When the USS Enterprise launched in September 1966 ‘to boldy go’ where no one had gone before, it didn’t actually go very far. The idea of exploring the Milky Way was one of pure imagination far beyond the bounds of possibility. Fast forward nearly 60 years and how much has changed. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is now planning for a future where humans live and work in space. In a recent interview the UK’s most famous particle physicist, Prof Brian Cox, predicted that we are set to become a multi-planetary civilisation within his lifetime, with settlements on the moon and Mars.
Hundreds of years ago the psalmist David looked up at those same stars and praised the God who had made them. Overwhelmed by the vast scale of the universe he said, ‘what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?’ It’s interesting to think that while we prepare for life beyond our planet, two thousand years ago the God who made it decided, for a time, to make it his home. As John’s Gospel puts it, ‘The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.’ And why would he do such a thing? To show us he cares for us.
