"Can you know the ordinances of the heavens - establish their rule on the earth?". Job 38:33.
I recently partook in a refreshing walk amidst the stunning scenery of Dartmoor. About half way through this, my friend and I came upon the enigmatic zone of two straight lines of standing stones. Stretching out for a good length, probably around half a mile, there were placed there because of the stunning spread of the sky above. In this spot, on a clear night, it would have been easy to view an extraordinary disc of the heavens. It's perhaps no surprise then that the other ancient feature of this landscape were marker stones that identified places of burial. Whatever the spiritual aspects of these people's lives, they clearly felt a very deep sense of connection to the majesty of the heavens. The vast splendour of what was "sung" into the world by such a breath-taking expression spoke of an unceasing magnificence in their lives.
I touch on all this because recently writer David Beddiel published a reflection in which he sought to argue that the reason that the notion of God is so buried in our lexicon of vital ideas is because of our shared fear of death. Whilst I don't doubt that this indeed often troubles us and it can no doubt be an imperative cause for wanting a way out, I think the far more fundamental reason for thinking on such things is the manner of sense of connection that inspired the thousands of standing stones across our world, erected as people who allowed the grandeur above their heads to resound so deeply in their souls.
The magnitude of what was encountered "spoke".
In our present times, such considerations in our lives have become disturbingly rare. Perhaps a moment of astonishment in the birth of a child, or when something entirely uncanny encroaches.
The 'mystery' of the latest on-line game or other entertainment, which seem, at least initially, to beckon us into a realm of unceasing welcome and revelry, prove to be far more satisfying than the often arduous demands of everyday life.
I recall a documentary some years ago which told of how some children raised in modern cities have never visited the coast or even seen a night sky without the every-present haze of the continual street lighting - never, in truth, been exposed to the wider realities around them.
Is this why some modern social commentators can feel so comfortable arguing that there is 'zero' that is miraculous about the conception of a baby (it's merely biology) or that there is nothing extraordinary behind our being here.
We tend, like gamers or confined creatures in a matrix, to buy-in to the notion that "science" gives us a reason (or at least, an excuse) not to reflect further - to see the kind of wonder our ancestors perpetually knew, but this is our profound mistake.
The world is still just as extraordinary, in truth, in so very many ways, and good science actually opens us to the truth that what is genuinely astonishing is still there for comprehension to encounter.
The little we actually know shouldn't incarcerate us, prevent us, or limit us to the life that foolishly concludes that it's all merely irrelevant and accidental.
Eternity resonates in our minds and hearts when we contemplate the vastness before us not as random stuff, but as the magnificent creation of a master artists, and that we have a role within the vast scope of His work. Molecules and Atoms were formed in such a way to bring you and I into being in our uniqueness - think on that. It all has place and purpose, so where will the ramifications of that astonishing truth take you today?
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