According to the BBC News website this morning, Felix Baumgartner will attempt to parachute back to earth from nearly 40 miles above the earth. At this altitude, he will be able to see the curvature of the earth and the sky above him will be black. Air pressure will be 2% of that at sea level. As Austrian Baumgartner notes, “If something goes wrong, the only thing that might help you is God,”.
Of course, some of us might observe that his comment is true whether you are 40 miles above the earth or standing with feet solidly planted. But it is interesting how the human interface with space brings out an awareness of the divine. The Apollo 8 crew read Genesis Chapter 1 as they flew over the moon for the first time. Many of us have been astonished as we have looked up into the awesomeness of a clear starlit night.
The psalmist David experienced this and expressed it better than anyone, “When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?”
As Douglas Adams notes in A Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, “Space is big. Really big. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean you may think it’s a long walk down the road to the chemist, but that’s just peanuts to space.” Getting hold of the idea of the enormity of space gives us an approximation of the vastness and awesomeness of God. But the Creator must be, by definition, greater than His creation. Yet the incredible message of the Bible is that such an awesome, powerful, supreme being wants to have a personal relationship with individuals. So great is his care that He has come down to earth. The Lord Jesus said, “I am come down from heaven”. Surely this is one adventure that you cannot afford to miss out on!