Scripture:
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. Psalms 19:1-4
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. I John 1:5-6
Reflection:
I read a post this past week that I wanted to summarize and pass on to you.
Günter Bechly is a German paleo-entomologist and senior fellow from Discovery Institute. He specializes in bugs in the fossil record and is also a man of strong and sincere faith. He was recently asked, “Why would a God create such an enormous universe and only give life to one tiny speck of dust in comparison to this vast universe?” I thought his answer was very insightful. He said; “Imagine with me that God in his natural revelation of the heavens above has really taught us two very important lessons: 1) As His creation, you are very special; 2) as that creation we cannot become a self-centered megalomaniac; we need to remember that God is infinitely greater than we are. Anyone who would but observe the vastness of the universe should understand the significance of both points fairly well.
William Shatner, the actor who played Captain Kirk on the 1960s sci-fi television show Star Trek made a very similar comment as Günter Bechly when he wrote about his experience of space flight back in December of last year. Shatner said;
- Last year, at the age of 90, I had a life-changing experience. I went to space, after decades of playing a science-fiction character who was exploring the universe and building connections with diverse life forms and cultures. When I went to space, I thought I would experience a feeling of deep connection with the immensity around us, a deep call for endless exploration. A call to indeed boldly go where no one had gone before.
- I was absolutely wrong. What I felt was totally different. The strongest feeling, dominating everything else by far, was the deepest grief that I had ever experienced. While I was looking away from Earth and turned towards the rest of the universe, I didn’t feel a connection; I didn’t feel an attraction. What I understood, in the clearest possible way, was that we were living on a tiny oasis of life, surrounded by an immensity of death. I didn’t see infinite possibilities of worlds to explore, adventures to have, or any living creatures to connect with. What I saw was the deepest darkness I could have ever imagined, contrasting starkly with the welcoming warmth of our nurturing home planet. This was an immensely powerful awakening for me.
Shatner‘s surprising revelation was that we are surrounded by death. The vastness of space was not what attracted him; his only attraction and connection was to light and life. Both Shatner and Bechly understand that perspective is key to truly seeing, understanding, and connecting. What will we see? Will we look at life and light, or see the darkness?
God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. Only in Christ Jesus, can we find the light of life. When Jesus spoke to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Even though we are surrounded by darkness, in Christ is light and life.
Amen.
David
Recent Comments