How I Figured Out I'm Not the Center of the Universe

My friends know that I tend to see the world in a different way. They know that when I start a conversation with “God reached down and thumped me on the head” that I’m going to reveal something God has taught me. It usually means it’s something that many already know, but I needed a little extra thump to get it through my thick skull.


Well, God reached down and thumped me on the head recently. I’ve said for a number of years now that singleness can make a person selfish. Not in a mean-hearted way; rather in a “my universe revolves around me kind of way.”

You see, at my house I:

• Make the rules

• Control the remote

• Decide what’s for dinner

• Decorate to my liking

• Leave my socks lying around if I choose

In short, at my house the world revolves around me (although the cat still thinks it’s all about him) and I tend to get caught up in my own self importance. Sometimes when I go out into the real world I forget that’s not the way things work.

In an attempt to get me out of my own head and back into the real world, God used a series of things this past week to thump me.

First, there was an episode of The Big Bang Theory on CBS where Sheldon learns that his social circle actually is centered on Leonard and not him. He tries to create a new social circle, but eventually realizes he misses the way things were and seeks out his old friends.

Second, there was a chapter entitled "Community" in the book Blue Like Jazz by Don Miller. In the chapter Don writes of his own realization that the world doesn’t center on him. He likens his view to being a player on a stage where everyone else has bit parts and are just there supporting him. (If you haven’t read Blue Like Jazz, I recommend it.) God revealed to him that it’s not that way at all and showed him the value of being involved with people’s lives.

Third and finally, there was the post God speaks through network television by my friend, Lori over at Deeper with Jesus in Rhode Island. Lori also uses The Big Bang episode to highlight God’s desire for us to be in community with others. Of Sheldon, Lori writes, “In the end, he realizes life is better in relationship than alone at center stage.”

What each of these three instances of thumping showed me was that God created us to be part of a community. He made us relational beings for a purpose and when we walk away from that purpose we and others lose out on His plan. I guess I will try to step off my own little stage and re-focus my world.