Image: Wunderland2, a star cluster in the Constellation of Corina.
Sometimes we need to see something so amazing and so breathtaking in order for us to gain perspective. Today, the picture on my laptop screen featured a star cluster similar to the photo above. Every time I saw this display of stars pulsing with unearthly beauty 20,000 light years away, my thoughts were arrested. Here was something so beyond, so other. And yes, my breath was taken away. Every former thought would leave my mind, and I was left in the wonder of God, of this Holy Being Who calls Himself: I Am. My soul was flooded with thoughts of His Greatness, of His Majesty, and of His Power. Pandemic concerns, daily demands and responsibilities of life, and even the sense of the presence of my family with me in my living room vanished. To put it another way, the image of this mind-blowing creation forced me to worship the Creator and to focus exclusively on Him.
Life is about seeing things and circumstances through the eyes of God. “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” (Rev 4:11)
COVID-19 pandemic. These words have become quite comfortable house guests in our minds. They tempt us to succumb to fear, worry, and sometimes anger. We experience confusion and uncertainty as the news outlets continually churn out story after story about statistics, data, projections, health orders, and guidelines. Some of us have relatives or friends with COVID-19 or have had a loved one die because of COVID-19. All of us hope that our loved ones and friends do not get COVID-19. And we hope we don’t get it. Precautions are taken, and we find ourselves living our lives in ways that are so foreign to us.
Then we see Wunderland2. And our thoughts about ourselves vanish in awe of this God Who is so absolutely other. This God who has showed us that the “spacious heavens declare” His glory, and the “firmament displays His handiwork abroad.” (Psalm 19)
Here is God, breaking into our thoughts that are saturated with pandemics, family problems, health concerns, school challenges. Here is God saying, “I am, and there is no other.” Here is God saying that He is powerful, that He is to be worshipped, and that He is in control. Here is God, not a distant being, but One who speaks to us through His creation and through His Word. Here is God who dazzles us with his unfathomable greatness, but who comforts us in our spirits, reminding us that He will never leave us nor forsake us. And here is God who moved heaven and earth to save us from the condition that would have eventually killed us, body and soul.
Friends, in these days of uncertainties, fears, and worry, remember God. Remember His greatness, His power, and His great saving mercy for His children, displayed on the cross of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. No matter what your circumstances are, stand in awe of Him and worship Him.
Mrs. Mary Brown, Principal