Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you. See, darkness covers the earth, and thick clouds cover the peoples; but upon you the LORD shines, and over you appears his glory. Nations shall walk by your light, and kings by your shining radiance. Raise your eyes and look about; they all gather and come to you: your sons come from afar, and your daughters in the arms of their nurses. —Isaiah 60:1-6
When wise men turn from learning the strictures of the page to seek a bright star burning, an infant as their sage, the wisdom of the ages our wisdom crosswise turns: a key unlocking cages, the light for which we yearn.
Our ordering and knowing have all been rearranged by that one bright star glowing, and we shall all be changed. We shall no more flee danger, but kings shall leave their thrones to bow before a manger when Christ is king alone.
Though now the way is hidden and hope is pale and wan, yet that bright star is given— To us is born a son. His brighter morn is coming that never shall grow dim, the sun of justice dawning: Come, let us follow him!
Lord, let my soul be in your hands
that hold the caverns of the earth,
that cradle seas and skies and lands.
Oh, cradle me as I go forth.
The road I'm on is dark and long
and leads me through the shadow vale—
but still a line across your palm.
Oh, bring me where the shadows pale.
I stumble, Lord. I fail and fall.
I lie down on the ground and weep.
Give strength to get up after all,
grace deeper than despair is deep.
And mercy, Lord, above all else,
beyond forgiveness' settled debts.
Not for my sins, but for myself,
grant mercy's ever gentle breath.
That when this road has found its end
beyond all valleys, flats, and peaks,
I may be still within your hand,
found there before the face I seek.
U.S. Route 95 in Churchill County, Nevada, is an example of a typical two-lane, bi-directional road found throughout the rural areas of the United States that are designed for light traffic. By Famartin – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=39452786
Before the LORD the whole universe is as a grain from a balance or a drop of morning dew come down upon the earth. But you have mercy on all, because you can do all things; and you overlook people’s sins that they may repent. For you love all things that are and loathe nothing that you have made; for what you hated, you would not have fashioned. And how could a thing remain, unless you willed it; or be preserved, had it not been called forth by you? But you spare all things, because they are yours, O LORD and lover of souls, for your imperishable spirit is in all things! Therefore you rebuke offenders little by little, warn them and remind them of the sins they are committing, that they may abandon their wickedness and believe in you, O LORD!
Creator of all things that are,
of all that's been or yet shall be,
each mote of dust and shining star
is but a speck to all you see.
The universe a grain of sand,
a fading drop of morning dew,
is yet a treasure in your hand,
you hold and constantly renew.
For all that is must be upheld,
or all would crumble into dust,
and even dust to nothing melt,
if ever you abandoned us.
Do not, O maker, let us sink
into the nothingness unmade!
But hold us still, through all you think,
and let us ever be remade!
You would not fashion what you hate,
but breathe your grace in all you've called,
and early though we hark or late,
you pour your mercy on us all.
For we are yours, creator God,
called into being by your will,
and though we wander from your law,
you look on us with mercy still.
Give us the time still to repent;
give us the grace that turns our hearts;
oh, draw us to you step by step,
and from you let us never part!
The Latin “sidus” (“siderum”) means more than just a “star”, encompassing also the sun (technically also a star), the moon, and the planets, as well as all the heavenly constellations and comets and meteors.[1] At first glance, this cosmic kaleidoscope of purple, blue and pink offers a strikingly beautiful — and serene — snapshot of the cosmos. However, this multi-coloured haze actually marks the site of two colliding galaxy clusters, forming a single object known as MACS J0416.1-2403 (or MACS J0416 for short). MACS J0416 is located about 4.3 billion light-years from Earth, in the constellation of Eridanus. This new image of the cluster combines data from three different telescopes: the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope (showing the galaxies and stars), the NASA Chandra X-ray Observatory (diffuse emission in blue), and the NRAO Jansky Very Large Array (diffuse emission in pink). Each telescope shows a different element of the cluster, allowing astronomers to study MACS J0416 in detail. As with all galaxy clusters, MACS J0416 contains a significant amount of dark matter, which leaves a detectable imprint in visible light by distorting the images of background galaxies. In this image, this dark matter appears to align well with the blue-hued hot gas, suggesting that the two clusters have not yet collided; if the clusters had already smashed into one another, the dark matter and gas would have separated. MACS J0416 also contains other features — such as a compact core of hot gas — that would likely have been disrupted had a collision already occurred. Together with five other galaxy clusters, MACS J0416 is playing a leading role in the Hubble Frontier Fields programme, for which this data was obtained. Owing to its huge mass, the cluster is in fact bending the light of background objects, acting as a magnifying lens. Astronomers can use this phenomenon to find galaxies that existed only hundreds of million years after the big bang. For more information on both Frontier Fields and the phenomenon of gravitational lensing, see Hubblecast 90: The final frontier. Links Hubblecast 90: The final frontier Link to Hubblesite release
When every other light goes out,
Lord, be the light within me still.
When other wisdoms topple down,
my mind with your own wisdom fill.
When I have dug in fruitless ground
and nothing found but empty fields,
take me where treasures still abound:
the riches of your word and will.
For I am poor, oh treasured Lord,
without your guidance and your grace,
until you open mercy's door
and heaven's rivers run in spate.
Then, in the eye--the holy storm--
what streams of love my heart embrace.
You are their source, oh Christ adored;
no price to have you is too great.
My wisdom and my treasure, too:
your word, more valuable than gold.
My light when shadow shrouds my view:
your radiance striking bright and bold.
Then here I give both old and new—
all that I have within my hold
is nothing, Lord, compared with you.
Take me and keep me in your fold!
Kate Bluett 