By Pat Russell
The other evening we drove to the hilltop of Caribou Drive to see “the great conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Saturn.” It’s been 400 years since it happened like this. It was difficult to find it and when we did, we realized it was not going to be spectacular. We could see one semi-bright image and one small image up and to its right in the early evening sky.
We were “underwhelmed,” as someone said. After all, we are a society of the big and spectacular. The half-time shows at football games; the Christmas lights that cover every inch of the house and yard; the Christmas programs that simply overwhelm our senses. Big is better. And so, we waited for more. It never came.
We drove back down the hill to our home and said, “Well, at least we can say that we saw it.” And the Colorado sky with silhouetted mountains was beautiful.
I thought the next morning that this celestial event could have been the response of the world to the birth of Jesus, to the star of Bethlehem -- underwhelmed, waiting for more, oh well…. It could even be our response this year.
It is only for those who study the heavens, who can see more than the naked eye can see, and who truly understand the greatness of the “conjunction” to experience the wonder of the event --the greatness of the coming together of material and mystic in the present. Those eyes must be longing, searching, learning, waiting, discerning, following.
It is, after all, not the vestiges of power as we know them on display, but it is humility in all its glory. Two planets, far away, crossing paths that have been laid out ages before. One birth that has been in the mind of God since the beginning.
Lord, give me eyes to see Your glory in the humble; in the not-so-spectacular seen with the human eye. Eyes to see the wonder of “…the hand of power that conquers all enemies, …curled around a mother’s finger.” Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment