"The Earth is Flat..."

My first thought this morning: “When I consider the moon and the stars…who am I that you are mindful of me.’   How God, is it, that you make room in your Being, the Being that made the heavens, that painted the stars and the moon and pinned them to the black canvas, how is it that this hand made me and blessed me and preserved me?

My second thought: Is Polaris still the north star in Australia? Last night was a very warm night, and the bugs were manageable, so some friends could enjoy time staring at the stars. We followed the patterns which led to Polaris, that ancient star which guided ships for centuries, keeping them on their bearings since it always showed them ‘true north.’  My friend wondered whether this was true in Australia. I responded that it must be: I mean, sure the toilet water flushes in reverse, but North is North!  He wasn’t so sure. Which led to my morning musings and a discovery: you cannot see Polaris in Australia.  North is still North, but most places from the Equator into the Southern Hemisphere cannot see ‘up’ to Polaris because the Earth blocks the view.  (Don’t worry, they get to see the Southern Cross.)

Which led me to find that Polaris is central to the proofs offered against the theory that the Earth is flat.  Meet the cleverly-named The Flat Earth Society which believes that the earth is not a sphere. Those picture of the Earth from outer space? Just more ‘fake news’.  Some hold to this belief because ‘the Bible tells me so.’  (Which is yet more evidence that some people still don’t understand that God was not writing a science text book.)  I don’t know which troubles me more, that people insist the earth is flat, or that there are people who writing long papers about Polaris to refute them.

I mused on this until the first light appeared and the stars receded. I thought, well, they’ll be back in 16 hours.  Sounds simple. But it’s good to have something so simple to count on in our ‘world gone mad’, that Polaris and the God who made it will still be for all the ‘tonights’ of my life, holding the spinning sphere, and me.