“The powers of the heavens will be shaken”: Finding hope in the stars during troubled times

I am a lapsed Catholic. That is a polite way of saying it and what it really means is that I haven’t been inside a church in a few years although I talk to God (the Creator, the Source, the One or whoever is in charge “up there”) every morning.

Some of you may know that I am a member of the Vatican Observatory Sacred Space blog and although I don’t blog there, I like to read the posts of the Jesuit priests and other contributors; I find them interesting and inspiring. And they keep me in touch with the rituals of the Church that I no longer attend. As the old saying goes – you can take the girl out of Catholicism, but you can’t take Catholicism out of the girl! As such, I was reading a recent post by Father James Kurzynski entitled “From the backyard: Standing Tall in Times of Adversity” which really resonated with me, particularly during this time of year and living in the troubled times that we are currently in. I met Father James when I attended a Faith and Astronomy retreat at the Vatican Observatory in 2017 and found him to be down to earth and thoughtful. His posts give us a lot to reflect on and here are my thoughts on some of his thoughts:

He reminded me that this is the first Sunday in Advent and the readings reflect on Jesus’ final return in glory which could be interpreted as the end of the world or the “new creation”. Jesus is quoted as saying to his disciples-“ There will be signs in the sun, the moon and the stars and on earths nations will be in dismay, perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will die of fright in anticipation of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken,,”

The reading goes on to talk about the coming of Jesus, coming ” in a cloud with power and glory” to redeem us although I’m not sure what that means literally in today’s troubled and chaotic world.

Those of us who love astronomy, and the stars know that there is much that could cause fear and consternation. Rogue asteroids, meteors., comets. space debris that could fall from the sky to name a few. I have often reflected on the terror that eclipses must have caused among primitive humans who didn’t understand what was happening. I have always found star gazing to be so peaceful. There is nothing like the beauty of a dark sky blanketed with stars, blinking beacons of hope, to calm one’s soul. Diamonds on velvet. It unites us a species especially when we consider that we are gazing at the same sky that millions of our brothers and sisters in humanity are also gazing at and wondering about that universal question ” Are we alone?” Since the discovery of the first exoplanet 30 years ago and the breathtaking images being returned by the James Webb Space Telescope, we have learned that the Universe is far vaster, magnificent and stranger that we could have possibly imagined.

We have learned that there are billions of stars in our galaxy alone, many with orbiting planets, some of which are in the habitable zone. We have learned about rogue stars and galaxies that are eating each other and many other things that have the potential to scare us. So we must make a choice as how we deal with these things, most of which we cannot begin to understand. I guess that is where faith comes in..Like Father James who makes the decision to “stand tall in times of adversity”, I believe that we must always find peace in the wonder and awe of God’s creation. And you don’t have to be religious to do that. You just have to be brave and leave yourself open to the new creation. I, for one, never want to be afraid of the wonders of the night sky and the beauty of God’s handiwork. Instead, I choose to accept that there is a power higher than me out there, whether you choose to call that power God or the Creator or whatever, I feel connected to the Cosmos and my fellow human beings whenever I look, I look up at the “heavens”..

What do YOU think? Would love to hear your thoughts;

M.A.N.