Keep Your Eyes Open
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"Keep Your Eyes Open" by Frank Ramirez
* * * * * * *
Keep Your Eyes Open
by Frank Ramirez
Matthew 25:1-13
Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
-- Matthew 25:13
On July 6, 1054, an awe-inspiring sight appeared around the world, an overwhelming light burst into the night sky.
About two hours after midnight the Chinese royal astronomer Yang Wei-te witnessed the arrival of the great light. On the day of chi-ch'ou of the fifth moon of Chih-ho, he saw what he called a "guest star" in the constellation of Taurus the Bull. According to Yang it was a reddish-white color and displayed pointed rays all around. The star was so bright it was visible in broad daylight for 23 days and visible at night for a couple of years.
An event like this was very significant for all who saw it. The Chinese astronomer Yang recorded the event in the official annals and then wrote to the emperor to tell him it meant there was a wise and virtuous person in the country.
Japanese astronomers were also witnesses to the light and recorded its appearance in their archives. One wrote how "... a guest star appeared in the degrees of Tsue and Shen. It was seen in the east and flared up at T-ien-kuan. It was as large as Jupiter."
And thousands of miles away the Native Americans we now call the Anasazi were also witnesses to the light. They did not write it down but we know, anyhow, because they depicted it in their artwork.
The gently crumbling ruins of Chaco Canyon in New Mexico was the center of trade routes spanning thousands of miles. All roads led to Chaco, and Chaco was where all roads ended.
Modern-day visitors can hike the arid, desert landscape of the Penasco Blanco trail about three and a half miles north of the Pueblo del Arroyo and Kin Kletso cluster of ruins. They will soon find themselves staring at artwork depicting a many-pointed star, a crescent moon, and a handprint painted on the underside of a rock ledge. Many believe this is a record of one who also saw the same star as the Chinese and Japanese astronomers. There are other pictographs and paintings in the American Southwest witnessing to this light, such as a bowl depicting a rabbit (the ancient symbol for the moon in that culture) jumping over a many pointed star.
We know what they were seeing was not just a nova, an exploding star nearing the end of its life, but a supernova. Supernovas like these occur when the largest stars have spent much of their fuel burning fiercely bright. With a breathtaking suddenness they collapse into their now-solid iron cores, and often become for a short time brighter than all the billions of stars in their home galaxy combined. There is no predicting when such an event will occur, no preparing for it. One simply must be ready, watching the skies, for the moment when something like this might happen and cause us to ooh and ah.
You may not be able to look up in the night sky and still see that exploding star from a thousand years ago, but with a good pair of binoculars or an average telescope you can see the remains of that explosion. It's now called the Crab Nebula, and though it can be hard to see, it still sends out loud radio and x-ray signals for those who know how to look.
What is interesting is that there are no records of any European who saw the supernova. It must have been a singular object to be visible even in the daylight. Surely people saw it. Why is there no record of anyone in Europe having seen it?
Perhaps it's because Europeans believed what Aristotle had written centuries before -- that the heavens were perfect and unchanging. Therefore, even if they saw such a star, they refused to credit their own observations, because they believed it was simply not possible. They were not ready to believe the evidence of their own eyes.
Jesus cautioned all of us to be vigilant, to be ready, but if we do not believe God is active in history, will we be able to see and respond when God acts in our midst?
(Sources: The Crab Nebula, by Simon Mitton [Charles Scribner's Sons, 1979]; Chaco Culture Backcountry Trial Guide, Southwest Parks and Monuments Association. Photographs of the Crab Nebula and of the Supernova Pictograph easily available on the internet.)
Frank Ramirez has served as a pastor for nearly 30 years in Church of the Brethren congregations in Los Angeles, California; Elkhart, Indiana; and Everett, Pennsylvania. A graduate of LaVerne College and Bethany Theological Seminary, Ramirez is the author of numerous books, articles, and short stories. His CSS titles include Partners in Healing, He Took a Towel, The Bee Attitudes, three volumes of Lectionary Worship Aids, and Breakdown on Bethlehem Street.
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StoryShare, November 9, 2014, issue.
Copyright 2014 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
"Keep Your Eyes Open" by Frank Ramirez
* * * * * * *
Keep Your Eyes Open
by Frank Ramirez
Matthew 25:1-13
Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
-- Matthew 25:13
On July 6, 1054, an awe-inspiring sight appeared around the world, an overwhelming light burst into the night sky.
About two hours after midnight the Chinese royal astronomer Yang Wei-te witnessed the arrival of the great light. On the day of chi-ch'ou of the fifth moon of Chih-ho, he saw what he called a "guest star" in the constellation of Taurus the Bull. According to Yang it was a reddish-white color and displayed pointed rays all around. The star was so bright it was visible in broad daylight for 23 days and visible at night for a couple of years.
An event like this was very significant for all who saw it. The Chinese astronomer Yang recorded the event in the official annals and then wrote to the emperor to tell him it meant there was a wise and virtuous person in the country.
Japanese astronomers were also witnesses to the light and recorded its appearance in their archives. One wrote how "... a guest star appeared in the degrees of Tsue and Shen. It was seen in the east and flared up at T-ien-kuan. It was as large as Jupiter."
And thousands of miles away the Native Americans we now call the Anasazi were also witnesses to the light. They did not write it down but we know, anyhow, because they depicted it in their artwork.
The gently crumbling ruins of Chaco Canyon in New Mexico was the center of trade routes spanning thousands of miles. All roads led to Chaco, and Chaco was where all roads ended.
Modern-day visitors can hike the arid, desert landscape of the Penasco Blanco trail about three and a half miles north of the Pueblo del Arroyo and Kin Kletso cluster of ruins. They will soon find themselves staring at artwork depicting a many-pointed star, a crescent moon, and a handprint painted on the underside of a rock ledge. Many believe this is a record of one who also saw the same star as the Chinese and Japanese astronomers. There are other pictographs and paintings in the American Southwest witnessing to this light, such as a bowl depicting a rabbit (the ancient symbol for the moon in that culture) jumping over a many pointed star.
We know what they were seeing was not just a nova, an exploding star nearing the end of its life, but a supernova. Supernovas like these occur when the largest stars have spent much of their fuel burning fiercely bright. With a breathtaking suddenness they collapse into their now-solid iron cores, and often become for a short time brighter than all the billions of stars in their home galaxy combined. There is no predicting when such an event will occur, no preparing for it. One simply must be ready, watching the skies, for the moment when something like this might happen and cause us to ooh and ah.
You may not be able to look up in the night sky and still see that exploding star from a thousand years ago, but with a good pair of binoculars or an average telescope you can see the remains of that explosion. It's now called the Crab Nebula, and though it can be hard to see, it still sends out loud radio and x-ray signals for those who know how to look.
What is interesting is that there are no records of any European who saw the supernova. It must have been a singular object to be visible even in the daylight. Surely people saw it. Why is there no record of anyone in Europe having seen it?
Perhaps it's because Europeans believed what Aristotle had written centuries before -- that the heavens were perfect and unchanging. Therefore, even if they saw such a star, they refused to credit their own observations, because they believed it was simply not possible. They were not ready to believe the evidence of their own eyes.
Jesus cautioned all of us to be vigilant, to be ready, but if we do not believe God is active in history, will we be able to see and respond when God acts in our midst?
(Sources: The Crab Nebula, by Simon Mitton [Charles Scribner's Sons, 1979]; Chaco Culture Backcountry Trial Guide, Southwest Parks and Monuments Association. Photographs of the Crab Nebula and of the Supernova Pictograph easily available on the internet.)
Frank Ramirez has served as a pastor for nearly 30 years in Church of the Brethren congregations in Los Angeles, California; Elkhart, Indiana; and Everett, Pennsylvania. A graduate of LaVerne College and Bethany Theological Seminary, Ramirez is the author of numerous books, articles, and short stories. His CSS titles include Partners in Healing, He Took a Towel, The Bee Attitudes, three volumes of Lectionary Worship Aids, and Breakdown on Bethlehem Street.
*****************************************
StoryShare, November 9, 2014, issue.
Copyright 2014 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
