Free Venus Lantern Tonight!

Bill Brown .... Xiamen University
"I am...the bright and morning star." Rev. 22:!6

"If the stars should appear but one night every thousand years, how man would marvel and stare." Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ancient Chinese astronomers not only watched the heavens and tracked stars and comets longer than anyone else (they have records covering thousands of years), but also did so with such amazing accuracy that NASA has recently used 14th century B.C. Chinese astronomical records to calculate how much the earth is slowing down! And for the record, the earth's rotation is 47/1000th of a second slower today than 3,400 years ago, so don't forget to reset your watch .

All five "naked-eye planets" will be visible during the coming month, but for the next few days the morning and evening "star," Venus, will be so bright just after sunset that some have called this spectacular display the "Venus Lantern." So escape the couch and TV and go gaze upon the the Venus Lantern and the stars, which is the closest we can come, for now, to staring infinity in the face.

I am not surprised that many astronomers have a hard time believing that our amazing universe just popped out of nowhere from nothing. Virtually every week I read articles about scientists revising yet another theory of origins because it does not account for the complexity and sophistication of our cosmos. No wonder Emerson wrote that if stars came out only one night in a thousand years, we would marvel and stare. But we don't marvel and stare; we take for granted the stars by night, the sun by day--even our very life itself, claiming it somehow came together in a primordial soup.

A few weeks ago, a pet theory of planets' origins was demolished when scientists ran it through a computer model, and instead of coalescing into planets the primordial gases simply flew off into space. One scientist brilliantly concluded, "We're not sure how the planets formed yet, but we know that planets do form somehow because we're standing on one."

When I was a child I never ceased to marvel at the stars, and I still remember the night that the moon was red and I was certain it was the planet Mars. My youthful imagination ran away with me and I thought I could even see Jupiter, and ringed Saturn as well. I often dreamed of flying to those planets, and stars and galaxies--and believe that someday I shall.

For a few brief decades we are each bound to this small planet in the backwaters of our galaxy, and we see the stars only only from a distance, against the backdrop of night. But we can do more than just watch the stars. We can be part of it if we allow the morning star to rise within our hearts, as Peter wrote:

"Therefore we regard the message of the prophets as confirmed beyond doubt, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp that is shining in a gloomy place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts." 2 Peter 1:19

Tonight, watch the free Venus Lantern show, and as the evening star sets, let that Morning Star rise in your heart. Shine within the darkness until the Day dawns and we no longer watch eternity but are one with it.

"The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech, And night to night reveals knowledge." Psalm 19: 1,2 NAS

Photo Credit: the Venus photo is by Gabriel D. Velasquez and download from Wikipedia in accordance with their provisions.
www.amoymagic.com