God has played with my heart quiet a bit this past week. The co-mingling of clear skies with warnings of pending rain has created great motivation to be out in the night sky while it is clear. Last week, I shared with you my imaging session with Rho Ophiuchi and our galactic core. A couple days later, I finished the full panorama of that night. Here’s the finished product!
The Moon has been waxing, limiting the days left to image deep space objects until the next new Moon. Before the night sky was completely washed out by Moon glow, I tried to capture a “bucket list” image in Augusta, Wisconsin.
There’s an old Mill in Augusta that’s quite popular for photographers to image. I thought a night scape of the Mill would look beautiful. Sadly, my first attempt didn’t turn out too well. I had some free time on Friday so I went for a second attempt. Success! The Moon did wash out a fair number of stars, but it nicely light painted the side of the Mill too.
Panoramas of the galactic core, using the Moon to light paint an image and photography. Some may argue that this sounds more like art than science! And in many ways, that would be a fair accusation. However, something that is consistent with this more artsy approach to astronomy and a science approach is the passionate heart that takes a simple set of data and then plumbs its depths to see what that data reveals.
The night sky has presented many opportunities for me to embrace the invitation from God – “Come, play with me!” This sacred play not only led to the images above, but helped me have a moment of what Pope Francis names the Contemplation of Creation. This same sky on the same nights called scientists and artist to explore spectral data of stars, capture images of old Amish Mills, and experience the satisfaction of the fruits of these pursuits. God calls forth from the scientist and artist a common fire and passion to engage the night sky despite the difference of how those skies are explored. God not only wants to play with us in our common home, but understands that the invitation needs to be unique for each of us.
Our Scripture readings from Sunday presented the Kingdom of God as analogous to something very small that God expands and makes fruitful. Its a reminder that God is the one who brings life and part of that life is to enflame the heart with a fruitful passion for truth, goodness and beauty. It is through these imperatives that we see our spiritual growth take root. And how beautiful it is when God uses the night sky to inspire so many to embrace these imperatives in diverse ways.
Spiritual Exercise: What sets your heart ablaze to seek out truth, goodness and beauty? What is the fruitfulness you see from that pursuit? When we pursue these imperatives we knowingly or unknowingly pursue the source of this Divine Play. Just as the prophet Ezekiel spoke of God taking a small shoot and planting it on a mountain top to bear much fruit, so, too, God wishes to take the small gift of your heart, lift it high, set it ablaze with a holy passion and help you enjoy the fruitfulness of Divine Play with God.
Thus says the Lord GOD:
I, too, will take from the crest of the cedar,
from its top most branches tear off a tender shoot,
and plant it on a high and lofty mountain;
on the mountain heights of Israel I will plant it.
It shall put forth branches and bear fruit,
and become a majestic cedar.
Birds of every kind shall dwell beneath it,
every winged thing in the shade of its boughs.
And all the trees of the field shall know that I, the LORD,
bring low the high tree,
lift high the lowly tree,
wither up the green tree,
and make the withered tree bloom.
As I, the LORD, have spoken, so will I do.Ezekiel 17:22-24
