The First Satellite

As a boy growing up on the farm, I remember many nights lying on the grass in the dark of night looking up in amazement at the stars God had flung into place.  Each one twinkling at me as if to say, “Hello!”  The Milky Way stood out like a white ribbon among the many.
 
Then one night, my star-gazing turned from peace and tranquility to terror.  There was an intruder moving across the night sky.  Not the flash of a falling star, but more of a deliberate, calculated light making its way among the stars.  The dreaded Russians had launched Sputnik, the first satellite.
 
At eight years old, I knew that this was an ominous sign of things to come.  Indeed the “space race” had suddenly become a part of the Cold War.  Fear of “what’s next” gripped my thinking.  If they can put a space craft into orbit, what’s to stop them from launching a nuclear missile?  If you were growing up in the 1950’s and 1960’s, this was a real concern for everyone.
 
Now today, I look at the night sky and the stars have diminished and their brightness has dimmed.  If I do happen to see something moving across the sky, my reaction is “ho-hum….another satellite.”  Though the threat of nuclear disaster seems so less likely, I know that the end of time is bearing down upon us.  So maybe the likelihood of such a disaster is actually more and not less.
 
I still keep my eye on the sky, not only for its beauty, for it does declare the handiwork of God’s creation, but Jesus might be walking in the clouds to take me home any day.
 
Praying you have your eyes on the sky too…..
 
 
Blessings, peace and love now and in the New Year!
 
Pastor Allan
© 2018 Allan Redenius, All Rights Reserved