{"id":81173,"date":"2020-10-08T13:55:37","date_gmt":"2020-10-08T10:55:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=81173"},"modified":"2020-10-08T13:55:37","modified_gmt":"2020-10-08T10:55:37","slug":"we-are-stardust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/we-are-stardust\/","title":{"rendered":"We Are Stardust"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"81173","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":62857,"related_cahpter":"586","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"But it is not in the heavens...\r\n\r\n","content":"

Psalm 19 presents God\u2019s revelation in two ways. The first through nature (1-7) and the second through Torah (8-12). For some, God is found in the synagogue, for others outside the synagogue, and for others both. In the end, according to the psalmist, both lead to prayer: \u201cLet the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable before You, Sovereign Commander, my Rock and my Redeemer\u201d (15).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We will focus on the path of nature which opens up the psalm:<\/span><\/p>\n

The heavens declare God\u2019s grandeur;<\/span>
\n<\/span>the skies proclaim God\u2019s handiwork\u2026<\/span>
\n<\/span>Speech without sound, voices without talk;<\/span>
\n<\/span>so none is heard.<\/span>
\n<\/span>Yet their notes echo throughout the world…<\/span><\/p>\n

Its sublime message parallels when God spoke out of the Whirlwind to Job (38:4; 31-33):<\/span><\/p>\n

Where were you when I laid the earth\u2019s foundation?<\/span>
\n<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 Tell me, if you understand….<\/span>
\n<\/span>Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons<\/span>
\n<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 or lead out the Bear with its cubs?<\/span>
\n<\/span>Do you know the laws of the heavens?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In both cases God is presented as being beyond our comprehension. That is perhaps why this psalm shows the Torah as an alternative path to God. Unlike the heavens the Torah is, \u201cnot in the heavens..it is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to observe it\u201d (Deut. 30: 12; 14).<\/span><\/p>\n

But what of that first path, that heavenly path – can we learn from its vast silent vistas? It is the ultimate transcendent reality, with no possibility for immanence. Is there someway to bridge that chasm? Stars are light years away. The light we see from a star in the heavens is travelling at 186,000 miles a second. In the few seconds it took you to read that last sentence light would have traveled 2.2 million miles. Yet they also provide part of the answer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In one way, those stars are not so far away. Astronomer Hugh Crowl reminds us that a look at <\/span>a Stellar Nucleosynthesis periodic table <\/span><\/a>shows us how much we are made up of the same elements as we see in the sky:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We are literally stardust.<\/span> With this in mind we can see our lives as <\/span>an element in the unfolding story of the Universe described by the psalmist. Underlying it all, insignificant and vast, is a profound Unity, communion, and interdependence. The illusion of difference is challenged by the basic stuff of the universe we all share. In that light the transcendent becomes more imminent and our prayers, as noted in the psalm\u2019s closing, are better able to locate a more accessible address.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In an iconic work from a different psalmist, Joni Mitchell sings (Woodstock<\/em>):\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I came upon a child of God<\/span>
\n<\/span>He was walking along the road<\/span>
\n<\/span>And I asked him, where are you going<\/span>
\n<\/span>And this he told me \u2026<\/span>
\n<\/span>We are stardust<\/span>
\n<\/span>We are golden<\/span>
\n<\/span>And we’ve got to get ourselves<\/span>
\n<\/span>Back to the garden.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Image: \u201cAxilar Moonrise,\u201d Joni Mitchell (1977) \/ flickr<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":81174,"id":81174,"title":"ps19-axilar moonrise","filename":"ps19-axilar-moonrise.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps19-axilar-moonrise.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/we-are-stardust\/ps19-axilar-moonrise\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"ps19-axilar-moonrise","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":81173,"date":"2020-10-08 10:55:20","modified":"2020-10-08 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