Last week, in writing about being frustrated in my attempts to watch a meteor shower from my front yard, I mentioned that my neighborhood is not really a good place for astronomical observation because of the high level of light pollution around my house that erases all but the brightest objects in space.  Strangely enough, this past Wednesday night, Hurricane Zeta turned off virtually every light in town, and, for the first time in recent memory, I was given a vision of what my neighborhood looks like in real darkness.  Of course, I couldn’t actually see anything on the ground except for the faint hints of candle light coming from my neighbors’ windows.  Welcome back to the Dark Ages, right? 

While this would have been the perfect time for star-gazing from my front yard, I couldn’t actually see anything in the sky because of the thick cloud cover [not to mention my fear of getting whacked by flying debris and falling tree limbs which kept me from going outside anyway].  But, the next night arrived with perfectly clear skies.  This was going to be the moment for star-gazing that I had been waiting for! 

However, due to the amazing efficiency and hard work of the power company, the electricity had already been restored by the time darkness fell.  We had, thankfully, returned to The Present from The Dark Ages.  But, my opportunity to watch the sky without being hindered by the bright lights of my neighborhood was gone.  Once again, light pollution ruled the night skies.  And, once again, my ability to see the wonders of the night sky was back to its pre-Zeta state.  It appears that star-gazing requires a perfect combination of darkness with clear skies; and it appears unlikely that such a combination is ever going to present itself in my neighborhood.  That, perhaps, is one price of progress. 

Of course, even the level of light pollution in my neighborhood could not prevent me from observing a wonderful celestial show Saturday when a “Blue Moon” rose on Halloween Night.  As “spooky” as Halloween is, you’d think that there might be a full moon pretty much every Halloween.  Actually, it is a rare event.  And the “Blue Moon” aspect of it this year [a second full moon in one calendar month] made this Halloween’s full moon an even rarer event.  This was the first time this had happened since 1944!  There will not be another full moon on Halloween until 2039, so this might have been the last time some of us are going to have the chance to see this sight.  I hope you took advantage of this opportunity.  It was spectacular!

Now might be a good time to remind ourselves that the Moon, and the myriad of other extraordinary wonders of space, are not, as some believe, simply the result of millions of random cosmic accidents which, when combined randomly with billions of other random accidents here on the Earth, just randomly happen to strike the human eye as being pleasant to observe.  [When you put it that way, how could anyone believe such?] 

No, the Moon, and every other object in space, were lovingly and carefully created by God, and placed in motion exactly where and how He wants them to be.  God refers to The Moon as “My faithful witness in the sky” – Psalm 89:37.  Other scriptures let us know that the stars and other wonders of the heavens testify about the creative power of God – Psalm 19:1-3.  The unbelievers can and do object, but their objections are overruled.  The testimony of these celestial witnesses cannot be silenced. 

When I told some neighbors about the rising Blue Moon Saturday night, they immediately began speaking of the amazing man-made wonders in the sky that they had seen – things like the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station.  And, certainly, when seen from the Earth, such things bear witness to the abilities of Man to build, and to even step off of this planet and into space.  Wonderful things to be sure, and beautiful to observe.  Of course, none of these things would be possible without Man being gifted by God with the ability to think and to dream.    

But it struck me as just a little bit strange that the conversation went so quickly from “God’s Faithful Witness In The Sky”, to “Look at what Man can do”.  Are people ashamed to speak of The Creator?  Do they not believe, even in the face of such compelling testimony as the gigantic “Blue Moon” rising over our homes and bringing light into the darkness exactly as predicted by those who study the precise movements of the heavenly bodies?  

I can’t speak for my neighbors.  But here’s what I know about me: I didn’t take the opportunity to speak as a witness for God in that moment.  How hard would it have been to quote Psalm 89:37 – one of my favorite verses by the way?  How hard would it have been to just say, “Praise God for giving us this amazingly beautiful show in the sky”?

I hope you are ready when the opportunity arises to be His witness.  Will you show me the way so that I will be ready next time?        

~Shepherd Ambrose Ramsey