The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Psalm 19:1 (ESV) |
She was lying on her back, her arms outstretched before her, holding her science journal up against the black, star-flecked sky, a chart taped in place, her red flashlight dimly illuminating it as her eyes studied the page before her and then shifted to the sky.
Perhaps if our neighbors' lights were off. Perhaps if the glow from the nearby town was not so bright. We were supposed to see it with the naked eye; it should have been there. "One star, two stars, hop, hop, hop." I silently sang the made-up song in my head, trying to get my bearings in the sea of stars.
I began to slide, my slick, polyester sweatpants being a very poor choice to wear inside an equally slick, polyester-lined sleeping bag on a slanted roof. I was too lazy to climb down the ladder to go inside and change, but I did make a mental note to be sure that next time we were using and wearing the proper gear to stargaze on the roof, especially leading into the winter months. The temperature on this night had already dropped into the thirties, and the six-year-old, who had joined us on our adventure, had now confiscated most of the blankets. She wasn't even looking at the stars but was a huddled mass in the cave she had created and had no interest in leaving. The temperatures in the months to come would be bone-chilling, but I tried not to think about it as I laid beside my budding astronomer who seemed unfazed by both the temperature and her younger sister's actions.
"I think I can see it, Mom! I can! I can!"
My back ached. The dogs were barking. I was cold. The six-year-old, despite having all the blankets, continued to complain. My legs hurt from holding my body in place. My husband might as well have been miles away, despite the short distance to the basement where he was glued to a history-making final game of the 2016 World Series. He was not coming to get the six-year-old any time soon, and neither was I going to get back my blankets.
"Mom, it's there! It's there, just where it is supposed to be. Oh, how I would love to have a telescope. How can you not see it?"
"One star, two stars, hop, hop...". Wait, was that it? I saw the galaxy before my eyes made the last hop, while it was still in my peripheral vision. But of course! When I looked directly at it with my high-density, color-sensitive cones, it disappeared as if a mischievous child was playing with the light switch. However, when I looked just slightly away from it, my high-density, light-sensitive rods picked up the fuzzy spot that was the Andromeda Galaxy. It was very odd to be looking at something but not actually looking at it. My eyes darted back and forth, trying to prove to myself I was seeing the real thing. "There. Not there. There. Not there. There."
"Mom! You can see it. I'm so happy."
The child who sees his mother with reverent touch lift an early snowdrop to her lips, learns a higher lesson than the 'print-books' can teach. Years hence, when the children are old enough to understand that science itself is in a sense sacred and demands some sacrifices, all the 'common information' they have been gathering until then, and the habits of observation they have acquired, will form a capital groundwork for a scientific education. In the meantime, let them consider the lilies of the field and the fowls of the air. Mason, Home Education, V1 p. 63 |
O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! Psalm 8 (ESV) |
"Once upon a time there was a queen named Cassiopeia and a king named Cepheus. They had a beautiful daughter..."