The Struggle to Be Known

When I was just a little kid, I loved reading about outer space and astronauts. The planets, distant stars, galaxies, spaceships, aliens, asteroids … every bit of it fascinated me. One of the first books I remember reading was Fireball XL5, a space adventure book based on a television series at the time. A few years ago, a friend found a copy of the book online and purchased it for me. It’s a wonderfully imaginative little book and beautifully illustrated. 

Whenever I found an article in the newspaper or magazine about space, I would cut it out and paste it into one of my space notebooks. You’d be surprised how many news reports on that topic there were in those days, especially with the Apollo missions in full swing. Plus, there always seemed to be a partial eclipse, lunar eclipse, or meteor shower that was newsworthy. 

Many, many evenings I’d venture outdoors after dark and find a lawn chair and sit with my head far back gazing straight up into the far reaches of the universe. The best time for this was during the winter months because the air was clearer and the mosquitoes were hibernating. 

The mysteries of the universe seemed to lure my mind into their endless fathoms. I couldn’t help myself from pondering it. Fairly early on, my mom purchased a small telescope for me with trading stamps she saved from grocery shopping. It was a crude table-top model and was awkward to use and focus, but it whetted my appetite. A few years later, I received a much-upgraded version from the Sears catalog for Christmas. This second telescope was a reflector scope and was mounted on a full-length tripod. I was so excited when I opened it and was thrilled to start using it. 

I remember the evening when I first saw the rings of Saturn with my new telescope. To see a photo of something in a book is one thing, but to see it with your own eyes is something very different. When I finally spotted those rings, I went running into the house and screamed at my mom to come out and see the rings. I’m not positive she was ever able to make them out, but she finally acknowledged, “Ok, I see the rings. I’m going back in.” 

Spotting Jupiter in my telescope was a much less dramatic experience, but thrilling nonetheless. I could barely make out the great red spot on the planet. Here’s a crude photo approximating what I saw the first time I located Jupiter on that cold and windy evening so many years ago. 

Now through the magic of the creative mind, let’s fast forward. Let’s time travel from my childhood to just a few years ago. 

On August 5, 2011, NASA launched the Juno spacecraft, aboard an Atlas V-551 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The spacecraft reached Jupiter in July 2016. About five years of high-speed travel. Hundreds of engineers and scientists worked for more than ten years to design and build this solar-powered craft. 

One of the mandates for Juno was to obtain clear close-up photos of the planet and to photograph areas of the planet that had never before been seen. To accomplish this goal, a newly designed camera, the Junocam, was installed on the spacecraft. The “push-frame” camera, would acquire new images of Jupiter “one strip at a time” as the spacecraft spun and as Jupiter passed through its field of view … over and over.

As Juno began to beam the astonishingly detailed images back to earth, NASA took the unprecedented step of posting the raw unprocessed photographs online and invited photographers and artists from around the globe to download and process them. The resulting images are unlike any photos of any planet we’ve ever seen before. Details that we could have never imagined are now sharply in focus. They revealed Jupiter to be even more dynamic and alive than we could have ever imagined. Here are some samples of these photos.

_{(Photos Copyright NASA)}

Many of these images, as you can see, have revealed an unknown and utterly beautiful world. When I first saw them, they literally took my breath away. Such utter beauty and revelation.

When I first saw Jupiter in my little telescope those many years ago, I was in awe at the crude image I observed. While I was barely able to locate the planet, and barely able to see the gigantic planet-sized red spot, it was still amazing to view it with my own eyes. I only saw a tiny part of what was actually there, but that part was thrilling.

I had no idea of the incredible detail that was not visible to me that evening. My crude little telescope was just not capable of providing that detail. The distance, impurities in our atmosphere, and many other factors made it impossible for me to see all the majesty that was just beyond my reach.

While studying these new images from the Juno spacecraft, there was a verse in the bible that came to mind. “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.”

Life is certainly difficult to understand. Things happen that seem to make no sense at all. Situations occur that are undeniably unfair. And in response, our minds fill up with questions … questions that often start with the dreaded three-letter word, why. 

I believe this is common to man. We will never know enough to be able to make all the pieces fit together perfectly. After a lifetime of living, we are lucky if we have collected a handful of moments when we caught a glimpse of the framework behind the singular events of our lives. 

Translating into true Southern vernacular, I’d say … we are all looking through a dirty window right now. We don’t know everything. We don’t have perfect vision to be able to understand our universe. And that’s where faith must be inserted into the equation. 

Without faith in an ultimate reconciliation, we dissolve into a muddy bog of whys.

In days like these, one can easily become disillusioned by a world that seems to be spinning out of control. There is nothing but bad news at every turn. But take heart my friends! There is a higher calling on each of our lives. Surrounding us, and deep throughout the cosmos, there is an order that we cannot fathom. Much like an accountant reconciles a bank statement, the universe reconciles each tiny event of our lives into perfect harmony. This harmony may resonate at a frequency that is above our comprehension but it resonates nonetheless.

Remember, when the world spirals out of control, peace is only a blind leap of faith away. Won’t you join me?

We have nothing to gain but a universe full of wonder.