Saturn, Perseids, & Steadfast Love

Perseid meteor shower

 O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
    for his steadfast love endures forever...

...who made the great lights,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
 the sun to rule over the day,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
the moon and stars to rule over the night,
    for his steadfast love endures forever...

Psalm 136: 1, 7-9

I get a text from son Isaac on Friday evening: "want to go see some stars tonight?" Ike has taken an interest in the night sky, doing an online course with the Vatican's chief astronomer, attending the local astronomy club. His sister Joc gave him a telescope for his birthday in June and he's begun testing it out. Being a 30-something he's found an app telling him where the sky is least light-polluted in our area, as well as one that allows him to point his phone toward the heavens and receive info about the planets and constellations above him.



We agreed to meet at 9:30, which is normally my bedtime, and we ventured into Prince Edward County on a sky-hunt. We stopped along a quiet country road, got out, and looked up. Sure enough, the Milky Way was evident, the Dippers dipped, and the planets twinkled. We fumbled around in the pitch dark to set up the telescope and were able to see the rings of Saturn. How cool is that!

On the return trip Isaac admitted that it was better doing this with someone else, because it's a bit spooky hanging out in the dark, solo. I won't lie, it was a tad unsettling. Good news, it was really, really dark. Not-so-good-news, it was REALLY, REALLY dark.

I've written several times about the power of the heavens which declare the glory of God (Psalm 19.) When I did a service in Algonquin Park recently I focused on the Creation majesty of the night sky. Still, most of us just aren't accustomed to the darkness anymore, and that's sad.

Ruth and I are talking about heading out again tonight, if the sky is clear, to take in the Perseid meteor shower. Well, it's supposed to be best after midnight, so we might not make it...

...we did get up -- at 3:30 AM today. We read that the Perseids would be best between 3 and 5, so we set the alarm, then drove to a desolate dirt road in Prince Edward County. We saw roughly twenty meteors flash across the sky, along with an impressive Milky Way. Nap time!