How Great Thou Art

There's a scene The Lion King where Simba, Pumbaa, and Timon lay out underneath the stars and discuss the nature of those "fireflies trapped up in that big, bluish-black thing."It's a defining moment for Simba. He realizes his life is not what it should be when his father's explanation is mocked by his friends.

Simba isn't the only one to have a transforming moment underneath the heavens, although he is the only anthropomorphic lion I know of to do so.

Elder Vankampen and I finished tracting a street earlier than we had planned. The ratio of doors in our faces to genuine interest was staggeringly one-sided. We planned to fill the remaining time by visiting the bishop of the ward and getting to know him so we could better work with him to strengthen the community's faith. Of course, the same cluster of fates that determined the bishop's schedule had also been responsible for our tracting record for the day, our car breaking down earlier that week, and possibly the Kennedy assassination. We waited outside the bishop's home for a half hour then headed to a nearby park.

I sat on the grass beside Elder Vankampen, who lay on his back staring at the night sky. I decided the answers to my frustrations did not lay in the park, so I too turned my face heavenward.

It struck me again how small I was. I had my trials and inconveniences, my dislikes and my challenges, but no matter how big those problems seemed to be, I was still on one small planet in a normal solar system in an unremarkable spiral galaxy in a universe teeming with uncountable trillions of other galaxies. I marveled at what it would take to create such a universe, to design the cosmos to such precision and perfection.

On cue, Elder Vankampen started humming the tune of "How Great Thou Art." It's not an exclusively Mormon hymn, but it is a favorite among Latter-day Saints. It tells of the grandeur of God and the impressiveness of His creations.

Then it occurred to me that the being who was responsible for all that I could see — and for the billions of things I couldn't up there — had His name stamped on the black badge over my heart. That same being who had created the cosmos in all its complexity had put His support behind me.

I told Elder Vamkampen so, and he smiled.

"We're so small," he said, "but He does want us to succeed. Really."

That, I reflected, was no lie.