This most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being.
Isaac Newton (1642 -1727)
From a particularly special perspective that we humans witness once in a millennium, for a few moments tonight, December 21, 2020, we perceive Jupiter and Saturn, orbiting nearly a half-billion and a billion miles, respectively, from the Sun appear almost to merge. During certain times of the year, Earth passes through the tail of comets that create fascinating meteor-showers. Last witnessed in 1986, a comet, depicted in a thousand-year old tapestry, Halley’s Comet, draws near the Sun every seventy-five years.
I do not deny the marvel of human ingenuity that created amazing achievements during my lifetime: landing the first humans on the Moon; humans have prevented disease through vaccines, and developed tools to allow the blind to see and the crippled to walk. As 2020 draws to a close, new vaccines have been urgently produced, for an unpredictable microorganism. COVID has radically changed social interaction, commerce, healthcare, and politics. and in many places being able to worship.
19 This is because what is known about God should be plain to them because God made it plain to them. 20 Ever since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities—God’s eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, because they are understood through the things God has made. So humans are without excuse. 21 Although they knew God, they didn’t honor God as God or thank him. Instead, their reasoning became pointless, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Romans 1:19 -21 (NIV)
While many turn to the “Christmas star”, Government officials, or observing neighborhoods lit up for Christmas (see my earlier post) for comfort, it is my hope that people will seek to learn the marvel of our God. In both our times of crisis and comfort, God is the One, in and through Whom all things are created and held together. When people begin to learn who God, Jesus, and the Spirit/ Counselor is, I hope they want to learn more. In the week that the Christian world celebrates traditionally in remembrance of the birth of our Savior, the Truth of everything witnessed and written down, of Jesus death and Resurrection, does not seem much of a stretch for a Being that created the Universe. As we note the precision of the orbits of celestial bodies, and the adaptability of a microorganism, we should thank God for His comfort and Inspiration. Isaac Newton, through whom many scientific discoveries in the recent centuries were enabled, said as much.
It's a Dog's Life 