It left earth this past March 9 at 10:49 P.M. EST. Last week April 7 it ejected its dust cover and the lens was exposed to space. The Kepler Space Telescope is not in orbit around earth but is in orbit around the sun trailing earth by 2.2 million miles. It has the largest mirror ever put into space. Yesterday we received the first light transmission, which is at this moment being processed for viewing. Its primary mission for the next several years is to find planets. We have already identified over 300 planets but this will refine that search with incredible amounts of data. The Kepler will stare at 100,000 suns in the constellation Cygnus and watch for the dimming of light as planets orbit around each sun. It is like watching a flea pass a headlight.
We are not alone. In Hebrews 1:2 Paul tells us Jesus is the creator of worlds. That is plural. It is so easy to doubt that which we cannot see but I cannot see the myriad radio and television signals that fill my room unless I have the proper receivers. I could doubt the existence of these other worlds but we are now able to see them. So what I want to see is Jesus. He too is there. It is merely a matter of having the right receiver.
There is a wonderful old song that goes like this, “Open my eyes that I might see glimpses of truth thou has for me. Open my ears that I may hear voices of truth that sendest clear.” The world is full of skeptics who think they are so much brighter than those of us who believe. Their problem is they just don’t have the proper receiver.
Written by Roger Bothwell on April 15, 2009
Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
rogerbothwell.org