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[Newbie]

Christians, what do you see/think when you see photos of space, galaxies, stars, etc.? I want an honest answer, be genuine. I seem to think of the evolution of all the different features and parts (like the atmosphere, the rocks and mountains, river beds and craters etc). I try to imagine the forces that are responsible for the sophistication, and the time span responsible for such things to occur. I could be more poetic, but I wanted to cut the meat and be straight forwarded.

My apologies, I want to know if religious people can be as deep and passionate about the mysteries and beauties of nature and her grandness as atheists can, or if they're just forced into a more bland perspective... It's just a possibility prejudice theory that's been in my head about religious people. I'm always assuming they can't be as passionate and deep as say Carl Sagan, because if they were they'd be an atheist.

[jimwalton]

I am absolutely fascinated by the beauties, majesties, and glories of outer space. I am an amateur astronomer, have bought a decent telescope, and LOVE to look through it. I can lay on my back on summer nights and stare into the night sky, fully absorbed in the wonder of what I'm seeing: lights generated from millions of light years away, so many that they can't be counted. Some are different colors (orangish, bluish), and the different sizes add to the splendor. The cloud of stars that is the Milky Way can hold my attention for a long time. And to think that some of these are spiral galaxies themselves floors me.

I look at the moon through my telescope and gasp at its beauty. I wonder how a dusty rock can reflect such brilliant light.

The pictures that come back from the Hubble telescope are breath-taking clouds of cosmic dust, galaxy formation, nebula, and star-births. New discoveries all the time, new information, more and more—the universe gets bigger all the time. Our place in it is so small, and yet we are ones observing and thinking and questioning.

The spectacle of the universe is an endless frontier, both into the reaches of outer space and into the amazing complexities of micro-science and particle theory. I am in awe of the greatness of God, the wonder of his works, and the spectacle of extravagance that I am privileged to appreciate.