I’m in a strange mood today. Piano and rain and poetry would put a person in a reflective, melancholy mood, I suppose.
[quote]A shadowy tumult stirs the dusky air;
Sparkle the delicate dews, the distant snows;
The great deep thrills – for through it everywhere
The breath of Beauty blows.
-AE[/quote]
Then CdnReader’s death. She had friended me (an online friend) shortly before falling ill, and though I had heard that she was ill I didn’t know that it was cancer. I had been looking forward to building up a friendship with her, because the few poems of hers that I’d read pointed to a kind, sincere, genuine woman. And now she’s dead.
[quote] Here sense dissolves, combines to print only
These bitten choirs of stone on water,
To the tumble of old cloth bells,
The cadging of confetti pigeons,
A boatman singing from his long black coffin…
- Lawrence Durrell [/quote]
Throughout the years, death has fascinated many poets and authors. I can understand why. Some see Death as the bogeyman, others as a friend. Hades, it seems, has many faces, and chooses a different one to show every person.
I am not afraid of dying young. Being a Christian puts a different spin on death, but regardless of that, I don’t think that whatever I can or will do will leave a long-lasting mark in the world. So it doesn’t matter – I’ll live and die and be forgotten soon enough, but there are some who should never be forgotten – those whom Time carries on his shoulders, though they are dead. And nearly all the other human beings – all the world – that walk with him on the long path to its hidden end are too busy scrutinizing the dust to look up at the stars.
[quote] I know you: solitary griefs,
Desolate passions, aching hours!
I know you: tremulous beliefs
Agonized hopes, and ashen flowers!”
- Lionel Johnson[/quote]
The world is denied a revolution every time someone with talent dies young – the book I’m finishing up (Modern British Poetry, 1963) has shown me reams of poets I’d never known of – and my favorites were inevitably those who died in WWI. Look:
[quote]Love is a flame: - we have beaconed the world’s night.
A city: - and we have built it, these and I.
An emperor: - we have taught the world to die.
[…]
And to keep loyalties young, I’ll write those names
Golden for ever, eagles, crying flames,
And set them as a banner, that men may know
To dare the generations, burn, and blow
Out on the wind of Time, shining and streaming…
[…]
But the best I’ve known
Stays here, and changes, breaks, grows old, is blown
About the winds of the world, and fades from brains
Of living men, and dies.
-Rupert Brooke[/quote]
Somewhere in the world it’s raining on the graves of the dead – the dead who with courage and love endowed the old battlefields with a dignity that they could not otherwise attain. What a tragedy that the world forgets so quickly – that we look forward to “change” and a “new age” without any reverence, any remembrance for the lovely old beliefs and principles.
[quote]I, too, saw God through mud—
The mud that cracked on cheeks when wretches smiled.
War brought more glory to their eyes than blood,
And gave their laughs more flee than shakes a child.
[…]
I have perceived much beauty
In the hoarse oaths that kept our courage straight;
Heard music in the silentness of duty;
Found peace where shell-storms spouted reddest spate.
[…]
You shall not hear their mirth:
You shall not come to think them well content
By any jest of mine. These men are worth
Your tears: You are not worth their merriment.
-Wilfred Owen[/quote]
I am haunted by ghosts; half-maddened by the memory of things that never were, people I’ve never been. People tell me to “enjoy my youth” but I’ve lived it and I've died. a thousand times, vicariously, in different times, different lands, as different people, and every single one of them still grips me and fills me with ideas…but I’m stuck in this hamburger and hip hop world that refuses to budge in the direction of “progress,” only down a side-road that will end when all of Time does.
And all that we could have been will never be. All that we were set up for – through literature and ideas and principles and courage and music and poetry – will have been the fleeting dreams of my ghosts.
And now where once our fathers played
There lies a ship, for dead a grave.
Whose lives were these? The stormy
Gull above the waters knows
As well as we.
Sitting at the computer, amidst a flurry of pens and notebooks, books with faded spines opened and laying facedown beside me. One in my lap, and the outside world waiting, and frankly my dear I don't care!
A scholar I am, and a scholar I will remain.
I won’t forget.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Psalm 19
1. The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork.
2. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge.
3. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard.
4. Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun,
5. Which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoices like a strong man to run its race.
6. Its rising is from one end of heaven, and its circuit to the other end;
And there is nothing hidden from its heat.
7. The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul;The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;
8. The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;
9. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever;The judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.
10. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
11. Moreover by them Your servant is warned, and in keeping them there is great reward.
12. Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults.
13. Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and I shall be innocent of great transgression.
14. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.
As a Christian, I’ve always loved this Psalm, and love it even more as time passes and I grow. Having just finished an astronomy course at my local college, I begin to really understand what “the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows His handiwork” really means. It means that on an astronomical scale, Earth is one of the smallest objects in the universe. It means that all we know and admire on a personal level is insignificant. It means that no matter how high the heights humankind reaches are, they will never be able to express the glory of God as space does. It means that there are things so much bigger than we are, and just by their existence they glorify God in ways that we never can.
Throughout time, it’s like humanity has been holding a conversation with the universe. As science progresses and we grow, we glean more information about the heavens – but they’re keeping the conversation entirely focused on the glory of God, and they’re using the universal language of beauty and nature. Even when humans put different spins on them what we learn still rather loudly proclaims the glory of God. I like to think that somewhere, space is still reverberating with the songs the angels sang when Jesus was born.
Yet considering that God and His precepts are perfect, it makes total sense that all that is great worships Him. My favorite part of the Psalm is verses 7 – 11, which focuses on a number of aspects that really are the crux of the Bible. Before Jesus’ death and resurrection, the law of the Lord was just that – rules and regulations without end. After He died and rose again, however, it changed to this: That whoever believes on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved. So indeed, the law of the Lord is perfect. While Jesus was on earth, His testimony was sure; nothing He did could be construed wrongly and therefore doubted. It was sure because He stood on Biblical statutes; the principles that are one of the best parts of being a Christian. So when my Lord commands, I follow, knowing that his commandments are pure, and that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge and that his judgments are always just and right.
How can I fail to be inspired? The chapter goes on to say that these are more to be desired than much fine gold, and from the bottom of my heart I agree. There is so much in this world that is far more valuable than material goods. I love principles, and I love ideas. I love courage, wisdom, and honor, yet despite the fact that there are those in today’s world, in no one are they manifested as perfectly as they are in the God of the Bible, the God that Psalm 19 so wonderfully describes. When I read this psalm I get excited about life because God gave it to me, to study the heavens that glorify Him and the precepts that exalt Him. To learn them and claim them for my own, to use to glorify Him myself and to walk with Him. I’ve already believed in Him, and this psalm tells me whom it is I am so blessed and so loved to be able to have a relationship with Him. All the beauty we see in the universe was created by Him. So I am exhilarated to be alive and in this world. There is so much I want to do and accomplish as both a young adult and as a Christian. I want to join the heavens in declaring the glory of God and that’s just the start.
1. The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork.
2. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge.
3. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard.
4. Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun,
5. Which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoices like a strong man to run its race.
6. Its rising is from one end of heaven, and its circuit to the other end;
And there is nothing hidden from its heat.
7. The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul;The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;
8. The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;
9. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever;The judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.
10. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
11. Moreover by them Your servant is warned, and in keeping them there is great reward.
12. Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults.
13. Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and I shall be innocent of great transgression.
14. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.
As a Christian, I’ve always loved this Psalm, and love it even more as time passes and I grow. Having just finished an astronomy course at my local college, I begin to really understand what “the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows His handiwork” really means. It means that on an astronomical scale, Earth is one of the smallest objects in the universe. It means that all we know and admire on a personal level is insignificant. It means that no matter how high the heights humankind reaches are, they will never be able to express the glory of God as space does. It means that there are things so much bigger than we are, and just by their existence they glorify God in ways that we never can.
Throughout time, it’s like humanity has been holding a conversation with the universe. As science progresses and we grow, we glean more information about the heavens – but they’re keeping the conversation entirely focused on the glory of God, and they’re using the universal language of beauty and nature. Even when humans put different spins on them what we learn still rather loudly proclaims the glory of God. I like to think that somewhere, space is still reverberating with the songs the angels sang when Jesus was born.
Yet considering that God and His precepts are perfect, it makes total sense that all that is great worships Him. My favorite part of the Psalm is verses 7 – 11, which focuses on a number of aspects that really are the crux of the Bible. Before Jesus’ death and resurrection, the law of the Lord was just that – rules and regulations without end. After He died and rose again, however, it changed to this: That whoever believes on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved. So indeed, the law of the Lord is perfect. While Jesus was on earth, His testimony was sure; nothing He did could be construed wrongly and therefore doubted. It was sure because He stood on Biblical statutes; the principles that are one of the best parts of being a Christian. So when my Lord commands, I follow, knowing that his commandments are pure, and that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge and that his judgments are always just and right.
How can I fail to be inspired? The chapter goes on to say that these are more to be desired than much fine gold, and from the bottom of my heart I agree. There is so much in this world that is far more valuable than material goods. I love principles, and I love ideas. I love courage, wisdom, and honor, yet despite the fact that there are those in today’s world, in no one are they manifested as perfectly as they are in the God of the Bible, the God that Psalm 19 so wonderfully describes. When I read this psalm I get excited about life because God gave it to me, to study the heavens that glorify Him and the precepts that exalt Him. To learn them and claim them for my own, to use to glorify Him myself and to walk with Him. I’ve already believed in Him, and this psalm tells me whom it is I am so blessed and so loved to be able to have a relationship with Him. All the beauty we see in the universe was created by Him. So I am exhilarated to be alive and in this world. There is so much I want to do and accomplish as both a young adult and as a Christian. I want to join the heavens in declaring the glory of God and that’s just the start.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Hands
I hate having to delete the first entry I got a comment on, but I'm entering the poem in a contest and it's a requirement not to have it published, even electronically :(.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
I am so Blessed.
It's only four days till Christmas.
HOW DID THAT HAPPEN!!?? Seriously, I've never been so unprepared for Christmas! I bought gifts on Thursday and I still have to make some. I haven't even thought about baking except for a Yule Log which I'll have to start tomorrow.
Yowsers. But guess what? I've already got a head start on my own Christmas gifts...from my community college professors.
As you know, I've taken Astronomy and English this semester.
Now, my English class has been very interesting. Throughout the semester we read selections from educator Paulo Freire, art critic John Berger, and weird philosopher Michel Foucault, and a full length work by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Although I enjoyed the Marquez, I didn't like the others at all. Though I agreed with elements in them, they were primarily weird socialistic liberal atheistic stuff; they would point out a "problem", but the opposite of the problem would be worse than the problem. And there was a lot of government conspiracy stuff.
Nevertheless, I still enjoyed the class. Now that I think about it that sounds especially strange, considering how infuriated I got at my classmates and the material we read at times. But there was a lot of good discussion/debate and, quiddities notwithstanding, my professor is an excellent teacher (I want to be a professor like her, only far more conservative. And we'll read classics, thank you very much :p) and I could really see my fellow students getting better and more comfortable with making forays into understanding the material on their own.
About halfway through the semester, I think she realized that I am more comfortable with literature than others and we struck up a sort of acquaintanceship. I'd follow her around campus afterwards, discussing what we read and where I disagreed and why and how I could tell it wouldn't work, etc. till the end of the semester.
My English final was on Thursday, but my professor had arranged it so that all we had to do was drop in at whatever time. So she and I were alone in the classroom together, talking. She told me that I am "not a typical (name of the college) student" and that "I should get out of here fast!" She knows about PHC, so when I told her that I got accepted she said this: "Oh good! Congratulations!! Good for you -- you definitely should go!" Then she laughed. "Not that I'd send anyone to that conservative school, but good for you!!" Then she asked me what I thought of the full-length book we read and we got to talking about languages. I started to say that my favorite author Dorothy L. Sayers had gotten me interested in classics and languages, but I got no further than "My favorite author Dorothy L. Sayers--"
"Me too!!"
"No way!!"
Now what sort of a quiddity is that? She's read all of her works, even her translation of the Divine Comedy, and she loves her! The first person I've ever met whose read DLS without me pushing her! (But how she could read DLS's nonfiction work and the Divine Comedy and still be liberal and socialist is beyond me :lol:)
That was fun :). I hope there are more classes like that to come in college :D.
________________________________
Then there's my astronomy final, which was supposed to be tomorrow. I was really worried about how well I'd do! There's gonna be a constellation quiz, multiple choice, and FIVE short answer essays we're supposed to write in class. He tells us what they're going to be on so we can send him practice essays to critique. I sent him four last Saturday and one last Monday. Yesterday I checked into the online page to see if he had returned a critique and I got this email:
[QUOTE]Mary Sue,
Thanks for these essays. You did very well on the first two about the evolution of the sun and other stars, and fairly good on the last few - it looks as though you were getting tired. But most important, you showed that you already have mastered the material in our course, and you do not have to take the final exam. In essence, you just did. Your grade for the class will be an "A", and you can relax on Monday and start enjoying the holildays early. (You still should come in to finish the lab, though!)
Well done and congratulations on your fine work this term. You are clearly ready to enter Patrick Henry, and I think you'll shine there as must as you did in our class. I sincerely hope you found it interesting and that you saw your scholarship and academic skills, as well as your awareness of the universe, increase with the work you did. Thanks for the great effort during the term.
[/QUOTE]
:goof::eek2::eek2::eek:
:banana::banana::banana::cool:
God is so good. I'm really pleased, especially because I had to fight to make sure I was on top of things in my astronomy. And, well, there was a heavy philosophical element in both these classes, so they've both shown me that I am making the right choice in choosing to be a Lit Prof for my career. I've not doubted that, but it's really encouraging to be reassured about it!
I'm really floored that God has given me a talent for words and literature. It's really incredible, this world of ours, isn't it? :) The entirety of the world of literature -- and it's mine. I'm here. I'm home. I belong.
So, one more semester at the community college and then it's off to Patrick Henry College in Purcellville, Virginia.
I'm ready to go. I've set down roots here in California, but it's time for new horizons and different people. New things to do and learn. New people to meet.
I am so blessed.
HOW DID THAT HAPPEN!!?? Seriously, I've never been so unprepared for Christmas! I bought gifts on Thursday and I still have to make some. I haven't even thought about baking except for a Yule Log which I'll have to start tomorrow.
Yowsers. But guess what? I've already got a head start on my own Christmas gifts...from my community college professors.
As you know, I've taken Astronomy and English this semester.
Now, my English class has been very interesting. Throughout the semester we read selections from educator Paulo Freire, art critic John Berger, and weird philosopher Michel Foucault, and a full length work by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Although I enjoyed the Marquez, I didn't like the others at all. Though I agreed with elements in them, they were primarily weird socialistic liberal atheistic stuff; they would point out a "problem", but the opposite of the problem would be worse than the problem. And there was a lot of government conspiracy stuff.
Nevertheless, I still enjoyed the class. Now that I think about it that sounds especially strange, considering how infuriated I got at my classmates and the material we read at times. But there was a lot of good discussion/debate and, quiddities notwithstanding, my professor is an excellent teacher (I want to be a professor like her, only far more conservative. And we'll read classics, thank you very much :p) and I could really see my fellow students getting better and more comfortable with making forays into understanding the material on their own.
About halfway through the semester, I think she realized that I am more comfortable with literature than others and we struck up a sort of acquaintanceship. I'd follow her around campus afterwards, discussing what we read and where I disagreed and why and how I could tell it wouldn't work, etc. till the end of the semester.
My English final was on Thursday, but my professor had arranged it so that all we had to do was drop in at whatever time. So she and I were alone in the classroom together, talking. She told me that I am "not a typical (name of the college) student" and that "I should get out of here fast!" She knows about PHC, so when I told her that I got accepted she said this: "Oh good! Congratulations!! Good for you -- you definitely should go!" Then she laughed. "Not that I'd send anyone to that conservative school, but good for you!!" Then she asked me what I thought of the full-length book we read and we got to talking about languages. I started to say that my favorite author Dorothy L. Sayers had gotten me interested in classics and languages, but I got no further than "My favorite author Dorothy L. Sayers--"
"Me too!!"
"No way!!"
Now what sort of a quiddity is that? She's read all of her works, even her translation of the Divine Comedy, and she loves her! The first person I've ever met whose read DLS without me pushing her! (But how she could read DLS's nonfiction work and the Divine Comedy and still be liberal and socialist is beyond me :lol:)
That was fun :). I hope there are more classes like that to come in college :D.
________________________________
Then there's my astronomy final, which was supposed to be tomorrow. I was really worried about how well I'd do! There's gonna be a constellation quiz, multiple choice, and FIVE short answer essays we're supposed to write in class. He tells us what they're going to be on so we can send him practice essays to critique. I sent him four last Saturday and one last Monday. Yesterday I checked into the online page to see if he had returned a critique and I got this email:
[QUOTE]Mary Sue,
Thanks for these essays. You did very well on the first two about the evolution of the sun and other stars, and fairly good on the last few - it looks as though you were getting tired. But most important, you showed that you already have mastered the material in our course, and you do not have to take the final exam. In essence, you just did. Your grade for the class will be an "A", and you can relax on Monday and start enjoying the holildays early. (You still should come in to finish the lab, though!)
Well done and congratulations on your fine work this term. You are clearly ready to enter Patrick Henry, and I think you'll shine there as must as you did in our class. I sincerely hope you found it interesting and that you saw your scholarship and academic skills, as well as your awareness of the universe, increase with the work you did. Thanks for the great effort during the term.
[/QUOTE]
:goof::eek2::eek2::eek:
:banana::banana::banana::cool:
God is so good. I'm really pleased, especially because I had to fight to make sure I was on top of things in my astronomy. And, well, there was a heavy philosophical element in both these classes, so they've both shown me that I am making the right choice in choosing to be a Lit Prof for my career. I've not doubted that, but it's really encouraging to be reassured about it!
I'm really floored that God has given me a talent for words and literature. It's really incredible, this world of ours, isn't it? :) The entirety of the world of literature -- and it's mine. I'm here. I'm home. I belong.
So, one more semester at the community college and then it's off to Patrick Henry College in Purcellville, Virginia.
I'm ready to go. I've set down roots here in California, but it's time for new horizons and different people. New things to do and learn. New people to meet.
I am so blessed.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Surprise, Surprise
And the winner of Time's Person of the Year 2008 is....
*drumroll please*
Barack Obama!
*cheers as the band breaks into the Stars and Stripes Forever.*
No way! What a surprise!! I never ever would have expected that! I mean, whoda thunk?? Our socialist, terrorist-leaning, pro-abortion president-elect??
Yah. Government gone wrong. Yes I do know I'm the one in a million who thinks so.
*drumroll please*
Barack Obama!
*cheers as the band breaks into the Stars and Stripes Forever.*
No way! What a surprise!! I never ever would have expected that! I mean, whoda thunk?? Our socialist, terrorist-leaning, pro-abortion president-elect??
Yah. Government gone wrong. Yes I do know I'm the one in a million who thinks so.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Astronomy
This semester I've been taking three classes: astronomy, astronomy lab, and English 1A.
One thing I've really been enjoying about my astronomy class is the continually growing sense of the insignificance of the human race. I love it!
My professor gave a really fascinating example of the immensity of the universe last class. He told us to hold out our hand and look at a thumbnail. Then, imagine that you cut it into a million pieces. Each millionth of a thumbnail is the equivalent of a picture of a deep space sky...of hundreds of galaxies. Galaxies, not stars. Galaxies have up to a hundred billion stars in them. This picture, I repeat, was a millionth of a thumbnail sized piece of sky.
(My professor holds that with such a number of galaxies there has GOT to be at least one planet with extraterrestrials on it. )
The week before we learned about the dangerous places in the universe. oooooooh!! First there are the stars. To us they're small, but in reality they're huge!! Our Sun, which is also a star, is actually on the lower range of star masses. Stars work through nuclear fusion; they come in different colors according to their temperature. Usually the bigger, hotter stars are blue; the smaller, cooler stars are red. The biggest ones collapse and explode in something called supernovae. The smaller ones cast off their outer layers, which are made of different elements, in planetary nebulae, leaving the core behind as a corpse called a white dwarf (which is what will happen to our sun in supposedly five billion years.) They're hotter than anything we can ever dream of -- I think I've read somewhere that the hottest temperature miners measured was 300-some. That is absolutely NOTHING in comparison with the thousand degrees absolute temperature of the stars. And they're HUGE!!! Hundreds of times the size of the sun!
Second there are the black holes. They're unbelievable! They form from supernovae; they are the cores of the planets that gravity has compressed so much that the..whatsitcalled...the escape velocity would be greater than the speed of light. Nothing is greater than the speed of light; therefore nothing can escape. Black holes are literally a rip in the fabric of space and time...and they are thousands of times the size of the sun. And -- get this -- astronomers think there is one lurking in the Milky Way Galaxy. Although, we're not in danger of being sucked in, because black holes aren't dangerous until you are really close -- and we're not. They suck in stuff in an accretion disk --as it pulls stuff in they become stretched out around the black hole, revolving faster and faster, giving out energy in the form of radiation, until it gets sucked into the black hole.
Then there is the immensity of the universe. The universe is expanding, and scientists can neither hypothesize nor theorize a limit. Humankind is gloriously insignificant.
Here's why that excites me. First off, you are all familiar with both the heights and depths of humanity. The awe-inspiring ideals - love, courage, hope, kindness, gentleness, humility. We have truly been endowed by our Creator with an amazing, almost limitless array of minds. But we're still just a planet in the midst of a galaxy, of countless galaxies. Our Einsteins, our Dostoevskys, our Tolkiens, our Sayers, and we're still nothing. Does what I'm trying to say make sense? We're great (thanks to what God has done for us and given us) but there are things far greater, far more powerful than we -- and beyond being exciting they are also ample evidence for the Creator.
Which brings me to the one thing that really, REALLY irritates me about my class. I've got a splendid professor -- he's unassuming, well-read, knowledgeable, kind, and in short, a terrific man.But he believes in evolution. All the science of astronomy is built on this theory of evolution. It drives me crazy! I don't believe in evolution; for me it is "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."The problem is, I know nothing of "celestial" evolution. Terrestrial, fine, I know enough to be able to offer some sort of rebuttal but the stars...I have no idea...and I refuse to believe the evolutionary theory because this class, evolutionary though it may be, has still only served to cement my love for my King and His Creation. So, though I know naught of the evolution of the stars I do know they didn't evolve, neither do they take billions of years to form, live, and die.
Doubtless some of those reading will think this is stupidity. Perhaps...yet what I believe is partly based on faith. I know that the Bible is right in the matter of celestial evolution because the Bible has proven right in everything I know for fact and everything I know from experience or personality or understanding or emotions.
I am His and He is mine.
One thing I've really been enjoying about my astronomy class is the continually growing sense of the insignificance of the human race. I love it!
My professor gave a really fascinating example of the immensity of the universe last class. He told us to hold out our hand and look at a thumbnail. Then, imagine that you cut it into a million pieces. Each millionth of a thumbnail is the equivalent of a picture of a deep space sky...of hundreds of galaxies. Galaxies, not stars. Galaxies have up to a hundred billion stars in them. This picture, I repeat, was a millionth of a thumbnail sized piece of sky.
(My professor holds that with such a number of galaxies there has GOT to be at least one planet with extraterrestrials on it. )
The week before we learned about the dangerous places in the universe. oooooooh!! First there are the stars. To us they're small, but in reality they're huge!! Our Sun, which is also a star, is actually on the lower range of star masses. Stars work through nuclear fusion; they come in different colors according to their temperature. Usually the bigger, hotter stars are blue; the smaller, cooler stars are red. The biggest ones collapse and explode in something called supernovae. The smaller ones cast off their outer layers, which are made of different elements, in planetary nebulae, leaving the core behind as a corpse called a white dwarf (which is what will happen to our sun in supposedly five billion years.) They're hotter than anything we can ever dream of -- I think I've read somewhere that the hottest temperature miners measured was 300-some. That is absolutely NOTHING in comparison with the thousand degrees absolute temperature of the stars. And they're HUGE!!! Hundreds of times the size of the sun!
Second there are the black holes. They're unbelievable! They form from supernovae; they are the cores of the planets that gravity has compressed so much that the..whatsitcalled...the escape velocity would be greater than the speed of light. Nothing is greater than the speed of light; therefore nothing can escape. Black holes are literally a rip in the fabric of space and time...and they are thousands of times the size of the sun. And -- get this -- astronomers think there is one lurking in the Milky Way Galaxy. Although, we're not in danger of being sucked in, because black holes aren't dangerous until you are really close -- and we're not. They suck in stuff in an accretion disk --as it pulls stuff in they become stretched out around the black hole, revolving faster and faster, giving out energy in the form of radiation, until it gets sucked into the black hole.
Then there is the immensity of the universe. The universe is expanding, and scientists can neither hypothesize nor theorize a limit. Humankind is gloriously insignificant.
Here's why that excites me. First off, you are all familiar with both the heights and depths of humanity. The awe-inspiring ideals - love, courage, hope, kindness, gentleness, humility. We have truly been endowed by our Creator with an amazing, almost limitless array of minds. But we're still just a planet in the midst of a galaxy, of countless galaxies. Our Einsteins, our Dostoevskys, our Tolkiens, our Sayers, and we're still nothing. Does what I'm trying to say make sense? We're great (thanks to what God has done for us and given us) but there are things far greater, far more powerful than we -- and beyond being exciting they are also ample evidence for the Creator.
Which brings me to the one thing that really, REALLY irritates me about my class. I've got a splendid professor -- he's unassuming, well-read, knowledgeable, kind, and in short, a terrific man.But he believes in evolution. All the science of astronomy is built on this theory of evolution. It drives me crazy! I don't believe in evolution; for me it is "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."The problem is, I know nothing of "celestial" evolution. Terrestrial, fine, I know enough to be able to offer some sort of rebuttal but the stars...I have no idea...and I refuse to believe the evolutionary theory because this class, evolutionary though it may be, has still only served to cement my love for my King and His Creation. So, though I know naught of the evolution of the stars I do know they didn't evolve, neither do they take billions of years to form, live, and die.
Doubtless some of those reading will think this is stupidity. Perhaps...yet what I believe is partly based on faith. I know that the Bible is right in the matter of celestial evolution because the Bible has proven right in everything I know for fact and everything I know from experience or personality or understanding or emotions.
I am His and He is mine.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
I have a voice!
My heart is fraught with yearnings deep concealed,
With strivings of a spirit unresigned --
Ye burning thoughts! O be ye confined,
Lest in too fierce a fire my soul be steeled!
~James Fenimore Cooper, Jr.
I always thought it would be years before I felt comfortable in wanting to make myself heard - in sharing what I have learned throughout the years - in essence, being unafraid to say what I think. But now at the age of seventeen I can't confine my burning thoughts anymore.
Doubtless "burning thoughts" seems a bit melodramatic, but sitting here in my bedroom, looking at my books, I feel justified in using Cooper's words.
I read, and that word - that four letter word, come to think of it - means so much to me I don't know where to begin.
I read, so I have kept company with the greats, from whom I've learned ideas long forgotten, long since resigned to the depths of Time. I am the child of a thousand lands, and I love them all. I have lived since the dawn of time.
I have lived, and I have loved so many times...through a book.
Can anyone feel so deeply and not speak out? Especially if something one loves so dearly is fading away. In the world of 2008 I have only seen echoes of those things I love best, and they are fading away unremembered.
The world is losing something infinitely precious as the old ideas, the old principles, the old values, and the old heroes become nothing more but stories, not worth the time spent reading them.
I don't want to forget them; I don't think I can. I've noticed that anything can make me remember them and so love them more.
Hence the name of this blog: Memento Mori. Remember you are going to die.
But just because you'll die doesn't mean what you've said, who you are, should be forgotten. That's what I'm fighting for -- to ensure that everything that once was will not be forgotten in the light of our new discoveries and mindsets.
As the song goes,
"Remember, I will still be here,
As long as you hold me in your memory.
Remember, when your dreams have ended,
Time can be transcended.
I live forever.
Remember me."
~Remember Me, sung by Josh Groban.
With strivings of a spirit unresigned --
Ye burning thoughts! O be ye confined,
Lest in too fierce a fire my soul be steeled!
~James Fenimore Cooper, Jr.
I always thought it would be years before I felt comfortable in wanting to make myself heard - in sharing what I have learned throughout the years - in essence, being unafraid to say what I think. But now at the age of seventeen I can't confine my burning thoughts anymore.
Doubtless "burning thoughts" seems a bit melodramatic, but sitting here in my bedroom, looking at my books, I feel justified in using Cooper's words.
I read, and that word - that four letter word, come to think of it - means so much to me I don't know where to begin.
I read, so I have kept company with the greats, from whom I've learned ideas long forgotten, long since resigned to the depths of Time. I am the child of a thousand lands, and I love them all. I have lived since the dawn of time.
I have lived, and I have loved so many times...through a book.
Can anyone feel so deeply and not speak out? Especially if something one loves so dearly is fading away. In the world of 2008 I have only seen echoes of those things I love best, and they are fading away unremembered.
The world is losing something infinitely precious as the old ideas, the old principles, the old values, and the old heroes become nothing more but stories, not worth the time spent reading them.
I don't want to forget them; I don't think I can. I've noticed that anything can make me remember them and so love them more.
Hence the name of this blog: Memento Mori. Remember you are going to die.
But just because you'll die doesn't mean what you've said, who you are, should be forgotten. That's what I'm fighting for -- to ensure that everything that once was will not be forgotten in the light of our new discoveries and mindsets.
As the song goes,
"Remember, I will still be here,
As long as you hold me in your memory.
Remember, when your dreams have ended,
Time can be transcended.
I live forever.
Remember me."
~Remember Me, sung by Josh Groban.
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