Gazing Skyward

As I write this, we’re enjoying a long spell of blue skies and hot sunshine - hopefully it will last the holidays!  Each evening, nature has treated us to spectacular displays of colour as the sky has gradually turned various shades of orange, red, pink and purple until the sun finally disappears.

Not content with just being the canvas for a beautiful sunset, the sky has also become the backdrop for hundreds and thousands of tiny pinpricks of light as darkness gradually falls and the stars become visible.  The more you look, the more you see!  You may even catch a glimpse of a ‘shooting star’, as the annual Perseid meteor shower takes place (between 17th July and 24th August).

Apparently, the Perseids are caused by Earth passing through the debris left behind Comet Swift-Tuttle.  As the pieces of comet debris (most of which are only the size of a grain of sand) enter the atmosphere they burn up in a bright burst of light, travelling they travel at 37 miles per second.  At its peak (12th August) there could be up to 60-70 meteors visible per hour so even the least patient of us should see at least one!

If you find time to gaze into the night sky for a glimpse of the Perseids, stop for a moment to get get a sense of how vast it is.  How tiny we are in comparison with the universe, and how big God must be!  As the psalmist wrote: “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and stars, which You have set in place, what is mankind that You are mindful of them, human beings that You care for them?” (Psalm 8:3-4)  But the Bible tells us that God does care for us.  How amazing is that?!

Useful passage to look up: Psalm 8

Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash