Looking toward the Stars

Dear Family

I hope your week has been a meaningful one.  I am grateful for each of you and the great things you are putting out into this world.  I want to highlight one great quote from today’s message from Emerson, “All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.”  We have an amazing world that God has given us stewardship over, it is incredible.  We can learn so much about God as we reconnect with nature.

With Love,

DaD

Looking toward the Stars

Given by Lloyd D. Newell

July 14, 1996

As long as mankind has inhabited this earth, the night skies have served as a source of inspiration for shepherds, for sailors, for explorers — for all who have stood in awe before the immensity of space.

There have been those who have charted their courses across seemingly endless oceans by studying the heavens, while others have seen significance in the patterns formed by stars visible from their own backyards. Some have dreamed of discoveries waiting to be made, while others have sought to connect with the eternal implications of a frontier that knows no bounds. Some have been mystified by the depths of the night’s sky, while others have found comfort and calm as they have felt a connection with the eternal nature of the universe.

As we look into an expanse that is without beginning or end, we sense something of our own eternal nature. As we contemplate the insights that have been gained into the nature of galaxies the naked eye cannot even see, we find assurance that the unknown can become known. And, as we discover the grand designs that finite minds can scarcely comprehend, we realize that we, too, are part of a greater whole, which is guided by a loving God who governs the universe.

In the silence of the night, as one looks out into the heavens, this simple sentence by Emerson suggests at least one lesson that can be drawn from such a sight. Said he, “All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.”1

There is, indeed, much in the skies beyond what our eyes can see; in fact, as scientists have ever more sophisticated means to explore the heavens, we seem to find, in addition to what can now be seen, just how much we cannot yet comprehend.

One wise physicist, who had studied the mysteries of space for many years, took a small group of interested students away from the city lights late one night and showed them, with the help of a powerful telescope, parts of the universe they had only read about in their books. As his students marveled at what they saw, he set aside his usual scientific objectivity and shared his deeply held belief that what they were seeing was the work of a divine force. “I do not understand exactly how he has created what he has,” the scientist told his students, “but the more I study the heavens, the more convinced I am that we are not here by chance.”

Discovering the purpose of our lives — individually and collectively — is a challenging process at best. But sometimes we can learn much about ourselves and our world — and about Him who has given us these gifts — by waiting for the evening to come and then quietly contemplating the handiwork of God.

Note

^1. Ralph Waldo Emerson, in Richard L. Evans, An Open Door (Salt Lake City, Utah: Publishers Press, 1967), 209.

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