Spectacular Sky Sights
“The stars are falling. Is the world coming to an end?” That was the nighttime cry on November 12-13, 1833 when a meteor shower-storm puzzled and scared spectators. Many thought it was a Biblical prophecy that the earth was ending, since the book of Revelation speaks of the stars of the sky falling to the earth (Rev. 6:13).
Shouts from people outside watching the lit-up sky roused thousands from their beds to witness the meteor storm. It was estimated in excess of 240,000 meteors were visible over the United States—primarily east of the Rocky Mountains– during the nine hours of the display.
One Alabama news source wrote: “Gamblers, thieves and other assorted sinners along the east coast of the United States traded in the instruments of their debauchery in exchange for prayer books, so sure were they that the end was near. Thousands of luminous bodies were shooting across the firmament in every direction.”
The phenomenon was later known as the Leonid Meteor Storm and meteor displays were understood to be the result of the earth passing through debris of comet trails.
Abraham Lincoln was a young man boarding with a Presbyterian deacon in Illinois when his sleep was interrupted that night by a rap on the door. A voice warned, “Arise, Abraham, the day of judgement has come.” Later as President of the United States, and during some of the gloomiest periods of the Civil War, he told a delegation of bank leaders about witnessing the meteorite spectacular many years earlier.
He said, “I sprang from my bed and rushed to the window, and saw stars falling in great showers. But looking back of them in the heavens I saw all the grand old constellations with which I was so well acquainted, fixed and true in their places. Gentlemen, the world did not come to an end then, nor will the Union now.” Walt Whitman recorded this account about Lincoln’s faith.
I learned about this unusual meteor event when reading my mother’s family history. Have you witnessed an awe- inspiring sight in nature you should write about for your family’s records too?
Maybe you, like my nephew, drove hundreds of miles to witness the total eclipse of the sun on August 21,2017—the first to sweep across the entire U.S. since 1918.The sky darkened, the stars came out, and the temperature dropped. Day turned dark for almost two minutes where he was an observer. “It was somewhat eerie, along with the silence when even the birds stopped chirping,” he told me.
If you have observed one of God’s spectacular marvels, consider writing about it. Someday somebody will be glad you did.
Scriptures
God’s splendor is a tale that is told; his testament is written in the stars. Space itself speaks his story every day through the marvels of the heavens. His truth is on tour in the starry-vault of the sky, showing his skill in creation’s craftsmanship. (Psalm 19:1 TPT)
It is I [the LORD] who made the earth and created mankind upon it. My own hands stretched out the heavens; I marshalled their starry hosts. (Isaiah 45:11a, 12 NIV)
Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars. Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies. Let them praise the name of the LORD, for he commanded and they were created. (Psalm 148:3-5 NIV)
Prayer: Lord, thank you for the beauty of the earth and sky. And for Your faithfulness in watching over us. Amen.
Information sources: Alabama Heritage Magazine, March 15,2000; P. Jenniskans/NASA, Agnes Clarke’s Victorian Astronomy Notes, Leonid Mission Homepage; Sky and Telescope, Nov. 1999, Donald W. Olson and Laurie E. Jasinski on Lincoln; Blairsville, GA . Solar eclipse 2017, info.pdf.
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