“I acclaim Your name…for You have made Your word great across all your heavens.”  Psalm 138:4 (Thomas Alter translation)

I received my first – but not last – gift of this Friday well before 7:00 a.m.  when looking into the heavens I saw the thinnest sliver of a silvery moon…the kind of moon we used to tell our children was a ‘fingernail moon.’   The sky was black and largely starless, but here hung this moon which was not just any old fingernail moon, but the kind where you could see the rest of the pale, semi-transparent orb nestled in the hollow of the fingernail.  Stationed a little bit above this treasure was the planet Venus shining at almost the brightest it can be seen.  One website says  Venus is currently 100 times brighter than any other star or planet in the December sky.    What a gift!   I couldn’t stop admiring these two heavenly lights arrayed in glorious splendor. 

 And so I acclaim God’s name this morning…for God has truly writ large across the span of the heavens.   And while “acclaiming” I’m recalling the hymn “Fairest Lord Jesus”  and remembering that  the One who is light of the world is forever beautiful and brilliant.  Here’s hoping you find many simple gifts today, too.

P.S.  The website I consulted says  Venus will reach its greatest illuminated extent in the wee hours of Saturday morning.  I have no plans to enjoy this 3 a.m. spectacle, but I rather think it will look just as magnificent to the untrained eye this evening or tomorrow morning.   Enjoy!
Creede Hinshaw