June 20, 2020 (Saturday)
The summer solstice takes place today, making this the first day of summer. It is not the longest day of the year 2020 in our town, however–something to do with times of sunrise and sunset. In Rockport, the longest days this year will be August 1 and August 2. But today is the longest day of the year for the Northern Hemisphere. I am dumb as a fence post when it comes to such matters, but that’s what I read. From our vantage point, the sun seems to move northward until it stops and then turns south. Because it already heated us up on its trip northward, its trip south is going to add to our heat. This is the sun’s second shot at us; no wonder it gets so hot in the summer. It’s sort of like the earth takes the place of a chicken on a Rotisserie, absorbing the heat as it rotates. The process is also known as spit-roasting, although that term will not be found in the science books.
The folks who keep up with facts like these know that our solar system, our galaxy, indeed our universe operates on schedules that can be known by us right down to the microsecond.
There is a mountain of data concerning space and time that I do not understand, but based on the certainty of celestial timetables that make space travel possible, I have a very difficult time with the concept that life as we know it is the result of a gigantic accident, as some say.
There is a craving in the human heart for knowledge. We hunger for it as a starving person hungers for food. And we also hunger for assurance of meaning and purpose in our lives. The concept of “intelligent design” in our universe seems to me to be undeniable.
We have learned that our universe is so vast that its existence defies all attempts to understand all the details involved.
The Night Sky We Could See When I Was a Boy
We look up into the sky at night and if we are fortunate enough to be able to see some stars with our human eyesight, it is humbling to us and we cannot express our feelings any better than the psalmist did when he wrote (Psalm 8), “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?” And now we know that our Milky Way Galaxy is only a microscopic speck when compared to what we know about the size of the universe. Yet if we could send a probe to distant stars within our own galaxy, no one alive today would still be alive when the probe reached its destination. It is just too far away. My, oh my, is that not humbling?
Open My Eyes, That I May See
Text: Clara H. Scott, 1841-1897
Music: Clara H. Scott, 1841-1897
1895
Open my eyes, that I may see
glimpses of truth thou hast for me;
place in my hands the wonderful key
that shall unclasp and set me free.
Silently now I wait for thee,
ready, my God, thy will to see.
Open my eyes, illumine me, Spirit divine!
Open my ears, that I may hear
voices of truth thou sendest clear;
and while the wavenotes fall on my ear,
everything false will disappear.
Silently now I wait for thee,
ready, my God, thy will to see.
Open my ears, illumine me, Spirit divine!
Open my mouth, and let me bear
gladly the warm truth everywhere;
open my heart and let me prepare
love with thy children thus to share.
Silently now I wait for thee,
ready, my God, thy will to see.
Open my heart, illumine me, Spirit divine!