Telescopes

Today is the birthday of the telescope. There is some debate over who actually invented the telescope. Was it Galileo or was Galileo's telescope a more powerful copy of a scope invented a year ealier by some spectacle makers? Here is a nice article that talks about why people usually think of Galileo when they think of the telescope.

For me, I don't care who invented the telescope, I just enjoy using one. I used to have one but for some reason it got given away about eight years ago. I miss my telescope. Laying on my back on the front lawn looking at the stars is great, but looking at the heavens through a telescope is amazing. I wish I had had it still a couple of months ago when three of Venus' moons were visable. I did get a look at them with some binoculars, but the view would have been so much more incredible with a telescope.

It took me a long time to figure out where the things I wanted to look at were in the sky. I needed to take more time to study the astronomy and learn where things are. I am not always sure where the most common of constellations are. I can find the big and little dipper, though, and the North Star is pretty easy. My neighbor had a computerized telescope. You could type in what you wanted to look at and the telescope would reposition itself to point in the sky where the object is. All you had to do was focus.

Before the telescope was invented, there were not many ways to explore the heavens other than just looking at them, but the same constellations that we know and love were there. They were familiar to the people then. The North Star was a constant and steady presence in the sky, just as it is today and was a point of reference used to orient and guide those traveling by night.

Those traveling by night were very familiar with the night sky. They were not like me, they did not have a hard time recognizing the constellations, the planets and other things in the sky. They spent time studying and learning the charts and maps created of the heavens. When a new star and unfamiliar star appeared in the heavens they didn't need a telescope to help them focus. They knew the prophesies, the signs and what it meant.

The promised Messiah was born, the prophesies had been fullfilled. Freedom from spiritual bondage was here and they knew it because they were more than casual observers. They were able to follow the star and find the Savior because they had already figured out what they wanted to look for and had repositioned themselves to that point, all they had to do was focus.

So perhaps I should ask myself am I like the wise men or am I just a casual observer? Do I know how to find my Savior, or will I miss Him because I do not know what to look for, or how to reposition myself and focus?