Awaiting Orion

Autumn is closing in; the quiet season is right around the corner. There is nothing like the advent of cooler days and frosty nights with skies as clear as crystal. It's exciting to watch the winter constellations begin to emerge, and Orion is one of best. He rules the fall and winter skies at night, and is a symbol of the conquering Christ.

In Robert Frost's "The Star Splitter", he describes Orion in a familiar, homespun fashion:

You know Orion always comes up sideways.

Throwing a leg up over our fence of mountains, and rising on his hands,

he looks in on me busy outdoors by lantern-light with something

I should have done by daylight, and indeed, after the ground is frozen,

I should have done before it froze,

and a gust flings a handful of waste leaves at my smoky lantern chimney

to make fun of my way of doing things,

or else fun of Orion's having caught me.

One of the brightest and most easily discerned nebula in the night sky is M42, the Orion Nebula, located below Orion's belt. My rather poor photograph of it is below, but a better one can be seen here.

Some of my most profound moments with God are when I'm bundled up and flat on my back, outside on a crystal night, with binoculars in my hands.

"When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place, what is man that You are mindful of him, the son of man that You care for him?" Psalm 8:3-4

The astonishing thing is that God is mindful of me. He created wonder after wonder in this broad, unfathomable universe but His favorite thing is relationship with the hearts of those He has redeemed. That is such a weighty thought when it's truly considered and not just passed over matter-of-factly, that it brings new life, confidence and assurance to anxious hearts.