BishopBlogging
BishopBlogging
Beauty...and the Beast...
The image above is the Pinwheel Galaxy, in a new picture taken by Spanish astronomers. Glorious! (Readers of this blog will not be surprised to learn that my first major was physics, especially astrophysics.)
And then there is more violence in Honduras yesterday, as an unresolved political situation gets people killed. Again. You may say, Gentle Reader, that there are people being killed in political violence somewhere in the world as you read these lines, and you would be right. But I point out Honduras because it is such a poor country, racked by hurricanes periodically, and basically ignored by much of the world. It does have a wonderful Diocese of The Episcopal Church, la Iglesia Episcopal Hondureña, led by a great bishop, Lloyd Allen. You might be moved to pray for that nation…
While the heavens are declaring to us the glory of God and the beauty of life, we are always unable to get the message. And we have no excuse, not even Original Sin. I am not one to quote John Calvin a great deal, but this line from the Institutes struck me a long time ago, and still does:
“…for a man to pretend that he lacks ears to hear the truth when there are mute creatures with more than melodious voices to declare it; or for a man to claim that he cannot see with his eyes what eyeless creatures point out to him; or to plead feebleness of mind when even irrational creatures give instruction... (I.v.15)
All around us the Creation is telling us that life is beautiful and good. Why do we make it otherwise? The eternal human predicament, answered by God in the Cross of Jesus Christ. But how much do we understand, even now? I preached on this question last Sunday, for what’s it’s worth.
24 septembre 2009
Image: Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes / Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias