Starry, Starry Night

The man came and poured concrete in the trench round the garage base. Bob's been out with his tape measure diligently checking all the measurements [we need the base to be a certain distance from the boundaries to meet planning regs, and exactly the right size for the prefabricated garage] I found myself thinking of those verses in Job 38

Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
    Tell me, if you understand.
 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
    Who stretched a measuring line across it?
On what were its footings set,
    or who laid its cornerstone—
While the morning stars sang together
    and all the angels shouted for joy? 

And that got me thinking about stars - and I remembered this was the week of the Perseids meteor shower. I woke up at 4am to go to the loo, and decided that as I was up and out of bed, I might as well have a look outside. Psalm 8, in The Message version, puts things into perspective

I look up at your macro-skies, dark and enormous,
    your handmade sky-jewellery,
Moon and stars mounted in their settings.
    Then I look at my micro-self and wonder,
Why do you bother with us?
    Why take a second look our way?  

It was a bit chilly outside - I watched a couple of meteors shooting across the sky, then crept back into bed, feeling very excited.

Sometimes I find the magnificence of God's Creation utterly overwhelming - as did the prophet Amos

He who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns midnight into dawn and darkens day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out over the face of the land— the Lord is his name

Our little building project is tiny in comparison to the Cosmos. Yet the One who created all that cares about each individual. He hears my prayers - even on the darkest night - he hears, he answers, and he is forever faithful. For that I am truly grateful. 

[photo from the Eastern Daily Press, showing the Perseids over Norfolk this week]