August 19, 2013 (Monday)
Ah, those carefree days of childhood, when the neighborhood kids played with each other after school. We enjoyed, “Hide and Seek,” “May I,” “Simon Says,” and a lot of somersaults, usually as a part of “Follow the Leader,” until our mothers called us in for supper. Afterwards, if time allowed, we had a brief renewal of recreation, which usually ended with our lying on someone’s lawn looking up into the evening sky, as the stars slowly appeared in the heavens. “Do you see the Milky Way?” someone would always ask. Yes, we saw it clearly, as it appeared to rise above the horizon to mingle with the brighter stars. We enjoyed an experience back then that is no longer available to many kids and adults in 2013. Why no longer? The electric lighting of our cities has created a glow in the sky that obscures the stars. How sad.
So very much has been learned in recent years about our universe. Scientific instruments, including powerful telescopes in orbit, have revealed that our universe is much bigger than we ever dreamed. Light from distant stars left from its points of origin millions of years ago, and is only now reaching earth. Not only are there more stars that we knew about previously, there are billions of galaxies, each one full of stars that number in the billions. Besides that, there are “nursery areas” where new stars are constantly being created by the billions upon billions. If we could only turn out the lights, lie back on our lawns today, and gaze upwards, how much more wonderful would the night sky seem. Kids again–only better.
There are still places on earth where one can see the stars clearly. But most likely you will have to take a trip to a distant location to obtain that view. The trip would probably be worth the time and expense. The view is free.
1 O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.
2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.
6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:
7 All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;
8 The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.
9 O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!