This past week has been a week of signs and wonders for me. It began on Jan. 16 when I awoke to seeing the planet Mars through my bedroom window. I got up and saw that Venus was high above with Jupiter almost directly to the left of Mars. Venus, Mars and Jupiter formed a gorgeous cosmic triangle on that day.

Last night, the clouds cleared enough here in Virginia for me to chance to see the full lunar eclipse that started at 9:36pm EST. One of my favorite photos from last night is the one taken of the moon as the clouds cleared and a halo appears around the scene as if to announce the gorgeous event that is about to take place.

I took the time to observe the moon through a telescope as the eclipse progressed. As the sky got darker and the light from the moon dimmed, I sat in awe at the celestial wonder that appeared before me. I was able to see Orion’s Belt, the Plaeides, Ursa Major, and more than one meteorite streak across the sky. As the eclipse advance, the wind got stronger and the temperature plummeted to < 20 degrees.

At midnight, two and a half hours after I began my cosmic quest of witnessing earth come between the sun and moon, I took one last picture of the moon through my telescope just before it became completely shadowed over by the earth.

I couldn’t help but sit in awe and wonder as I witnessed, along with countless others across the globe, such a cosmic junction. With gratitude for being able to witness that I crawled into bed and fell asleep.

There was a time when such cosmic alignments created panic and fear and wonder in the minds of those who witnessed them. Thankfully, we live in a time when astrologers and scientists are able to forecast such events. At one time these events were mystical and perhaps created much fear. Today, we know long in advance when such things will occur.

To not take the time, now that we know in advance, to witness such cosmic beauty seems like taking the Creator’s awesome power and beauty for granted. I for one am glad I took the time, and I hope you did too, to be a witness of God’s grandeur.