When You Turn On the Lights
—Grace & Truth Linkup
We earthlings have been fascinated this week with new images coming to us from outer space.
Who knew this is what we would find in the dark?
Cosmic Cliffs. Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI
Stephan’s Quintet. Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI
But this is what can happen when we turn on the lights.
We discover new things. We see things we’ve never seen before. We glimpse the vastness of our universe in profound ways.
Southern Ring Nebula. Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI
The telescope itself is as tall as a three-story building and as long as a tennis court. To fit into the rocket for launch, it had to be folded like origami.
Although it took 30 years to build (not to mention cost $10 billion), I’m still fascinated with the speed we’re getting photos from its journey 1.5 million kilometers away from Earth.
The James Edwin Space Telescope only left our planet Earth last Christmas, December 25, 2021!
The telescope works by “seeing” distant stars on its mirrors, which collect and focus light. Its infrared cameras actually see light invisible to human eyes through the dust in our universe.
It is inside those dust clouds that stars and planets first form.
Turning on the lights in our own homes, our own hearts, also reveals things invisible to our naked eyes in the dark…dirt under the couch, dust bunnies under the bed, chaos in the closets.
But even so, light is beneficial. It shows us what is present, things to work on, things we need to do next.
I am grateful for the amazing images that Jesus as Light reveals to me too. He uncovers love for me…
- in places I didn’t know existed,
- in people I didn’t know cared,
- in experiences I never had felt.
Webb’s First Deep Field. Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI
May Jesus—and NASA—keep the lights on.
Show us even more!
Grace & Truth Featured Post
Whether you call them fireflies or lightning bugs, these insects flash their lights to communicate.
Donna encourages us with lessons from the fireflies. We, too, can allow Jesus’s light to shine in and through us to communicate hope and truth to those around us.
Read all of Donna’s post here at her blog, then link up your own blog posts below.
“Shining a Light in the Darkest of Times”
Has Light revealed fascinating things to you too this week? Share your thoughts in the comments.
I’m linking at these blog parties
Review the rules here about adding your most recent Christian Living posts and how to be the Featured Post. Visit all four hosts social media here or websites here: Maree Dee, Lisa notes, Lauren Sparks, Tammy Kennington.
Now Let’s Link Up!
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I’m doing the nature program here at camp, and talking about the days of creation with the campers. Loved a conversation with a camper in which he discovered that light preceded the sun. He was the light of the world from the beginning!
The photos coming to us from the telescope are truly amazing, aren’t they! My husband just made the comment that God knew from before the foundation of the world that man would be fascinated with outer space and gave us something magnificent to look at!
Thanks for hosting, Lisa. Have a blessed weekend.
Lisa, I love your thoughts on learning new things in the dark. It is amazing how much we see when we turn out the lights! I have always been enthralled with astronomy and the Hubble telescope photos truly amaze me with the glory of God!
Thank you for sharing my post here today!
Wow, such amazing beauty. Loved this. Thank you, Lisa.
The heavens declare the glory of God! May we too, as we live in His light, declare His glory in *how* we live!
xo
Lynn
We just watched the Tom Hanks movie, Appollo 13, for the first time. Timely, huh?
L
I had heard of the telescope but hadn’t seen pictures yet. Amazing! “The heavens declare the glory of God!” His glory shines wherever His light does.
I love God’s creation & it always amazes me just how little of it we know Lisa!
Blessings,
Jennifer
The more we learn about our world, the more amazing it becomes.
Brilliant pictures and brilliant post. Even more amazing when you consider what a tiny portion of the sky these pictures cover. Science truly is a celebration of creation. I keep meaning to read those science fiction novels by CS Lewis — sooner or later we are going to find sentient life.
Wow! Lisa, thank you for sharing this undoubtedly blessed message. Jesus (and NASA’s) images and light brings forth such clarity to us.
IMM#1
I have never been a space junkie… but I have to admit that even I see the fascination with these photos. There is an old song, “How big is God, how big and wide his vast domain…”