Afire with God
April 2, 2008 (Wednesday)
On this day in 1845, the sun was first photographed. Photography was still a brand new idea at the time. The same French physicists, Fizeau and Foucault, measured the speed of light a few years later. Their test results were pretty near the actual speed of light, more precisely measured in 1926 by others as 186,285 miles per second. That’s the speed of all electromagnetic activity such as radio transmissions.
The discoveries and accomplishments in viewing and measuring the heavens since 1926 are mind-boggling, and most of them have taken place fairly recently.
I marvel and never cease to be amazed at the photographs sent back to earth from the Hubbel Telescope. Newer and more effective ways of viewing miracles in the sky are being discovered and invented as I write.
As the Wicked Witch of the West said when she melted away, “What a world. What a world.” She was disappointed that the world worked against her evil ways; we are energized by the good things of life. What a world.
Life is exciting and worth living. I love what Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote: “Earth’s crammed with heaven, And every common bush afire with God; But only he who sees, takes off his shoes – The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.”
Elizabeth and Robert shared their love for each other with the world through their poetry. Her words stir our hearts: “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach.”
We can live our lives out on the edges, never becoming involved, never seeing the good in others, never overwhelmed by the wonder of it all, or we can become passionately immersed in the joy of living. It’s up to us. We can do “all things through Christ.”
(Photo of Charles)