Exoplanets: Other Worlds

Exoplanets.  It is a new word for me, but scientists are beside themselves.  Apparently the term has been around a long time, just not in my vocabulary. Exoplanets are planets that orbit a star other than our sun.  On May 10 The Kepler Space Telescope verified 1,284 new exoplanets bringing the total to approximately 3200. 

                                

Every star is expected to have at least one planet.  With 200 billion stars in the Milky Way the number is, well, astronomical!  But what scientists are really excited about are earth-like planets, those that orbit in the “habitable” zone of sun-like stars, the so- called “Goldilocks zone.”  21 of Kepler’s planets fit this category and there could be 11 billion habitable Earth-like planets in our galaxy alone! 

Elen Stofan, chief scientist for NASA Headquarters in Washington said, “This gives us hope that somewhere out there we can eventually discover another Earth.”   Just imagine, there could be other planets filled with beauty: oceans with waves breaking upon the shore, trees and forests, rivers and snow-capped mountains, clouds drifting across the sky, birds and beasts and living things.

C. S. Lewis posed this possibility in his science fiction novel, Out of the Silent Planet.  But Lewis went a step further. He proposed that these “habitable” planets in the universe were different in one respect. They were planets without sin.  Only on Earth, he suggested did sin exist and, as a result, it had become the “silent planet” cut off from all the rest of creation.  It is an interesting proposition.

Imagine again, a planet like the earth filled with life, including human life, where sin does not exist.  A planet like our own where there is no corruption, where no one lies, or steals, no deceit, no suspicion, no fear. A place where there is no violence. Everyone looks out for the welfare of others.  Love rules.

We may never know if there are other planets like our earth. The closest star with a possible habitable planet is about 14 light years away. Most are more than 40 light years.  Even if we could achieve the speed of light, this is not exactly commuting distance.

But the Bible assures us there is such a place as we have imagined, not in our galaxy or in our sphere of time and space.  It exists in another dimension, eis aionos, or “into the age,” as Jesus said. “I go to prepare a place for you, that where I am, there you may be also.”  (John 14:2-3)

Revelation describes this place “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.” 

Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” (Revelation 21:4-8).

Raising Children

Nothing is as challenging as being a parent.  Children have no on-off button.  They cannot be put in the closet like clothes, turned off and parked like cars or placed in a kennel for the night like pets.  They are on a constant quest, poking, prodding, pushing, pulling and climbing.  When our children were little, as soon as they got in the car they looked for buttons to push and knobs to twist.  When I turned on the key the blinkers blinked, windshield wipers wiped and the radio blared, vibrating the windows and rendering me momentarily deaf. The same was true for our bedroom and kitchen.

They grew up to be responsible adults.  But the path wasn’t easy.  Every passage brought new challenges: the first day of school, a move from familiar neighborhoods to a new city, puberty, a driver’s license, dating, computer games, technology and today, social media.  Parenting requires a constant learning curve that never stops, even after children are grown and on their own.  Relationships constantly change and adjust. As a parent, you are always entering new and unfamiliar territory.

I found across the years that there is no “fix it” book for parenting, no “cure-all,” “read this,” or “do this” simple solution.  Every child is different and every parenting situation has its unique challenges.  But there are some essential tools that make the difference: patience, consistency, authenticity, trust, love, faith and a listening ear.  Most of us don’t come naturally equipped with these essential tools to be successful parents.  Most of us have to learn them and acquire them while we are on the job. And all of us have room for improvement.

Years ago I visited in the home of a young mother who was caring for several pre-school children. I was amazed at her patience and attention with the children and commented on it.  She responded by telling me that this had not always been the case.  Before she trusted Christ, she said, she had no patience with children, but after she gave her heart to Christ, He gave her a gift of patience, not only for her own children, but for others.

The Bible says that John came to introduce Jesus to the world by turning the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to righteousness.  Every generation has to struggle against the natural desires of the flesh that result in envy, jealousy, resentment, anger and self indulgence. These attitudes destroy the family.

When we put our trust and faith in Jesus Christ He gives us a new heart.  He produces in us the fruits of the Spirit that equip us to be the parents and people that we long to be:  “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control.”  All of these, the Bible says, are the fruit of the Spirit. 

When our hearts are right with God so that we are producing these fruits, we will be good parents.  Then we will be able to fulfill the Scripture’s instruction, “Do not exasperate your children, instead, bring them up in the teaching and instruction of the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:4).

Selling Our Soul for Entertainment

Last week Will Farrell withdrew from playing Ronald Reagan in a dark comedy that portrays the former president lapsing into dementia in his second term. In the movie, President Reagan is duped by an intern to think he is “an actor in a movie.”  The script has received an enthusiastic response on the Black List, a catalogue of unproduced scripts, and was praised in Hollywood circles.  Farrell’s decision was apparently influenced by the outcry from Reagan’s family.

For those who experience the disease, dementia and Alzheimer’s are no laughing matter. Dementia and Alzheimer’s are arguably the most painful and debilitating diseases anyone can face.  President Reagan’s daughter, Patti Davis, said, ‘"I watched as fear invaded my father’s eyes -- this man who was never afraid of anything. I heard his voice tremble as he stood in the living room and said, 'I don’t know where I am.' I watched helplessly as he reached for memories, for words, that were suddenly out of reach and moving farther away. For ten long years he drifted -- past the memories that marked his life, past all that was familiar ... and mercifully, finally past the fear.”

As we age, we all experience the loss of health and strength.  But, perhaps most of all, we fear the loss of memory and cognitive function.  We all have friends who are fighting this terrible disease and many of us have watched families thoughtfully, faithfully and tenderly care for those they love as they slowly slip away. 

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, one in three senior adults will die with Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia. It is the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S.

The proposed Reagan movie is another indication that we are in danger of selling our soul for entertainment. We are sacrificing human decency and respect for the latest laugh or another buck in the bank.  We may be on the brink of becoming a demented society, not as the result of a disease like dementia or Alzheimer’s, but by being seduced to seek our own gratification at the expense of others.

Many have watched with disbelief as a reality TV star stands on the verge of claiming the Republication nomination for President.  Reality TV is bleeding over into the real world and distorting our perception of real problems and real solutions. In our entertainment crazy world, we are on the brink of sacrificing sound and reasoned judgement.

It is increasingly evident that we need a moral and spiritual renewal.  We need the kind of renewal that causes us to treat others with decency and respect. As Paul wrote, “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. ... Give preference to one another in honor.” (Romans 12:9-10). “For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7).  

We need to reclaim the aspirations of Solomon: “To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding; to receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity; to give subtlety to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.”  (Proverbs 1:2-4).

Good and Evil in the Garden

When I lived in Minnesota, I always had a garden.  I guess it was “our” garden, our children and mine. Every spring we would pick out what we would plant and, after I spaded up the earth, we would plant our garden together:  cilantro, tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, cabbage.  One year we grew a pumpkin two feet in diameter (as I remember it).  We tried okra, but apparently it needs the searing heat of Texas.   Rhubarb didn’t require planting, it just volunteered itself every year.

I wasn’t a very good gardener. After the ground was turned and the garden planted, we pretty well left it alone, and it grew. That is what things do in Minnesota.  Long days of sunlight, pleasant summers and occasional rain. Things just grow. They can’t help it.

But, the same conditions that stimulate vegetables also cultivate weeds.  By harvest we had a wonderful crop of both.  Our whole family would visit the garden like children on an Easter egg hunt.   Searching among the weeds we celebrated the discovery of tomatoes, squash, cabbages and a “great pumpkin,” hiding among the weeds. 

Jesus used a similar image to help us understand the mystery of good and evil in the world: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.  But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away.  When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field?  Where then did the weeds come from?’ ‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.  The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ ‘No,’ he answered ‘because while you are pulling the weeds you may uproot the wheat with them.  Let both grow together until the harvest.  At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into the barn.’” (Matthew 13:24-29).

The world is kind of like our garden in Minnesota. Evil flourishes in the world, like the weeds in our garden.  It dominates the news and grabs the headlines. But hiding among the weeds is the wheat, those things that are good, righteous, wholesome and healthy.  In every situation where it appears that evil will triumph, we find, hidden beneath the headlines, acts that are heroic and sacrificial, acts of forgiveness, kindness, goodness and faith.

Someday the harvest will come.  When John introduced Jesus, he said, “One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the straps on His sandals; ... His winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”  (Luke 3:16-17).

Getting Beyond the Noise

Our world is filled with noise: the whine of tires on the interstate, the roar of eighteen-wheelers;  the constant chatter of televisions in the background, talk show hosts over-talking each other, voices escalating in pitch and volume; politicians screaming insults and accusations at each other.  

Even the sanctuary of my car has been invaded by a talking GPS system.  “Recalculating,” she says, followed by “Make a U turn!”  Once, when my grandkids were riding with me, I switched her language settings from English to German, Russian, Spanish and Arabic just so we could hear what it is like to be corrected in different languages. The grandkids loved it.

Libraries are still pretty quiet. No one wants to mess with a stern librarian. Beaches and parks are quiet, unless someone pulls up nearby with a boom box.  

Silence can make us nervous.  We like to surround ourselves with sound.  It somehow comforts us, relieves us from thinking our own thoughts or, worst of all, being alone. But maybe we are missing something.  Maybe there is something in the silence of solitude that we have lost in our streaming, screaming and crowded world.

Before Jesus launched his public ministry he spent 40 days in the wilderness.  There were no radios, televisions, iPods or iPhones.  He was completely alone in the silence.  I have been there, stood on the edge of the wilderness where he wandered alone for 40 days. It is a stark and silent place.  It prepared Him for the days when He would be buried by the crush of the crowd with little time to eat or sleep.

When John preached near the Jordan River, thousands came to hear him.  The hillsides were covered with people listening to his messages.  People lined up to be baptized for repentance.  But before his remarkable public preaching, John spent years in the wilderness listening to God. 

Our lack of silence and solitude threatens to make us shallow, only able to repeat the slogans and jingles of the latest commercials.  Our minds repeat the lyrics of the latest pop songs.  If we would have depth of character, if we would think new thoughts, if we would hear the voice of God, we need time alone, time away from all the noise.  Time to think new thoughts and time to pray.

C.S. Lewis wrote, “We live, in fact, in a world starved for solitude, silence, and private: and therefore starved for meditation and true friendship.” 

The Bible says, “Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.”  (Isaiah 40:30-31). “’Come now, and let us reason together.’ Says the Lord. ‘Though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool.’” (Isaiah 1:18).

David said, “He makes me lie down in green pastures.  He leads me beside quiet waters.” (Psalm 23:2)  “Surely I have composed and quieted my soul; like a weaned child rests against his mother, my soul is like a weaned child within me.”  (Psalm 131:2)

Surprised by Glory - The Child Within

They are everywhere. They are found on every continent in every culture. Without them the human race would be doomed to extinction in a few short decades.  They fill the air with laughter, like the sound of water gurgling in a happy brook. Their capacity for imagination and happiness is almost boundless.  They find treasure in the common things in common places. They are the children.

Children rip away the paper from brightly wrapped presents, discard the expensive gift and spend hours playing with the box. At the playground, they make friends of complete strangers.  In a matter of minutes they are playmates making up imaginary games. They are as happy and excited to kick a half-deflated soccer ball in a back alley as any player in a World Cup stadium. They see the world with wide-eyed wonder, and they are blind to color, race or social standing.

We are born reflecting the eternal light that enlightens every man. (John 1:9).  But, somewhere along the way, the light dims. The carefree joy of childhood is lost. 

Too often, and too soon the children will learn the lessons of prejudice, self centeredness and competition. They learn it from watching the grown ups around them. They learn it from pressure to perform in sports on the field, pressures to live up to the expectation of adults who too often measure life by fame, fortune and winning at all costs.

Jesus treasured the innocence of childhood.  He once took a child and stood her in the midst of his grown-up disciples who were arguing among themselves about which one of them was the greatest.  Holding the child in his gentle hands, he said to them, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:2).

We all were children once, full of hopes and dreams with boundless imagination.  We are prone to lose the magic, exchanging laughter for worry, innocence for anger, expectation for resentment.  But somewhere, down deep inside, is the child we once were.

I have known adults living into their eighties whose eyes still twinkle with the joy of a child, whose faces are wrinkled with lines of laughter, who seem to wake up each morning with a child-like excitement for the next day’s adventure. We need not surrender to the bitterness of disappointment.  The wisdom of experience can serve as seasoning for the joy of childhood.

Regardless of our circumstances; in spite of our difficulties, set-backs and disappointments; Jesus invites us to enter the Kingdom as a little child, to be filled with a faith that expects to be surprised by glory. 

Spring Planting

There is something about digging in the earth, sowing seed and burying plants in the freshly turned soil.  It is an act of faith, of hope and expectation. It is an ancient ritual of believing. It is a way of interacting with life’s mysterious miracle. When I was in Minnesota, I wrote a poem about the experience.

I have bedded them,

laid them down to sleep,

dug shallow graves

and buried them

beneath soft soil,

dark, moist, rich dirt,

gently padded and patted.

They have been accepted

by the earth,

their burial signified by stick-markers

on which are written their names,

not in remembrance but in expectation,

waiting for them to wake,

to spring from dormant death into full flower:

pink and red and lavender,

yellow and white

the funeral-ritual of spring.

Cemeteries are like gardens, the name markers signifying the faith and hope with which the bodies of those who have gone on before were laid to rest. What is buried appears to be dead and lifeless. But is it?

A few years ago I visited a cemetery in old Boston where the tombstones date back to some of the earliest residents of The Colonies.  Those grave markers erected before 1730 bore skulls and cross bones.  They were the picture of death and despair. The markers erected after 1740 bore the images of angels and cherubim and were often inscribed with verses about heaven.  The only event that could have made such a difference in the Boston markers is the Great Awakening that swept the Colonies in the 1730s.  Benjamin Franklin wrote of the Awakening that there was a “wonderful change soon made in the manners of our inhabitants. … so that one could not walk thro' the town in an evening without hearing psalms sung in different families of every street."

Paul had this image in mind when he wrote, “When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else.  But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body.  … So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;  it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.


      "I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.  For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’ … thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:37-54).