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FOOD FOR THOUGHT

CONTEMPLATING

BETELGEUSE

BY PETER STOFFBERG
JOHN 11 : 25-26
Jesus said to her,
“I am the resurrection and the life.
The one who believes in me will live,
id you ever lie on your back and gaze
at the clouds while you tried to identify even though they die;
Dtheir shapes as they shifted and and whoever lives by believing in me
changed? Perhaps you’ve tried the same with will never die...”
the night sky, playing a sort of interstellar join-
the-dots in your imagination? It may not seem
productive, but we could all do with time spent
in wonder, thinking about, and appreciating
this amazing gift of life. Wherever you find
yourself on the stress scale, why not take a
few minutes to do just that. It’s particularly apt
during load-shedding.
I read something recently that sent me on Easter SUNRISE Gathering
just such a mental expedition through the
galaxy. It concerns Betelgeuse. Betelgeuse is ALL WELCOME
that bright star that forms the shoulder of the please bring family, friends, camping chairs or picnic blanket,
constellation of Orion (the one with the belt coffee & hotcross buns
of three stars). It has the world of astronomy [ Time ] 6h00
in a bit of a spin right now. You see, it’s
losing brightness at a rather spectacular rate. EASTER SUNDAY [ 12 April ]
As of the most recent information from the NORSCOT KOPPIES NATURE RESERVE
European Southern Observatory’s Very Large
Telescope in northern Chile, it has reduced T-junction: Alexander Ave & Westway Rd, Douglasdale
to just 36% of its normal brightness in just a
matter of months. Unsurprisingly, nobody is - EASTER SERVICES -
sure what the cause is. 10 APRIL - GOOD FRIDAY - 9h30 - Indaba Hotel - bring a red flower
12 APRIL - SUNRISE - 6h15 - Norscot Koppies - bring coffee & chairs etc
Betelgeuse is probably at least 500 to 700 12 APRIL - EASTER - 9h30 - Indaba Hotel - bring a white flower
light years away, depending on whose
measurements you go with. This large degree www.4waysunited.org.za
of variation in estimates is understandable
considering how far a light year is. It’s the
distance that light travels, at a speed of Thinking about God, as the Creator of all the
300 000 km every second, for a year. Multiply stars, puts our problems into perspective. It may
that by 500 and you can see how it may be not take away the pain, but it does remind us
tricky to measure accurately. This vast distance that we can trust Him to handle anything we go
also means that we through, no matter how big. It shows that He
shouldn’t blame Eskom has the power to help, but how do we know that
for Betelgeuse’s loss of He wants to?
brightness, as tempting as
that may be. As Easter approaches, think about God creating
this entire universe, and then contemplate His
Stars are huge, and there decision to become human, in the person of
are more of them than we Jesus Christ, in a body like ours, to subject
can number. The more Himself to our scale of problems. This is a God
technologically-advanced who knows how we suffer, and knows how to
we become, the bigger the save us. No problem is too great, and no person
estimates become. When too small (John 3:16).
you think of these sorts
of scales and the majesty
of these celestial bodies,
you could be forgiven for
feeling very small. On the
other hand, you could
be overwhelmed by how
immense our Creator is.

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