April 15, 2026

The whole world watched amazed as the recent NASA Artemis space flight to and around the moon took place. We were and are all captivated by the picture of our beautifully blue earth “rising” from the far side of the moon. And we have been reminded that our marvellous planet, brilliant in an infinite sea of dark space, truly is, as one of the astronauts put it, “a lifeboat” for humanity.

The vastness of our solar system, which hardly registers in the massive size of the universe, is truly humbling for us. As the psalmist put it, “What is man that Thou art mindful of him?” King David wrote, “You have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing in your sight. Surely everyone stands as a mere breath. Surely everyone goes about like a shadow… For I am your passing guest, an alien, like all my forebears.” (Psalm 39:5, 6, 12b).

Indeed, one does feel a bit like an alien when confronted with the overwhelming wonder of creation. It is so much bigger than us, yet we are somehow a part of it. But our tendency to see ourselves as the centre of it is quickly eclipsed when we see our planetary home suspended in a galaxy that the astronomist Karl Sagan described as “a mere speck of dust whirling about in the magnitude of space”. We are so small…

Yet we are, as the Bible tells us, created “in the image of God”. We are immortal and of vast value. We have been made for a heavenly kingdom. This world is a mere incubator for those who will one day “rule and reign” with our Father in heaven. We ain’t seen nothin’ yet.