Daily Wisdom 07-05-2002 Behold The Grain of Rice

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Behold The Grain of Rice

Imagine taking a grain of rice and holding it at arm's length. Not toobig from your point of view. Now go outside this evening and look near the Big Dipper for a spot about the same size as that rice grain you held earlier. Probably you will still not see too much.

However, that same spot in question has intrigued astronomers because it appeared, for all practical purposes, to be devoid of stars and galaxies.

In December 1995, the $6.9 billion US Hubble Space Telescope was aimed at this presumably empty patch. Over the next 10 days, Hubble's Wide Field and Planetary Camera--WFPC-2 snapped 342 images that later were digitally combined. In the resulting image, called the Hubble Deep Field, amazed astronomers counted 1,500 discernible galaxies or fragments of galaxies.

Recapping, a point in the sky, the size of a grain of rice held at arms length, yielded a mind-boggling 1,500 galaxies or fragments of galaxies and each galaxy contains thousands of stars (suns) light years apart, just like the Milky Way planet Earth is in.

Life can be just like that grain of rice held 2.5 feet away from us. From our vantage point the rice of life may be so small but with a magnifying lens, we could photograph thousands of problems that are mind-boggling. Problems like stress, loneliness, isolation, and lack of self-esteem, chemical or sexual addiction. Even the barrage of the late TV news can discourage one.

But that grain of rice can be the spice of life as well. Hidden beyond the clouds is an answer that has come to us in the form of Jesus Christ. He came to planet Earth to give us a new perspective on life. In His great love for us, Jesus died on the cross for our sins so that we can see the goodness of living, the sweetness of light and the nourishment ofvirtue.

So this evening, as you look near the Big Dipper, you may not see 1,500 galaxies but you can enjoy the thought that God is still there, filling our lives with opportunities disguised so often in ordinary clothes.

A suggested prayer:

"Father, when I look into the night skies, the moon and stars that youcreated, who am I that you find so profound. I cannot understand how youcan bother with mere puny man, to pay any attention to him! And yet youhave made him only a little lower than angels. If each of the stars orgalaxies reminded me of a weakness in my life, I pray that you, in yourown way, will remove them so that I can find strength in you. Allow me tosee you more clearly in the night and in the day. Above all, I thank youfor the cross Jesus died on, for my sins, and now He lives and lives inme. Amen!"

Information: William Harwood, The Washington Post, Washington