THE NIGHT SKY

When was the last time you gazed up into the star-filled sky on a clear night? Do you wonder what it would be like to travel in the heavens among the stars? What lies beyond what your physical eyes can see?

Jamie Buckingham described a night like that in the snowy mountains of North Carolina:

“I walked up the dark, snow-covered road toward Cowee Bald. The sky had cleared, revealing a billion stars twinkling in the clear, cold night. The only sound was the gurgling of a small mountain stream beside the road and the soft crunch of my shoes in the snow. All the other night noises were smothered, leaving me with the impression of standing alone on earth.

I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained.
PSALM 8:3 KJV
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“I wondered about the time, but to glance at my watch would have been sacrilegious. Clocks, calendars, automobiles, and airplanes—instruments of time and speed—were all buried beneath nature’s cloak of stillness and slowness. I kicked the snow off my boot, and standing in the middle of the road, threw my head back and breathed deeply of the pine-scented air. Looking into the heavens I could see stars whose light had left there a million years ago, and realized I was just glimpsing the edge of space. Beyond that was infinity—and surrounding it all, the Creator.

“I remembered a quote from the German philosopher Kant. Something about two irrefutable evidences of the existence of God: the moral law within and the starry universe above. I breathed His name: ‘God.’

“Then, overwhelmed by His presence, I called Him what I had learned to call Him through experience: ‘Father!’”27

Tonight, contemplate the stars in the heavens. You will find there a glimpse of eternity. What an awesome thought: The Creator of the universe invites me to have a personal relationship with Him!

The more I study nature, the more
I am amazed at the Creator.

LOUIS PASTEUR