reason is found in the Bible verse that brought up this question.

(Psa 8:3 KJV)  When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
(Psa 8:4 KJV)  What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

Notice that verse 3 is reflected in my statement about animals and the sunrise. The animals don’t contemplate infinity.  I am not sure they really enjoy the sunrise splendor.  Many of them don’t even know to come in out of the rain.  Of course I notice that my wife cleans out the cat’s liter box and the cat has never worried about mopping the kitchen floor.

I rejoice in the ability to think even if I don’t have a lot of answers.

homo unius libri