Sky watcher

The ABC’s of knowing God better: the letter “M”


The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. – Psalm 19:1 (NIV)
      
LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens.  – Psalm 8:1 (NIV)
      
I’ve long been a sky watcher. As a child, I liked to lay on my back in the yard on a summer day, watching the clouds float across a sapphire sky. As a young mother, after the supper dishes were done, I’d sit on the patio in the evening as twilight deepened and watch the stars come out. It was then, as an adult, I learned to recognize the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper.
      
I love to watch the sky as a storm moves in. And rainbows! One summer morning when the kids were little, I roused them out of their comfy beds to see a neon rainbow arching in the sky above the house.
      
And sunsets! Oh, joy! I’ll stop in the middle of making supper to gaze at a blazing winter sunset. And once in a while I’ll catch the rose blush of a morning sky just before the sun rises. One fall morning the sky cast a copper glow over everything.
      
Abraham Lincoln once said, “I can see how it might be possible for a man to look down upon the earth and be an atheist, but I cannot conceive how he could look up into the heavens and say there is no God.”
      
To paraphrase the psalmist, When I consider the heavens, the finger-work of God, the moon and the stars, which He set in place (Psalm 8:3) . . .The sky—the heavens—tell us much about their creator, if only we would selah – pause and think about it.
      
I once heard a scientist give a talk about how nature reflects the Triune God. First, all three—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—were present and active in creation (Genesis 1:1–5). Three lights were created: the sun (“the greater light to rule the day”), the moon (“the lesser light to rule the night”), and the stars.
      
Then there’s the atom, the basic unit that makes up all matter. The atom is comprised of three parts: protons, neutrons and electrons. Matter, defined as “anything that takes up space and has mass,” comes in three forms: solid, liquid and gas.
      
There are three primary colors: red, yellow and blue. These three pigment colors cannot be made by mixing other colors. Indeed, from them all other colors are made by mixing together various combinations of red, yellow, and blue.
      
Omne trium perfectum – the Latin phrase means “everything that comes in threes is perfect, or every set of three is complete.”
      
All nature bears the signature of its Triune Creator, perfect and complete, lacking nothing. That’s why I love the outdoors in every season. That’s why I’m a sky watcher.
      
Take time to watch the sky. Remember: The Heavens declare the glory of God; The skies proclaim His majesty!     
      
“This is my Father’s world: I rest me in the thought of rocks and trees and skies and seas—His hand the wonders wrought.”* Thank you, God, for creating this beautiful world that reflects Your majesty, just for us. Remind me to take time and enjoy it. Amen.
      
*From “This Is My Father’s World” by Maltbie D. Babcock (1858–1901)
      

Special-Tea: Read Psalm 8; Genesis 1

 

Sky over Sand Beach, Mount Desert Island, Acadia National Park, 9/23/13