On Jupiter, Pancakes and Perseverance

For nature study some weeks ago we followed our schedule deep into the night sky. This particular week had us reveling in the awe-inspiring wonder that is Jupiter. If you don’t know anything about Jupiter, let me introduce you… One of the most note-worthy features of this gas giant is that there is a large storm raging around it. And it is unlike anything that has ever dared to blow on earth. We call it Jupiter’s ‘Great Red Spot’, it is at least twice the size of earth, and as far as we know, has been raging at full force for at least 300 years, with no hint of slowing down. I like to imagine the Father, Son and Holy Spirit gathering there, occupying the most furious part of this furious storm, totally unshaken, reveling in the pleasure of their creation.

But come back to earth with me for a moment. While this storm and raging swirl of gas continued on with its God-glorifying race around the sun, we started off our week, 809,41 million kilometers away, by marveling at it. With access to these incredible images, we discussed patterns, spoke about Roman gods, and consulted our star guide to discover that from our country, in the year 2023 it is ‘the morning star of June’. We thought about its ability to be both hot and cold, and tried to vaguely grasp at the phenomenon that is a giant planet made of storms. We wondered what music inspired by the god of thunder might sound like and listened to Holst’s interpretation of it, all while eating pancakes by the fire. And if that sounds like a glorious way to spend a wintery Monday morning, it is precisely because it was.

Not all of our days are like this, in fact not even this day was like this for all of it. It was not long before someone felt an offense to their private kingdom and a fury something like that Great Red Spot stirred up in their heart. Not long after this my eyes were opened to large areas of our home which displayed the signs of strong child-induced winds having blown through them. But we take the bad with the good in these precious days. And unlike Jupiter’s storm which the Lord has yet to calm, we get to pause, repent, and reset. Because that is precisely what it takes to keep going in this mix of beauty and brokenness.

While it is easy to become discouraged when our hearts are so easily angered, and our spaces so quickly upset, our days are also marked by these moments of grace, these times when it feels like all you can do is just revel in the goodness of it all. When music and warmth, and the striking works of the hands of God remind you with startling clarity that there is a beauty worth fighting for, worth doing the hard work of being slow to anger, restoring peace and cleaning counters. And when the earth spins a new day for us full of new mercies, we do it all over again, seeking to build lives that are marked by truth, beauty and goodness. Lives that acknowledge the difficulties but are not beaten by them, lives that in Galatians 6:9 Paul calls us to live, where we, ‘[do] not become weary of doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.’