The latest revelation is the discovery of the
largest known body/structure in the universe. It is a grouping of 73-quasars
which are the brightest objects in the universe and are fed by black holes (collapsed
stars), which have a gravitational field so strong that light cannot escape them.
This new found grouping is 4-billion
light-years across at its widest place. To put that into perspective, the Milky
Way galaxy, which is the home of our Earth's solar system, is about 100,000
light-years wide. And the Milky Way is separated from its nearest galactic
neighbor, Andromeda, by about 2.5 million light-years.
One light-year, which is a measure of distance not
time, is 5,878,625 million miles. So this grouping is 4-billion times that in
total miles at the widest point. To read more about this new discovery I found
in a January 11th, 2013 Fox News article by Mike Wall go to “Largest
structure in universe discovered” at:
http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/01/11/largest-structure-in-universe-discovered/#ixzz2Hn7DiouG
This new discovery challenges much of sciences past
understanding of the universe. What was
thought to be more uniform in layout when viewed as a whole, has to be looked
at as a universe with an oversized hunk of quasars stuck in the middle of it.
This changes man’s view of the universe going forward in study and research.
Science will have to determine the significance of this new understanding.
Now, what does all this mean to us humans as we daily
creep around on our little planet? First
off, we think how much more insignificant we are in the greater scheme of
things in the universe. We are now an even smaller piece of God’s
Creation. Does this make us think we are
more vulnerable than we thought?
As the Genesis creation story tells
us, “In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the
earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a
wind from God swept over the face of the waters.”
Maybe it doesn’t give us the more detailed
descriptions given by the scientific community, but the Creation Story does
describe a huge environment in which we were created by a loving God. Do we
need to worry about how big is big? While some might be concerned that we are a
smaller more insignificant part of creation than we thought, maybe we should
realize that being a smaller part of God’s creation makes our gift of life on
Earth even more special.
Let’s face it; with all the craziness out there in
those billions of light years of creation, we have been pretty well protected
and loved by our Creator God. Fire, heat, cold, explosions, flying objects are
all around us, although some are light years away. God must have had some kind of plan for us to
protect his children in this place called Earth.
Yes, this human populated Earth is an insignificant
spot when compared to the rest of the universe, but it may be the most special
spot in the universe as it houses God’s children. Shouldn’t we do a better job
in being thankful for what God has given us? Can we afford to leave Him out of
these lives He has gifted us with?
As Psalm 95:2-3 tells us, “Let us come before him
with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. For the LORD is the great
God, the great King above all gods.” God has given us free will. If our choices
are poor in life, we reject Him instead of seeking Him and giving Him thanks
for our special spot in His creation.
And then in 1st Timothy 4:4-5 St. Paul reminds us, “For
everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received
with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.” We
can make this life as hard on us as we choose, but in seeking the Will of God
and experiencing His Grace, we can come to know how important our “spot” in
God’s creation is to Him and to us.
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