January 2, 2017 (Monday)
I’ve been driving south from my house to the Bethel Baptist Church on Wednesdays. It’s a 15-mile trip. At this time of year, at 5:00 p.m., the time of day I make the trip, the sun is low in the sky and shines in my eyes. I make good use of the sun visors at the top of my windshield and most of the time I need them both. A few days ago, however, I was relieved of my unpleasant encounter with the sun’s rays by some low hanging clouds from gathering storms. The sun was completely hidden from time to time, but visible in between its hiding times. I did not stare at the sun, but I could look at it briefly off and on, shrouded by the atmosphere and hanging there in the sky boldly declaring its presence. There was something about the sky during those moments that emphasized the fact that the sun is a giant ball hanging in space.
And I was not looking at a film about it, or a picture of it; I was actually looking at the real star we call “the sun.” Not very long ago we were looking at the full moon in the evening sky, hanging there in all its glory, a big ball in the heavens. And then I thought, here I am on one of the balls myself, moving through the impenetrable darkness of space. It was a sobering moment as I contemplated the reality of our solar system, galaxy and universe. I have to pay attention to the road, my speed, the other cars and everything else that creates the moment I’m experiencing, but suddenly I was aware in a new and exciting way of stars, planets and galaxies–not the ones in the films and books, but the real ones like the sun which no doubt is laughing at my musings, having been on the job for so long. There’s a lot more to life than where I’m living and what I’m experiencing at this moment.
I can hear Bev Shea in my head, singing from the depths of his heart,”Who made the mountains, who made the trees? Who made the rivers flow to the sea? And who sends the rain when the earth is dry? Somebody bigger than you and I. Who made the flowers to bloom in the spring? Who made the song for the robins to sing? And who hung the moon and the stars in the sky? Somebody bigger than you and I. He lights the way when the road is long. He keeps you company. And with His love to guide you, He walks beside you, just like He walks with me. When I am weary and filled with despair, who gives me courage to go from there? And who gives me faith that will never die? Somebody bigger than you and I.” (Written by Hy Heath, Johnny Lange, Sonny Burke).
“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and stars that you set in place –what are mere mortals, that you concern yourself with them; humans, that you watch over them with such care? (Psalm 8:3-4 CJB).
