Stars

By Carolyn Gard

And God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to separate the day from the night and let them be for signs and seasons and days and years.” Genesis 1:14.

We were recently treated to a fascinating celestial event. Six planets – Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Venus, and Saturn – were in the planetary alignment with the moon. Not only could the astronomers tell us when this would happen, they told us when it will happen again. Like hundreds of others, I went outside and watched the event in real time. As I watched, I thought about how much we know about the Cosmos, how the stars and planets are formed, what they are composed of, how they move. As I try to learn more about the Cosmos, the more confused I get. Every time I think I have a handle on it, the scientists come up with new theories.

As I stood outside, I looked up. There, above my head, was Orion. For some reason, Orion has always been my favorite constellation, maybe because of the three stars forming his belt. Where did Orion come from? Well, we know what the stars are made of, where to find him in the sky, why he disappears from us in the Northern Hemisphere in the summer. But who pictured and drew Orion in the first place?

Just as we do today, our ancestors looked at the sky; however, instead of thinking about how the stars moved or what they were made of, our ancestors made pictures. They connected stars, named them, and then made up stories about them. Over the years our technologies improved. We sent up telescopes: the Hubble and the Webb. The Webb looks back farther than when the star stories were told. We know about galaxies and expansion and the Big Bang. We have beautiful pictures of phenomena like the Cartwheel Galaxy.

As I stood below Orion, I had a strange feeling. I felt connected to all those people who had drawn constellations and made up stories about the stars. I realized that one idea, the scientific discoveries about stars, does not negate the other idea: the stories about stars.

If I may paraphrase Ecclesiastes: There is a time to be scientific, and a time just to have fun. Let’s keep our lives balanced. There’s no reason any of us can’t create a new constellation and put a story with it.

God, you put the stars in the skies and then left us to create constellations. We hope that you have enjoyed what we did.