STAR
GAZING
Psalm 8
Matthew 6:25-26
When
I look at your heavens...what are human beings that you are mindful of them?
If you want to get your life into perspective, think of someone who is
worse off than you are, or watch Theo's Sparklekids
DVD, then look at the stars in the night sky.
As an alternative, drive down Swartdam Road past all the shanties and
poverty, before you admire the awesome beauty of Walker Bay from the windows of
Harbour Rock restaurant. To visit a
shanty or to look into the heavens may be at opposite ends of the "getting
your life into perspective" spectrum, but they complement each other and
have a similar effect. They bring us
down to earth with a bump. Today we are
not forgetting the poor or suffering, or driving down Swartdam Road past
shanties, but we are going star gazing in Sutherland where Isobel and I, along
with her sister Elsie and brother-in-law Ron Steel, went last Thursday.
Several of you have already been to Sutherland, so you will know the way
and what awaits you at the end of the road. From Hermanus you travel to Worcester, join
the N1 and head to Matjiesfontein, that quaint colonial throw-back in the
middle of nowhere famous for its hotel and Olive Schreiner's home. We stopped for a brief visit and discovered the
remarkable museum in the old railway station.
There you can see a mass of Victorian artefacts made and used by our
grand and great grand-parents' generations. We marvelled at their ingenuity and
craftsmanship with limited technology by today's standards, but were thankful
that technology has improved since then.
That, too, gave us some perspective on life, especially looking at the
dentist's chair and the tools of his trade.
After Matjiesfontein we drove north, deeper into the Karoo, on an
excellent road with little traffic, a few isolated farms, and lots of
sheep. After several hours we began the
steep climb to the plateaux on which Sutherland is located, making it the
coldest town in the country in winter and one of the hottest in summer. Then we caught a glimpse of SALT (South
African Large Telescope) in the distance and knew that we were reaching our destination.
SALT along with its adjacent observatories is located 15 kms outside Sutherland
on the highest section of the plateaux. After
a good introduction at the information centre and a visit to another telescopes
, we went to SALT. But we never saw any
stars, it was, after all, day time, but even if it was night we could not have
seen the stars through these gigantic instruments that explore the
universe. Long gone are the days when
professional astronomers gazed through telescopes; now everything is reflected
onto giant mirrors that track the night sky and send a stream of data to
computers. So instead of seeing stars,
we marvelled at the amazing advances in technology since our ancestors made the
crude artefacts we had seen in
Matjiesfontein.
Night time came. It was now much
colder, about 5 degrees, as we arrived at Sterland, a private observatory run
by a passionate amateur astronomer, Jurg Wagener. Now we could see Mars and the constellations in
the southern sky through the lens of his powerful telescope as we stood outside
in the pitch-darkness beneath a magnificent display of stars. Human technology, impressive as it was both at
SALT and Sterland, paled into insignificance before such grandeur -- and so did
we! "When I look at your
heavens...what are human beings?" asked the Psalmist. Well, yes, but did we not
make SALT and this fine telescope through which we were observing the night
sky? And did we not this same week land
a camera on a comet in distant space after tracking it for ten years at speeds
and with an accuracy that boggles the mind?
There is no need to downplay human achievements. But there is every
reason to get things into perspective.
Our planet earth is just a minute speck in this vast cosmic ocean that
stretches far beyond our sight, far beyond even the capacity of even SALT, and
certainly beyond what the Psalmist or even our grandparents imagined. Where in the world is this universe, with its
galaxies, and the universes beyond our own?
And who are we, fragile specks alive on this equally fragile planet
earth for such a brief moment in time?
But then the Psalmist makes an astounding statement of faith. Star gazing not only cuts us down to size,
but at the same time gives us a significance that defies all analysis, a value
that even our technology cannot give. "What are human beings that you are
mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?" Of course, we might take a different tack and
say that given the immensity of the universe, we are simply insignificant, here
today and gone tomorrow. That's the
atheist option. But the Psalmist thinks
otherwise. Insignificant as we may seem
and cold and indifferent as the universe appears, there is a compassion, a
caring at the heart of the universe that gives us significance and value as
human beings. This caring mystery we
name God, inadequate as that word may be, is the good news proclaimed by
Jesus. "Look at the birds of the
air...are you not of more value than they?” "You have given us glory and
honour," exclaims the Psalmist in amazement, we are just a little lower
than the angels!
Of course, we are also dust, star dust as it happens. And, of course, Jesus not only gives value to
us humans, he also brings down the mighty who think too much of themselves and
oppress the poor. But Jesus was not in
the business of reducing us to worms as some preachers have done down the centuries. He was in the business of enabling us to
appreciate our worth as human beings and so also appreciate the worth of others
as well.
There are in fact, two alternatives, two perspectives on life and it
makes a huge difference to us which one we choose. The universe is either ultimately meaningless,
or it is meaningful. It is either simply
dark matter, or it is a mystery that cares.
We are either of no significance, or we have significance as human
beings. Christian faith makes the latter
choice. Human beings matter. At the heart of the universe there is a
compassion, a caring love that is life-giving and sustaining. And because that is so, to be in tune with
the universe means being compassionate and caring ourselves -- for others and
for the earth we inhabit. This universe
may be a mystery far beyond our grasp, yet we know that without compassion and
caring for others everything falls apart.
The starry sky above and the moral law within us belong inseparably
together as the philosopher Immanuel Kant put it. Star gazing and compassionate concern for our
fellow humans, especially those who suffer or are in need, belong
together. And both change our
perspective on life, on the worth of being human, our own worth and that of
others, including especially those who think they are worthless because that is
how they are treated. "What are
human beings...that you care for us?"
A question we need to ask each day and each night as we look at the
plight of those worse off than we are, or turn our eyes to gaze at the heavens.
John de Gruchy
Volmoed 20 November 2014
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