Let The Cosmos Praise its Maker. (A hymn/ song)

Cross-stitch bookmarks designed to represent

Christ’s involvement in the early universe

(through the image) and his sovereignty

over all nations in the several languages

of the quote from Revelation.

Let the Cosmos praise its maker,
In its known and unknown tongues, 
Giving thanks for all existence
In its multitude of forms;
From immense to subatomic,
From primaeval to new-born.

All the fundamental forces
Dance before his heavenly throne, 
Giving praise with saints and angels 
For the mighty deeds he’s done; 
Bringing matter out of nothing 
As the universe was formed. 

Let us, as his much loved creatures
Seek how we might understand
All the glory of creation, 
All the beauty that he planned, 
And his cosmic gift, salvation 
Through Christ Jesus, God in man.

This hymn/ song was written with the meditative tune in mind to which ‘Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence’ is usually sung (Picardy), and with the idea that it provides a short, thought-provoking time for reflection on the immensity of the cosmos and what that says about God.

It could equally well be sung as a celebratory song of the glory of the universe and there are numerous hymn tunes with 87.87.87 metre which could be used for this such as the well known 'Praise My Soul'

There are three lines of the song that warrant brief explanation for those not familiar with current scientific understandings.

Although the cross-stitch bookmarks illustrated above the first verse are limited to English, Spanish and French, the expression 'known and unknown tongues’ is intended to allow not only for lesser known terrestrial languages but also for ‘ tongues' which may be used on planets or moons far beyond our amazing solar system. Thousands of stars are now known to have ‘exoplanets’ and ‘exomoons’ circling them similarly to our solar system, and many astronomers/cosmologists think it is more, rather than less likely, that some of these support life that thinks and communicates in ways comparable to the way we humans do.

The first line of the second verse, ‘All the fundamental forces’  could  easily refer to storms, winds and floods and it is likely most people will understand it as such. But it also has a more scientific meaning. In this sense it refers to the four fundamental forces. These are the gravitational force, the electromagnetic force, the strong interactive force and the weak interactive force which between them hold matter in its place, from the component parts of atoms and molecules to galaxies.

Finally, the penultimate line of the song specifically points to the cosmic significance of Christ’s coming to us here on earth: this is a proposition which many thoughtful scientist/ Christians have written on persuasively and enthusiastically.

I hope this ‘shorthand’, note will encourage both those who use this language readily and enable those who don’t, to be drawn into the glorious mysteries of our faith, complemented by the scientific explorations and understandings of so many awe inspiring aspects of ‘our’ amazingly benign cosmos in which our planet has its being.

Further songs with similar faith and science themes can be found in the ‘Wonders of Creation’ found in the right hand column of this collection

I Stitch an Impression

A reflection on the meeting of creative ideas in cross-stitch and the Creation

I stitch an impression

Drawn from the deep vastness of space:

Clumsily often,

Occasionally deftly,

Weaving the needle

Back and forth

To express a fleeting sense

Of the wonder

Of Creation.

I look back

At the rows of stitches

where I see

I have wrought

Imperfections

But in the original,

In the source of my inspiration,

At the heart of a galaxy,

Of a nebula, of a supernova

Is woven

God's creative perfection

 

If you enjoyed this, you might like to try Bounded and Boundless or the several other poems with a science/astonomical theme to be found in the special index Here

Bounded and Boundless

This post presents a new Cross stitch embroidery with a space theme. These are posted in the hope of encouraging other readers to self-design patterns of the wonders of the universe streamed to us by increasingly sophisticated space and terrestial telescopes - for they make a mighty theme.

Bounded and Boundless 

However imaginative

Is an impression

Of the wonders

Hidden in the sky,

It cannot touch

The imagination of the Creator

In whom the vast secrets

Of the universe lie.

If you are interested in the image, there is a further embroidery accompanying Galaxy of Galaxies

Other poems, meditations and songs with a SCIENCE & FAITH theme can be accessed HERE

Invitation

Come, my sister, my brother,

look beyond this glass

and this fabric:

let your mind range

far outside

the constraints of these brief verses

And contemplate.

Contemplate

Upon your God;

The author

Of all the indescribable

Beauty and order

Of this universe

And believe,

If you can,

That He loves you;

For why would He

Have sent His Son,

Who shared

In the overwhelming joy

Of creation

To die at our hands

If He did not?

Other poems with similar themes can be found at the special index Here

Galaxy of Galaxies

Daniel O'Leary, wrote an article in 'Tablet' titled 'Creation Just Got Better'. His theme was that discovery after discovery at the cosmic and the microscopic extremes all make the work of the Creator more and more amazing. Today's blog and embroidery image celebrate a particular marker in this uncovering when in January 2004 the Hubble telescope produced a series of images that come from the very edge of the known Universe.

Sadly Daniel O’Leary died at the end of 2018

Hubble: Galaxy of Galaxies 

A "galaxy of galaxies"

emerges from "empty space"

as more sophisticated technology

probes the cosmic gloom.

Startlingly, awesomely

a myriad of new and mighty neighbours

Is found to loom

in the hitherto unseeable reaches

of a tiny arc of sky.

It challenges us

to loose the fetters of imagination

and try

to accommodate within our minds

a God

whose creative power

is far, far greater

than we could possibly have understood

prior to this discovery hour.

 For an index of other poems with a science and faith theme CLICK HERE

To see other cross-stitch images with a science and faith theme, scroll through the images in the right hand column

Alpha and Omega

Alpha and Omega

Around this vast

hyper-spectacular array;

throughout this great

multi-galactic swirl

is the deep embodiment

of time.

Our present

sets its questing probes

on aeons long past

for our stellar neighbours;

and they gaze back

at our antiquity,

seeing a youthful sun

gathering its little array of planets,

in a history

still only guessed at

By even our most fertile brains.

When? When in all of this

is the miniscule

concept of "now?"

For us it can only be here

on this

tiny spinning speck

which, miraculously,

has been visited

by the very God

whose cry

echoes through

the time-laden past

of His universe,

making it wait

in cosmic anticipation.

"I am Alpha and Omega,

the beginning and the End."

“All of this

remains,

or cascades into eternity,

at the sweep of my hand,

when it bids

My only Son

to fulfil His promise

of apocalyptic return

to the timelessly blessed location

of my special love gift,

Earth"


The theme of this poem is also reflected in Awesome, Wonderful Creator and other poems with similar themes can be found in the special index Here

Black Hole

This is a light-hearted poem  about those odd space objects. The accompanying cross-stitch panel would be different if I worked it now as new images have been generated from more and more telescope images and on 12th April 2019 a massive collaboration of telescopes across the world led to the publication of the first direct ‘ picture’ of a black hole. To coincide with this ESA (European Space Agency) published the picture below showing the Anatomy of a black hole.

Anatomy of a black hole: Credit ESA

However, the cross-stitch was my concept a few years back and for at least a while the themes of the poem remain to a significant degree unchanged!

Black Hole

Wonderment goes hand in hand           

with perplexity

at much of the Creator's

ingenuity.

But of all the cosmic

complexity,

will we, this side of

eternity

understand with more than

provisionality

that all absorbing

entity,

the black hole,

a singularity?

Maybe an equal

sagacity

is to regard this

prodigality,

this infinite rapacity;

and mark the same

capacity

lies within

our personality.

So, pray the Creator's

charity

keep us from

such obscenity

Which too oft desecrates

Vulnerability.

If you enjoyed the lighthearted nature of this poem, you might also enjoy The Journey and if you are looking for more of the Cross and Cosmos themed cross-stitch embroideries, then go to the 'Labels' list in the right hand column which runs alongside this post and select the group from there.

Other poems with astronomical/ cosmological themes can be found here