One Sunset, Four Photos, & the Glory of God

 The heavens are telling the glory of God,

    and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.

Day to day pours forth speech,
    and night to night declares knowledge.

There is no speech, nor are there words;

    their voice is not heard;

yet their voice goes out through all the earth
    and their words to the end of the world.

In the heavens he has set a tent for the sun,

which comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy,
    and like a strong man runs its course with joy.
 Its rising is from the end of the heavens
    and its circuit to the end of them,
    and nothing is hid from its heat.

                                          Psalm 19:1-6

Last evening we stepped onto our westward facing deck to enjoy the last vestiges of an unnaturally warm day in early November. We were delighted by the sunset and Ruth quickly posted a photo to our family chat. In short order all three of our adult children added their shots from various locations in southern Ontario, including one from downtown Toronto and another in a rural area. All were beautiful and a reminder that we live under the same sky, the thin atmospheric envelope which allows life on our planet Earth to exist in orbit around our particular star, the Sun. 

In suburban areas such as ours it is often a challenge to participate in the wondrous skies of day and night which the psalmist assures us declare the glory of God. Our earnest busyness, the impediment of buildings, and the light pollution of human communities all conspire to rob us of this gift, otherwise free for the viewing. 

In early September we were on Change Islands, small specks of rock off the northeast coast of Newfoundland where there is very little light pollution competing with the night sky. We enjoyed some spectacular sunsets and would venture outside each night in the hope of a glimpse of the Milky Way. One evening Ruth headed out first and came back quickly because the Northern Lights were on display, a phenomenon we have seen a number of times through the years but is always a remarkable display.

To take any of this for granted is a sin, don't you think, if sin is turning away from what the Creator offers to us, either willfully or through indifference? As we teeter on the brink of catastrophe because of human-made climate change we need the visible reminders that we must be humble and appreciative of our place in Creation. 

Next up? The full moon for November is tonight into tomorrow morning, with the bonus of a lunar eclipse. Will wonders never cease? 

All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small,

all things wise and wonderful: in love, God made them all.

2 The purpleheaded mountains, the river running by,

the sunset and the morning  that brightens up the sky;  R