Macro

macro-
/ˈmakrō/
combining form
prefix: macro-
1. large; large-scale.
2. long; over a long period.

Today's word is "macro." Since we get these words from a photography site, it's referring to the use of a macro lens, which is used for taking photographs that are super-close to the subject. But today I'm thinking about "macro" as a prefix. It can mean large-scale; we have words like macrocosm, macronutrients, and macrobiology. Or it can mean long, or over a long period of time; the most common use of this sense is in macroevolution.

Today, on the day after an election that will likely be contested (and, like so many other things in 2020, a disaster) I'm finding it comforting to take a "macro" view of life and the world around me. Jesus is still King, and his throne has been established forever (2 Sam 7:16). I can still love my neighbors, and I can still walk outside and see God's artistry in the trees, the mushrooms, the grass, and the sky. And as I walk, I can still pray to a God who hears.

Really, despite all the unrest and turmoil going on in our little country, on our small planet, in this limited span of time, there is a much greater, deeper reality that is unchanging.

This morning I read Psalm 146, and I think it's a good psalm for today in particular.

Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
    I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

Put not your trust in princes,
    in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
When his breath departs, he returns to the earth;
    on that very day his plans perish.

Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
    whose hope is in the Lord his God,
who made heaven and earth,
    the sea, and all that is in them,
who keeps faith forever;
    who executes justice for the oppressed,
    who gives food to the hungry.

The Lord sets the prisoners free;
    the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
    the Lord loves the righteous.
The Lord watches over the sojourners;
    he upholds the widow and the fatherless,
    but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

The Lord will reign forever,
    your God, O Zion, to all generations.
Praise the Lord!