The Bigger Picture

For the April gathering we looked at the concept of 'the bigger picture', or a higher perspective, in the context of our lives and the Greater Divine Plan.

We each took two pieces of the New Forest Forest Church jigsaw (see pictures) and equated one piece to the moment in which we find ourselves in life at this moment. With the things which are in the forefront of our minds, the joys or sorrows which flood our being at this present moment in our life journey. The second piece of jigsaw which we each held in our hands we equated to how we, as individuals, fit into the greater whole of any body we belong to, whether that be family, friends, church, nation, or simply humanity. We contemplated how each piece is different, yet all fit together to be one whole picture.

Then we spent time wandering a part of the New Forest where we could see vast scenes of hills and heath, and a great big sky. We looked at a small section of the natural world as we past it, and then looked at it in its larger setting.

So often we can get caught up in the single moment that we find ourselves in at this present moment in our lives, and forget that there is a bigger picture. That this moment is just one moment in all our moments which make up our life.

We can also very easily forget that we are not alone, but part of a collective, that we have an innate sense of belonging because we are designed, like a single piece of jigsaw, to be part of something bigger together with others.

In the midst of the Babylonian exile God spoke to the Israelites through the prophet Jeremiah saying "I know the plans I have for you, plans to give you a hope and a future" (29v11), reminding them that God has the bigger picture in his sight.