Scripture: Genesis 1:16
God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars.
Thought for the Day: I was fascinated by an article I read yesterday that spoke about astronomers at two universities who had used the Kepler space telescope to estimate that there are tens of billions of Earth-like planets in our Milky Way galaxy that could be inhabitable. I have a hard enough time imagining a billion of anything, but to think there are billions (emphasis on the plural) of planets just in our galaxy that fit the description of a life sustaining planet is mind boggling. The Biblical writers believed the stars were small holes punched in a dome (firmament) through which the glory of God shown. We’ve come a long way in the last 3000 – 4000 years, yet our new layers of understanding have often created more questions. Many of those questions will find answers in science, and that is a wonderful thing…even for people of faith. Faith should not be threatened by this or any scientific discovery. In fact, one of the great problems is that from a defensive posture the church has often excluded itself from the conversation. We need to pose questions of ethics, be a voice at the table when discussing the ramifications of new discoveries, and most of all, we need to recognize that faith and science are often answering a different set of questions. The questions that are answered with God are not typically the questions being asked by science. Too often the voice of faith is tardy to the great conversations where questions like – Should we? What does it mean? How will that define us as the human race? Does it undermine the value of life? – are never raised. Let’s celebrate science and be enthusiastic respectful partners in the great conversations that will most definitely occur in the years to come.
Prayer: O God who continues to create within us both the ability to share and receive love, provide me a faith capable of engaging the great questions and insights of our time. Amen.
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