Infinite Galaxies

This photograph taken by the James Webb Telescope is INCREDIBLE.

That image can't do it justice, obviously - so for slightly more awe, go to this flickr link where you can zoom in and move around a bit. Note: most of the specks of light in this image are GALAXIES. 

GALAXIES!!!! 

Like... WHAT?!?!? Totally mind blowing and incomprehensible!

So, (to quote my little sister), my dad is an amateur astronomer. While he wanted astronomy to become his career, the math got to be too much. So though he changed career courses, he kept his hobby and heart in the stars and planets. Seeing an astronomy magazine in the mail was not unusual. I would look through them, but the material in those magazines was infinitely over my head. Still, one thing always drew me in: the pictures. You don't need to understand astrophysics or cosmology to feel complete wonder at a picture of celestial objects so far away it almost seems imaginary. It is incredible how far technology has progressed over the past 30 years. The images received from telescopes seem to get better and better. Now I do not have the brain for math like my dad, and astronomy is not a hobby yet. But gazing in awe at the stars, being mesmerized by the things seen in the heavens, and, of course, pictures of the things of the universe and beyond have never lost their thrill for my heart. The fact that the pictures taken by the James Webb Telescope are shared so freely despite being so hard-won brings me such joy. These things belong to no one but their Creator, but these images belong to all of us. We are more connected and more one that we realize because we too belong to the same Creator of stars and galaxies and "pillars of creation."

https://webb.nasa.gov/index.html (go see this picture in full resolution on the website.  It's🤯!)

- that's from a facebook post by my little sister again, but I felt like I was reading my own thoughts, I'm glad she put them down, she said it so well! I'm in awe at the amazing creations in heaven and on earth by our loving Creator.

Ultra Pure White

A post my little sis shared on facebook today that I loved!

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Who knew Home Depot paint could lead me to a lesson about Christ?

I was there the other day looking at white paint swatches. Do you realize just HOW MANY shades of white there are?? It's amazing! (aaaaand a little overwhelming). I took dozens of those little papers home to hold up to my wall in some attempt to figure out which shade was just what I wanted. 

As I held them up against the wall, one at a time, they all looked the same. When I put them against each other, choosing one over another was more difficult since each white took on the shade of the others or it's comparison didn't really help me see what that white shade really was. 

Then I held the whites up to the Ultra Pure White swatch. (If you didn't know, Ultra Pure White is THE white of whites, as far as Behr is concerned.) It was only then that I saw just how cool or warm the different white shade were. Only then did I find the white I wanted. I had to compare the whites to the Ultra Pure White to see their true color.

I wanted to show the kids these white swatches and see if they could tell the difference between them individually before being compared to the Ultra Pure White. We sat around a well-lit table, and they closed their eyes. One at a time, I put a white paint swatch on the table. When they opened their eyes, they had to tell me what color they saw. 

"White" was the answer every time, to the point they wondered what I was getting at. Why was I showing them the same white?

I actually showed them a dozen different shades of white. Individually, they called each one white. Then they closed their eyes one more time, and I lined up the whites to show them their differences. They were so surprised to see just how different these whites were. Which one was the REAL white? 

Enter Ultra Pure White.

When compared to that ONE color, every other white was better understood and seen as a little grey, tan, or blue. I told them when it comes to comparison, like those swatches, do not compare yourself with others. We're all different shades of white. You won't truly understand yourself that way and you will not have direction to becoming like the true WHITE. Only compare yourself to Jesus Christ. He is the Ultra Pure White. 

"He is the light, the life, and the hope of the world. His way is the path that leads to happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come."

Trees of Righteousness

Isaiah 61:3 - "The oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord; that He might be glorified."

Trees of righteousness. Here's the Savior's mission verses in 1 and 2. I'm going to mourn in Zion. I'm repentant. I'm going to get beauty for ashes. I'm going to get oil of joy. I'm going to get the garment of praise. What does it result? It means that we become trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord. Now, other people... "I'm a little weak in my faith. But I can get shade under your tree. I can temporarily use your strength and shade to bless my life." The Savior says, "You're going to be the light of the world. You're going to be the salt of the earth. You're going to be leaven. Well, this is another one: trees of righteousness; the planting of the Lord.

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That's all from the Follow Him podcast this week with Dr. Ross Baron. It was so good. I loved his conversion story at the beginning of Part 1, and also his testimony at the end of part 2. They also mention the verse above at 27:11 in Part 2. Then starting at 31:30 I loved what they shared about trees as a symbol: 

Trees always grow toward the light. 

Trees require opposition to thrive. 

Trees bear fruit. 

Trees provide shade. 

Trees point upward. 

Trees use the power of the sun to provide oxygen for life

Trees are best grown in forests, not in isolation. 

Trees draw strength from previous generations of trees. 

They mention a talk given by Elder Marlin K. Jensen where he discussed the sacred grove. He mentioned a story of when someone in the church has this idea to clean out the sacred grove in New York, to get rid of all the fallen trees, and clean out the grove so visitors can have nice clean pathways. They did. It started to create havoc in the grove. It actually diminished the vitality of what was going on in the sacred grove. Then some arborists came along and were like, "Well, yeah. You can't do that. Why would you do that?" "We wanted to clean it up" "No, no, no, no. The previous generation of trees that have died actually provide rich, rich nutrition and growth for these younger trees."