Breakfast with the Planets

 

He had read of "Space": at the back of his thinking for years had lurked the dismal fancy of the black, cold, vacuity, the utter deadness, which was supposed to separate the worlds. He had not known how much it affected him till now - now that the very name "Space" seemed a blasphemous libel for this empyrean ocean of radiance in which they swam. He could not call it "dead"; he felt life pouring into him from it every moment. How indeed should it be otherwise, since out of this ocean the worlds and all their life had come? He had thought it barren: he saw now that it was the womb of worlds, whose blazing and innumerable offspring looked down nightly even upon the earth with so many eyes - and here, with how many more! No: space was the wrong name. Older thinkers had been wiser when they named it simply the heavens - the heavens which declared the glory - the

"happy climes that ly
Where day never shuts his eye
Up in the broad fields of the sky."

He quoted Milton's words to himself, lovingly, at this time and often.

- Out of the Silent Planet, C.S. Lewis

This passage has always been wonderful to me. This is the part when Ransom is in the spaceship, held captive by Weston and Devine, on their way to Mars. C.S. Lewis brings one of his favourites, John Milton into the story, that great 17th century poet, and draws on Psalm 19, his favourite Psalm. Ransom's reflection shifts our viewing of space to the cosmos, something bigger, alive, and full of wonder. It evokes the Medieval perspective of how they looked at the night sky, calling it the heavens. There was something more held amidst those other worlds. I love that ancient idea. 

On mornings when I can take some breakfast with Venus, Mars, Saturn, and the crescent moon, it is a delight to celebrate. I came out to my kitchen one morning last week and was at my counter making my breakfast as usual. I turned around to set my bowl on the table and gasped at the sight outside my window as the bright Venus and crescent moon were absolutely radiant. Then a hug smile emerged on my face as I gazed at the little triangle in the sky, made up the three aforementioned planets, and the crescent moon hanging out. A cluster of cosmological beauty in the sky is pure poetry of God's creation. It set my soul to wonder and wander into the cosmos. Of course, my cell phone camera does not do this scene justice by any means. It is highly recommended you wake up early to view with the naked eyes.

The predawn hour is my favourite hour of the day. It holds so much calm, peace, quiet, and hope for the day ahead. The lighting slowly begins to grow, first as a nightlight glow from the horizon, then as the sun rises, light begins to emanate off other things like clouds if they are formed, to a range of vibrant colours. 

Star and planet gazing has always been something I love - to find something in the sky like Orion or a planet when it pops up in the morning as it has been recently, is like visiting your favourite waterfall or canyon - the sheer glory of creation causes one to stand in awe of it. And that's how I feel. 

The heavens declare the glory of God...

I will be keeping watch in these morning predawns over the next couple weeks, as another planet joins the planet party in the sky, Jupiter. The four planets will get into a nice line-up, on the ecliptic, reminding us that our solar system is a flat disc and all the planets line-up nicely on occasion.