Think of yourself as God. That is, assuming you are not a deity, but a regular individual living the best life you can. Wouldn’t it be better, though, knowing more about what makes you something special, a spectacular universe managed by you? And how favorably you compare with a God…

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

By David Stone

Assorted Ideas, Large & Small

Think of yourself as God and your perspective flips…

You may flinch — or laugh — at the idea of yourself as God, but wait a minute.

Back in the early centuries of Christianity, believers sang God’s glory by, they thought, quoting Jesus. Nothing is trivial, they said, because every hair on your head is numbered. By God.

Author’s note: Here’s where I must tell you that I am not a Christian nor a member of any other religion, just an interested observer.

Pagans and atheists laughed at such nåivete. How could any God keep track of all that let alone care about ordinary people? Some philosophers, like Lucretius, readily conceded that there were gods… but they were too elevated and busy to care about scruffy humans.

Numbering the hairs on your head? Nah, no God worth his tithe would stoop that low.

But wait a minute, consider what we now know…

Before landing firm on the idea that no divinity could manage that much space, so much material and so many humans, think of yourself as God.

There you are, maybe half-watching TV, wondering if the Yankees are really that bad… Or maybe you’re washing dishes and daydreaming about Tahiti and all those beautiful Tahitians…. While you’re at whatever it is, think for a minute about all that’s going with your miraculous body.

You’re sensing hot and cold, listening to ambient noise, smelling passing scents, making mental images from what your eyes and other senses give you. You’re pretty busy, worrying about budgets and who shrunk your pants.

Now, consider all those other things. Inside, you’re mixing enzymes, filling out proteins and pumping blood through 60,000 miles of piping. And guess what? You’re also maintaining those pipes and all the life-giving chemicals rushing through them.

Perhaps, you should consider the incredible complexity of your digestion before agreeing with Shakespeare.

What a piece of work is man!

William Shakespeare – Hamlet

Thinking of yourself as God yet?

Estimates vary, but it takes somewhere from 60 to 90 trillion cells to operate your body. True, even when you’re doing nothing more than clipping your toenails. Or painting them.

Let’s salt that with another staggering thought: the majority of those cells are not human. They’re viruses, bacteria, fungi and other microbes, but you can’t live without them.

So, you’d better start thinking of yourself as God or something equivalent. If you’re uncomfortable with traditional religions, you might prefer another word. Like “Source” or “all there is,” but it all looks the same when it rolls out of the carwash.

If not a deity, how could you possibly manage 60 trillion cells, each with its own internal universe yet working successfully with countless others in keeping you up and running.