Last evening was an Elder meeting. It was a good meeting. Praise God for good and godly men who are willing to serve the body of Christ. Even so, Elder meetings are often tiring. We make decisions with a degree of soberness that comes from the sense of responsibility and accountability before God and the people of GCBC. Our meeting was pleasantly interrupted by the home coming of a fellow from our church, Joe Andris. Joe has been on a long - short term missions endeavor on Copper Island. Copper Island is located off of the coast of Vancouver Island, B.C. It is a beautiful place which does a beautiful work with a vision to restore the Name of the Lord where it was used to abuse. I have been there and hope to go back.
The meeting went till around 11:00 P.M. Which I did not mind, this time. Because, at home my Orion ST120 was cooling down so I could take it out and look at Comet Lulin. The scope is a 5 inch refractor. The comet was easy to find because it was so close to the planet Saturn - which is beautiful in its own right. The rings of Saturn are almost "flat" in their oritentation to us right now. Someone has described it as looking like the planet with an arrow through it. And it does. I easily found Saturn just below the constellation "Leo". And, just off from Saturn, the comet Lulin. It was discovered in 2007 by Quanzhi Ye, 19, and a meteorological student of at China's Sun Yat-sen University. He was working at the the Lulin Observatory doing a sky search when he first saw the comet.
The meeting went till around 11:00 P.M. Which I did not mind, this time. Because, at home my Orion ST120 was cooling down so I could take it out and look at Comet Lulin. The scope is a 5 inch refractor. The comet was easy to find because it was so close to the planet Saturn - which is beautiful in its own right. The rings of Saturn are almost "flat" in their oritentation to us right now. Someone has described it as looking like the planet with an arrow through it. And it does. I easily found Saturn just below the constellation "Leo". And, just off from Saturn, the comet Lulin. It was discovered in 2007 by Quanzhi Ye, 19, and a meteorological student of at China's Sun Yat-sen University. He was working at the the Lulin Observatory doing a sky search when he first saw the comet.
This is an image of something like I saw. It was taken by Jerry Lodriguss. My eyes did not detect the color that the image shows but I could see the shape of the comet and the bright core. (Saturn is the bright spot to the right, though the rings are not visible) It was a smudge, a "faint fuzzy". Some folks, under very dark skies, are able to detect the comet with the naked eye.
The comet will be visible for a while. You can check on the Internet for the time to go out and see it. A pair of binoculars will do, especially if they are 10X50. Expect to see a fuzz ball of light.
We are a bit like comets. We are travelers, pilgrims. We are not simply passing through, however. Followers of Christ are bringing the kingdom to bear on where they live and work. And, we look forward to a new heaven and earth. The current universe is amazing. I cannot wait to see it as it will appear liberated from the impact that the fall has had on it. In the mean time, take some time out under the clear night sky. It can be a refreshing experience.
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