Macro, Man-sized, Micro

For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.

When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.

                                                                                      (Psalm 139:13-15) 

     Here is a God who can reach into secret, intimate places. He is omnipresent. They hold no secret for Him. He is omniscient. It might not seem a surprise that God can speak a word and have the universe come to be. He is macro-omnipotent. But, God is also micro-omnipotent. He can create on a grand scale, and He can create on the micro-scale. The tiniest of details receive His attention.

       I know a woman who creates pictures. First she takes a picture with her camera. Then she uses her computer to edit the picture, removing every speck of anything she doesn't want. She blows the image up so that what is a tiny speck in the original is a big, blurry blob and she replaces it with tiny bits of the surrounding area, so that when she returns to the regular magnification, it looks like that offending speck was never there. I find myself wondering if God does something like that - effectively shrinking Himself down so that He can see quarks and atoms the size of baseballs or beach balls and moving them around. God is bigger and greater than the universe, but couldn't being omnipotent involve being smaller and greater, too?

      Sometimes, we seem to think that God is too big or too important to take the time and effort to pay attention to us. He created the universe and the first living creatures in 7 days. Why would your creation or mine get any more attention than "Let there be (your name here)." That's all it took for most of the macro-creation. Yet David was inspired by God to describe his own creation as knitting and weaving. Have you ever watched someone knit or weave? It takes a long time. It can be boring. They do the same thing over and over ...and over...and over. Their attention to detail is what turns a bunch of threads into a beautiful blanket or sweater. Thread gets added to thread  and somehow, the result is stunning.

       One last idea about this part of David's song. As far as we know, David wasn't as wise to the ways of DNA when he described his formation as knitting and weaving. It's interesting that scientists refer DNA as being a double strand of molecules that are twisted around each other. What does one use for knitting or weaving? One uses multiple strands of material that are twisted around each other to form a stronger, larger strand.  That makes me smile.