“From the bottom of the deepest ocean trench to the top of the highest mountain, the zone that covers nearly the whole of known life, is only something over a dozen miles- not much when set against the roominess of the cosmos at large. For humans it is even worse… no less than 99.5% of the world’s habitable space by volume, according to one estimate, is fundamentally- in practical terms completely- off limits to us.” A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson, p. 239.
This creation is a grand undertaking, vast in scope, infinite in size, with billions of years from the past displayed nightly in the vault of heaven. Both science and Genesis tell us the greatest part of this whole creation was made before man arrived on the scene. Science declares mankind is the greatest step in evolutionary development. Genesis identifies the creation of man and woman as the final step in God fashioning something “very good.”
Surely God appreciates His vast handiwork. Mankind is made to be “like God” comprehending and appreciating this great undertaking. My wife and I hike almost every day. No matter which trail is taken, every venture is unique. Seasons change. Light shifts. The shadows on the same path are different as the sun moves across the horizon from Solstice to Equinox to Solstice, year by year.
“And again, verily I say unto you, he has given a law unto all things, by which they move in their times and their seasons, and their courses are fixed, even the courses of the heavens and the earth, which comprehend the earth and all the planets. And they give light to each other in their times and in their seasons, in their minutes, in their hours, in their days, in their weeks, in their months, in their years. All these are one year with God, but not with man. The earth rolls upon her wings, and the sun gives his light by day, and the moon gives her light by night, and the stars also give their light as they roll upon their wings, in their glory, in the midst of the power of God. Unto what shall I liken these kingdoms that you may understand? Behold all these are kingdoms, and any man who has seen any or the least of these has seen God moving in his majesty and power.” (T&C 86:7-8)