The Glory of the Perseids and the Northern Lights

                                             Milky Way and Perseid Meteor in West Virginia 

 “Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades

    or loose the cords of Orion?
32 Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season,
    or can you guide the Bear with its children?
33 Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?
    Can you establish their rule on the earth?

Job 38: 31-33 NRSVue 

Before we left for a two-week vacation on a remote island off Newfoundland I expressed my hope that we would experience a clear night sky with the a view of the Milky Way and constellations at least once. One evening at bedtime the sky was cloudless, unusual in Newfoundland, so we set our alarm for 1:30 AM with the hope that we'd get a view of the heavens. 

Ruth generously allowed me to be the advance scout while she kept the bed warm and I soon returned with a positive report. The Milky Way was quite evident and I quickly realized we were at the height of the Perseid Meteor Shower. Then, when I looked to the north and west I could see the Northern Lights. Ruth joined me, and while the Aurora Borealis wasn't as spectacular as other times we've seen it, there was a green curtain across the horizon,  climbing into the sky. 

During our stay we were also treated to some wonderful sunsets and moonrises reflected on the water. On our penultimate evening the sun was spectacular as it  was setting but then  suddenly disappeared behind haze. We heard on the CBC the next morning that this was from forest fires, a sobering reminder about our climate-changed country. 

When I wrote my earlier blog I quoted the passage from the 38th chapter of Job where God asks the beleagured schlep if he had ever arranged the constellations, hardly a pastoral question. During a visit to the lovely old Anglican Church on Change Islands I opened the 175-year-old King James Bible to these verses. It seemed the fitting thing to do.