To celebrate the first year of the James Webb Space Telescope, NASA released an image of a small star-forming region in the Rho Ophiuchi. This is a gorgeous image, and you can take a video tour of it here – https://webb.nasa.gov/ – as well as check out its other images.
I love images like this, because it reminds us of the incredible beauty in our cosmos. We are reminded that our Creator created more than just the earth. We are reminded that our Lord is the universal Lord. And we are reminded of Psalm 8 (Common English Translation):
Lord, our Lord, how majestic
is your name throughout the earth!
You made your glory higher than heaven![b]
2 From the mouths of nursing babies
you have laid a strong foundation
because of your foes,
in order to stop vengeful enemies.
3 When I look up at your skies,
at what your fingers made—
the moon and the stars
that you set firmly in place—
4 what are human beings
that you think about them;
what are human beings
that you pay attention to them?
5 You’ve made them only slightly less than divine,
crowning them with glory and grandeur.
6 You’ve let them rule over your handiwork,
putting everything under their feet—
7 all sheep and all cattle,
the wild animals too,
8 the birds in the sky,
the fish of the ocean,
everything that travels the pathways of the sea.
9 Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name throughout the earth!
Our Lord created the incredible cosmos, and our Lord created us and loves us. This is wonderful good news.
So, let us celebrate the beauty of the cosmos, the ingenuity of humans that created the James Webb Space Telescope, the handiwork of our Creator, and the love of God. And let us also remember that God calls us to care and steward all of creation, cosmos included! Thanks be God.
Scottsville United Methodist Church 