Scripture: Psalm 8:4 – “What are humans that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?” (NRSVue)
We are gearing up toward football season, and, as I am frankly less than optimistic about the Patriots’ chances this year, I remember a famous quote from NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, “Second place is the first loser.” I know this is not true, but sometimes I feel it is true. I can fall into the fallacy that if you do not win, you lose, and if you are not the best, you are the worst.
This level of extreme thought is not just something I struggle with. In the world of criticism, something is either the best ever or the worst ever. Without that hyperbole, it does not get any attention. In public life we have untouchable saints or irredeemable villains, often based on one’s ideology.
We extend this damaging binary thinking into our thoughts about humanity in general. We are either noble masters of reason who can master science to solve the problems and miseries of the world or we are wicked barbarians who murder each other for petty reasons and ruin the world in the pursuit of gain.
There is a famous psalm which deals with the question of humanity’s worth, Psalm 8. It is a hymn of praise to God, whose name is majestic in all the earth. The Psalmist wonders why such a mighty deity might care about people. “What are humans that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?” To answer his question, he sings, “Yet you have made them a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor.”
When we look at our world and our lives, we may ask why God care for us. We may be heartbroken by the cruelty we see or hampered by feelings of failure. In these places, the words of Psalm 8 can cheer us. They remind us that we have a connection to God and have the capacity, even the destiny, to do good and to serve as stewards of goodness for all creation.
Most of us do not live up to these expectations, but we can. We need to put aside the idea that we are gods, that we are always supposed to be winner, because sometimes we stumble and finish in second place or lower. But just because we are not perfect, does not mean that we should give up or that there is nothing valuable for us to do. God values us, even in our fragile mortality. And if God values what we can do in our imperfection, we should too. Put aside your anger and insecurity and do something good today.
Prayer: God, remind us of who we are and what we can do when we humble ourselves to you. Amen.
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