Candice's Comments

Have you looked up at the night sky lately? In years past, when I would travel to visit my parents, I would often arrive late at night. It would be dark outside. I would get out of the car after driving the several hours from Des Moines, stretch my arms and legs, and then look up at the brilliantly lit sky. It was amazing as thousands of star twinkled back at me. It was a time of thanksgiving and prayer

as I marveled at God’s handiwork.

Have you looked up at the night sky lately? Bill and I enjoyed Grand Camp this summer with our granddaughters Kaylee and Hana. The one night of camping, we took blankets and laid them out on the grassy hillside. As we lay on our blankets and looked upward, we began to notice the stars and their arrangements. There was so much to see in the night sky. What a learning experience for all of us as we observed God’s night lights, arranged in the sky.

Have you looked up at the night sky lately? It’s difficult to see the stars “in town.” We certainly appreciate light and how it helps us to see. But when it comes to looking at the night sky, light is actually a kind of pollution. It hampers our view of some of the spectacular wonders of the sky: stars, planets, and even galaxies. “In town” the sky often looks as though it has no stars.

But really there are about 2,500 individual stars visible to the human eye without using any special equipment. Because of light pollution, we may actually only see a few.

For most of human history, the phrase “light pollution” would have made no sense. Light pollution started becoming a problem about 100 years ago, when cities began using more and more lights (streetlights, building lights, outdoor lights, advertising lights for stores and businesses). Now there are so many lights, they can be seen from outer space.

Have you looked up at the night sky lately? Gazing up at the sky expands our call to look to the heavens and cosmos around us to see both the beauty of God’s creation and the urgent call to see how our actions and activity impact the entire atmosphere in which we live. The sky both proclaims and prophesies.

Psalm 19:1 proclaims:

The heavens are telling the glory of God;

 and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.

Jeremiah 4:23 prophecies:

I looked on the earth, and lo, it was waste and void;

and to the heavens, and they had no light.

Have you looked up at the night sky lately?

Looking up with you!

Candice