In the mood to worship? Do some research on the solar system.
Not deep scholarly analysis, mind you, but just go back a review some of the basics you learned while in middle school. I remember making a model of the solar system, painting little styrofoam balls in different colors to represent the different planets; the painstaking detail that I put into Earth’s colors and Saturn’s rings were astounding.
Seriously, I found myself in awe today. I focus so existentially and so exclusively at times on our world, our humanity, our culture, and how to not obscure God in all of this. Its been forever since I explored what we know about the solar system in which Earth resides, and what we hypothesize about the universe beyond. Amazing that I let this slip my mind, being as much of a science fiction nerd as I am, but I do. Genesis gives us an account of Earth’s creation, and our creation. But I wonder what was going through God’s infinitely creative mind as he fashioned the other planets with which we share this space, and the other solar systems? I wonder what He might have been attempting to symbolize? The painstaking detail with which each planet is designed, the quirky differences between them and us, is astounding. Did you know that Jupiter’s year is the equivalent of 12 earth years because of how slowly it orbits? Or that Neptune rotates on its side? Bits of rock that has come to Earth from Mars have revealed what scientists believe to have been some form of bacterial life. The fascination with “Martians” coming to get us in the science fiction genre was born from the scientific fact that, if life exists elsewhere in our solar system, then Mars is the place most likely to hold it.
I ponder sometimes what other life God has created out there. To say that we are the only life in the universe is pretty narcissistic to me. Where does man rank in this life? We are the object of angel’s fascination in Scripture, because God would choose to go to such lengths to give us a way back to Him. What might the other life have experienced? Might there be a mankind out there that never experienced a Fall? Some other bizarre species whose spiritual heritage we could only imagine? What might lie out there, that we may never know about? What might be the truth behind the conspiracy theorists who spend their days imagining Area 51? Might this other life out there experience art as we do? Do they have theatre? What are their scientific advancements? What could we learn from each other?
I wonder what other parts might be beyond our vision in this great multi-media piece called the universe? As God looks down upon the finished product that He so lovingly created, what might He see?
I imagine it might just be breathtaking when we finally get a view for ourselves.