On Top Of The World

I had a pleasant restroom experience at school the other day. I was on my way to my professor's office hours, which was on the 9th floor of a building on the south east corner of campus. I walked into the elevator with an older gentleman whom I assume was also a professor. After noticing I hit the 9th floor button, he asked me, "Have you been to the 9th floor before?" 

"No, I haven't." I replied. 

"Make sure to use the restroom there. You won't regret it." A strange piece of advice, I thought, but, being two guys in an elevator, and understanding guys appreciate toilet humor every now and then, I nodded my head and took him up on it without hesitation. He got off on his floor, and I continued to mine, and found the restroom. When I walked in, the natural lighting delighted me. More than half the wall was just glass (starting at about four feet above the ground to about twelve feet high), and I could see for miles the beach at one end and the 405 freeway on the other, with parks, neighborhoods, street life, and trees filling everything in between. It was a delight to behold. I stood there for a few moments, admiring the scenery. Then my professor walked in, and I waited for him outside his office. 

I wonder what gives this an aesthetic experience. No one usually thinks of restrooms as a place to admire. So, it was obviously the view. The view wasn't all that marvelous, but perhaps in conjunction with the restroom, it makes for a pleasant surprise. So, is it just being in a higher position? I think so, but it may go deeper than that. 

It seems common to view higher positions as something worth beholding. Skyscrapers with condos to sell often boast of their view of the city skyline. When we are in airplanes, it is common to take pictures of the clouds, or the city as we are landing or taking off. People want to go to the top of Eiffel Tower (but is Paris really worth seeing if you aren't seeing the tower?). When we go hiking, we ascend and appreciate the beauty of when we reach a summit. I know when I go to Yosemite, popular picture spots are those which look down into the valley. Aerial pictures of Central Park seem to be better known than those inside the park. So, we like high views. 

But why? My best guess is that we like to behold many things at once. We like to see forests more than individual trees. We like to see children play rather than a solitary one. It is better to be free and roaming about than to be in a prison cell. This may be why I wanted my stall door open. Does the taking in and beholding of many things at once makes us feel freer? Perhaps. Birds seem to do that, and is perhaps we often associate birds with freedom. Take this video for instance which went viral on Facebook. 

I'm sure these people have seen these cliffs before. And I'm sure if they really tried, they could form an image of all the parts together to create a unified whole similar to the one provided by the camera on the eagle. But it would be fragmented. They would still be limited and working from limits. But a bird can take it all in at once with no fragmentation. There is a simplicity to it, which seems attractive. There seems to be a benefit to taking it all in at once.

In relation to God, God seems to know all things at once in some special way. There is no fragmentation in His knowledge, and so, perhaps in finding the unity in creation, we see better the beauty and majesty of God's creative works. In looking down at Yosemite Valley, one can't help but be amazed at God's beautiful creation. Yet, we do not say that Yosemite is beautiful because of this or that particular tree or the spacing of this or that river, but all of it coming together at once. Views from on high help us see better the beauty of God's creation. Consider too how we always pursue unity of all things. The one and the many. Scientists search for a theory of everything. We want to know what the universe looks like in its entirety. We are only really searching for God's beauty and work in His creation, which is really a desire for unity with God.

When I was in the restroom, I knew each part I was looking at because I had been there all before. But I had never taken it all in at once. And that was a different experience. And it was a good experience. Or perhaps I sat too long on the toilet alone with my thoughts and I'm talking out of my ass.