Many people don’t know that when I was young, I wanted to be an astronaut. To this day, I would give anything to go into outer space. There’s something magical, spiritual, about the heavens. Gazing up and out into the mysterious beyond is proof that there are things that humans just cannot comprehend.
I read an article once that said something about the size of the famous star Betelgeuse. If Betelgeuse were the size of Wembley Stadium in London (or Cowboys Stadium in Arlington), then our Sun would be the size of an orange. Thus, Earth would be slightly smaller than a pearl and humans would be…well, quite insignificant. Maybe the size of a cell? A mitochondrion? Yeah. Think about it. If you stare out into the Great Beyond, you see billions of stars, each with the potential for a solar system with orbiting planets with the potential to support life. I am a Christian, but I am not naive enough to believe we are alone in this universe. Humans may be unique, but there’s life out there somewhere. Trust me.
When I lived in Texas, I would drive out into the rice fields west of Beaumont in the brisk early morning, or late at night, and just gaze out at God’s creation. On a clear, still night, you can see the broad curve of the Earth. It’s transfixing. The stars, oh the billions of stars in eyesight. Amazing. Now that I’m in Boston, I can’t enjoy the night sky like I used to. But I can still imagine, right? I wrote this while looking up at the night sky the other night…
Golden Venus,
More beautiful than stars
Blue Earth, so full of apes
The engineer of a red Mars
Pluto is like a planet
Locked up behind bars
For gazing at Jupiter
Bruised like a lion king with scars
Deep blue Neptune
Sailing the seas of space afar
To catch a speedy Mercury
Hair raising the silver bar
Oh, bright Uranus
Your dark mystery endures
While surreal Saturn spins
In perpetual circles
The majestic and fiery Sun,
Blazes royally like purple.
