Through the centuries, stars have both challenged and charmed us with their elusive yet constant presence. Drawing us above the ambitions of human pride and arrogance, these orbs of light have caused our jaws to drop in stark admiration.
The vast expanse of occupied space provides an unparalleled challenge to the deep yearnings of the human spirit for exploration. Drawn above the ambitions of human pride and arrogance these orbs of light have caused our jaws to drop in stark admiration. With its myriad stars, space is without question the most ambitious playground for human contemplation.
I recently enjoyed an IMAX presentation of space as seen through the Hubble telescope. Aided by its technology, a visual journey into space can bring God’s front yard within reach of our personal experience. Through its lens, we may embrace the Creator and His creation.
Words are but weak and inadequate vessels for conveying the exhilaration this tour of God’s front yard gave me. The nebula in Orion, long thought to be the entrance to heaven, does not disappoint, as it stands out as the most singular testimony to opulence in the sky. It is here that God forms the stars and assembles the galaxies to adorn His heavens. The nebula’s cavernous walls are covered with starry diamonds that glisten and sparkle by their own light. The pink and mauve billowing gases that form its chamber of light cradle a collection of newly created stars being readied for their journey into the vast regions of the universe. This sprinkling of light is God’s way of showing us both His grandeur and His splendor.
We have been thrilled by Scripture’s imagery of a powerful God who formed the heavens as a canopy of protection during the night.
“Seek Him that makes the seven stars and Orion, and turns the shadow of death into the morning and makes the day dark with night . . . . The Lord is His name” (Amos 5:8).
The immense stars and galaxies strewn with meticulous precision through the vastness of space argue for the certainty of intelligent design. And as we look up into the night skies, these pinholes of light should draw us farther away from ourselves and diminish the significance of human endeavor, causing us to exclaim,
“O Lord, our Lord. How excellent is Your name in all the earth! Who have set Your glory above the heavens. “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him?” (Psalms 8:1, 3, 4).
****
Allen Hrenyk is an avid amateur photographer from Marsing, Idaho.