12/11/2009

Ever since Galileo made adjustments to the telescope and beheld the skies in a new way, we have been transfixed with stars and the universe and the absolute vastness of it all. This is the International Year of Astronomy and today is the anniversary of Saturn’s rings being caught on film by Voyager 1 in 1980. This weekend is the anniversary of the launch of Apollo 12. All things astronomical remain a mystery -- a stretch of the imagination -- even as we learn about them. We see Saturn’s rings now in new perspective and hear of their number, colour
and make up. Jupiter’s moons have been a constant source of fascination and interest since their first discovery. Far beyond where the assisted eye can see, we know there is so much more that we cannot see or understand and we have a sense both of our slightness in comparison to the universe and of the wonder of our humanity as we begin to see, behold and understand. But even with our beholding and understanding, we cannot find words to describe the wonder of it all and have to turn to poetry:

In the heavens a tent,
is set up for the sun.
It rises like a bridegroom
and gets ready like a hero
eager to run a race.
It travels all the way
across the sky.
Nothing hides from its heat.

The Psalmist records how his vision of the Universe and behind it all he sees the breathtaking cosmos, declaring nothing short of the glory of God.