Finding Faith: God, The Galaxies, and Us

"Looking up into the starry sky, I pondered, 'God had time to create not only our Milky Galaxy, but The Phantom Galaxy 32 million light years away, and an untold number of more galaxies in between … and yet our Creator is personally aware of me! How can that be?'”

Opinion by Devlyn Brooks

Devlyn Brooks is an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America,

Original Source: Inforum.com

Date: September 02, 2022

Earlier this week, the European Space Agency and NASA, which collaborate together on work involving the Hubble and James Webb telescopes, released an image of “The Phantom Galaxy,” a spiral of solar systems found 32 million light-years away from earth.

View of M74, otherwise known as the Phantom Galaxy, taken by the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, in this handout image released Aug. 29, 2022. Webb’s sharp vision reveals delicate filaments of gas and dust in the spiral arms which wind outwards from the center of this image.

NASA / ESA / CSA James Webb Space Telescope / via REUTERS

The stunning photo of the galaxy — nicknamed “M74” — looks like an image of outer space taken straight out of an old Buck Rogers episode from my youth! Just breathtaking stuff!

And, for me, it’s convincing evidence of a grander design to the cosmos.

Looking up into the starry sky while out walking my dogs the night I read about the photo, I pondered, “God had time to create not only our Milky Galaxy, but The Phantom Galaxy 32 million light years away, and an untold number of more galaxies in between … and yet our Creator is personally aware of me! How can that be?”

Jesus reminds us of this very intimate relationship with God in Luke 12:6-7: “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

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ABOUT

Devlyn Brooks COLUMNIST

Devlyn Brooks is an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and serves Faith Lutheran Church in Wolverton, Minn. He also works for Forum Communications Co., both as publisher of the Detroit Lakes Tribune, Perham Focus and Wadena Pioneer Journal, and also for Modulist, a Forum Communications Co.-owned company. He can be reached at devlyn.brooks@forumcomm.com for comments and story ideas.