Magic Every Moment ~ ARP 273

Greetings Dear Reader,

If you do not already know what ARP 273 is you will.  When I first saw the image of it I was immediately transported to a night during my ninth summer.  I was in a place with no light pollution and clear skies.  It was overnight camping in a vast field.

ARP 273 - Hubble Space Telescope

The sky erupted with so many blazing stars.  Several shooting stars spent their brief brilliant lives to draw out my wonder.  It was the first time I felt the vastness of the universe.  I felt so small and so vast all at once.  When I read Thomas Traherne many years later I found his view of stars to echo my own. 

Century 1:34 Would one think it possible for a man to delight in gauderies like a butterfly, and neglect the Heavens? Did we not daily see it, it would be incredible. They rejoice in a piece of gold more than in the Sun; and get a few little glittering stones and call them jewels. And admire them because they be resplendent like the stars, and transparent like the air, and pellucid like the sea. But the stars themselves which are ten thousand times more useful, great, and glorious they disregard. Nor shall the air itself be counted anything, though it be worth all the pearls and diamonds in ten thousand worlds. A work of God so Divine by reason of its precious and pure transparency, that all worlds would be worth nothing without such a treasure.

ARP 273 is a pair of interacting galaxies in the Andromeda constellation.  The forces of the intertwining galaxies imitate tidal like movement on a literally cosmic scale.  This vast beauty, brought clearly to our attention by the Hubble Telescope captures the great magic and majesty of the cosmos. 

We see the stars in moments.  Sometimes we venture out to see them and sometimes we are surprised when they impose their beauty upon us.  When I make the time to notice I am reminded of the magic in those moments.  I am reminded that the heavens declare the glory of God loudly and clearly.  They declare it magically every moment.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

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On Giving Thanks – The Stars

Greetings Dear Reader,

I watched Neil and Buz walk on the moon before I was a teen.  Before that I was in love with the idea of space, space travel, and the amazing vastness of the star.  One of the great things my mum did when I was a child was make a way for me to watch Star Trek.  I was only six when it premiered.  She would send me to bed early and wake me up to watch it.  I fell in love with the idea of space travel.

What I see when I look up is potential.  I see the vast reaches of the cosmos and think of the creativity of God.  What wonders does he have in store for us that we have yet to discover?  Whatever they are I am anxious to discover them.  I think that basically I am a starship captain two hundred years too soon (I hope Jimmy Buffet will forgive me for that).

I am so thankful for the stars.  I contemplate them often.  Tomorrow is my Grandson’s birthday.  He already likes the stars too.  His birthday will have a star theme this year.  It amazes me that there is such a beauty and depth to the universe and that it can also be reflected in a four-year-old boy. 

I clearly see the creativity of God reflected in both.  I hope to nurture his love of the cosmos.  I hope to show my gratitude to the Creator by loving this aspect of his creativity.  I met never get to space in the conventional way.  I know that if it were up to me the place that Christ is preparing for me would be a Starship.  .

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)