A note from Pastor Travis 7/28/22

Dear FUMC Family and Friends,

Like many of you, I have been enthralled by the photos released by NASA from the James Webb Space Telescope. They are stunning to see, but what captivates me is that some of the images are 13 billion light years away. That means that we are looking at parts of the universe the way they looked 13 billion years ago, when that light first started making its journey. I find it hard to get my mind around that idea, but it leaves me in awe and wonder. As I look at the images, the words of Psalm 33 come to mind: “let the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of God.”

What brings awe and wonder to you? Where do you see the miracle of creation and the gift of life? What reminds you of the vastness of creation and, at the same time, the love of God? 

As I consider these questions, an image of the poet of Psalm 8 comes to mind. I imagine them standing under the open desert sky on a clear night, in a time before the light pollution that plagues our world today, blocking out stars overhead. In my mind, as the poet stares in awe of the blanket of stars above, words of praise for God form in their mind, or perhaps on their lips. 

“O Lord, our Sovereign,

  how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory above the heavens.

  Out of the mouths of babes and infants

you have founded a bulwark because of your foes,

  to silence the enemy and the avenger.

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,

  the moon and the stars that you have established;

what are human beings that you are mindful of them,

  mortals that you care for them?

Yet you have made them a little lower than God,

  and crowned them with glory and honor.”

Tonight, as the weather permits, I encourage you to go outside and stare up at the heavens and offer whatever words of praise enter your mind, or your heart, or cross your lips.

Peace and Grace,

Pastor Travis