...will become visible

This long time exposure shows star trails and the South celestial pole in the sky above the La Silla Observatory. Courtesy: ESO.

Messier 78: A reflection nebula in Orion. Courtesy: ESO.

Long time exposure is such a great concept and metaphor for perception. You see in this photograph order, beauty, balance, right? It is a long time exposure, released recently by the European Southern Observatory located in the Atacama Desert in Chile. When the attention span is long enough, the instruments are in place and used to perfection - a different world, an enormous world opens. What a difference between a glance and long-term observation.

God is all about long- term, on every perceivable level. "Long time exposure" of good --- in our human experience we are enabled at times to perceive something of this "long time exposure of good" the latest at a funeral. When someone we have worked with or known for a long time, fades away from our view, most often the qualities of the individual are more clearly seen and honored. Sometimes, as someone told me recently, only then. And then we understand why it was hard to get along when this individual was around: Personality gets in the way of spiritual identity as electric light will make long time exposure impossible in any observatory. The observing factor must be in the background, almost non-existent, to perceive infinity out there. Likewise human personality is such a distracting factor from the eternal glow of individuality in each single one of us. Each single individual, each single star. Long time exposure. It is unselfed love which enables long time exposure of the Mind.

In this week's Christian Science Bible lesson - for me the inspiration and uplift and fountain of wisdom, every week - is this pertinent observation by Mary Baker Eddy, the astronomer of the Mind for the modern age:

"As mortals gain more correct views of God and man, multitudinous objects of creation, which before were invisible, will become visible." (Science and Health, p. 264)

There is no end to discovery, as more "objects (...) will become visible." For some little inspiration, take a deep breath and a look at this stunning archive of the European Southern Observatory. And a look at your fellow man, a real look with the aim to see something good you haven't noticed before - how much good will become visible today?

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Deep view of the large and small Magellanic clouds. This deep image was captured using the LRGB method, and provides an insight into the actual process of creating spectacular astrophotography. Courtesy: ESO.