What Andromeda teaches us about fundraising

The Andromeda Galaxy is stunningly beautiful.

As the closest galaxy to our own, it is clearly visible with the naked eye when beholding the Milky Way skyscape.  Yet through our ever-increasing technological advances, we're now able to see more detail than ever.  But it's still hardly any detail at all!  We see endless bright spots, but we can discern virtually nothing of those individual stars.  Yet, even from what we can see, we marvel at this awe-inspiring whirlpool, 2.5 million light years away, spinning gracefully through the void of space.

King David, too, could see Andromeda - a bright spot in the fantastic sky he beheld night after night.  In pondering this, no doubt, he penned the famous words of Psalm 19:

"The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky proclaims the work of His hands.
Day after day they pour out speech;
night after night they communicate knowledge.
There is no speech; there are no words;
their voice is not heard." -Psalm 19:1-3, HCSB

One of my favorite things to do when I feel burdened is to stare into these small photographs of enormous galaxies.  Without needing any words whatsoever, these starfields remind me vividly that I am utterly tiny and of little consequence.  My life is only a mist that lasts a mere moment.  When I am gone, Andromeda will still spin brilliantly for ages to come; it will not notice my coming or going.

Andromeda therefore helps us put our fundraising in perspective.  Do you, like me, feel like fundraising is all-consuming at times?  I can feel like it defines my relationships, finances, dreams, emotions and spiritual state.  Life begins to revolve only around making calls and getting appointments - and my feeling of worth rises and falls with how many people join (or leave) my support team.

But Andromeda tells us that there's more to life than our fundraising efforts.  Andromeda declares the glory of God.  And if God is glorious, then our fundraising doesn't have to be.  When Jesus died on the cross for us, He made us glorious in Himself!  What could a poorly-received phone call or awkward appointment possibly matter when compared with the glory of God?  Our worth doesn't rise and fall with the state of our fundraising any more than a flashlight would brighten or darken a spiral galaxy.

Andromeda teaches us much about the importance of our fundraising by quietly reminding us that we are not glorious while spectacularly declaring who is: the One who shed His own blood for us so that we can behold His glory forever.