Walking in the cool of the day

It's summer evenings like these when I most crave something of the 'Eden experience' of walking with God among the trees in the cool of the day.

Evening walks are so delicious, especially on these light, warm summer evenings, when everything is touched with golden light and there's such a peaceful stillness in the air. I'd love to go out for more walks on evenings like this but it's not the same on your own. Walks are meant to be enjoyed with others I think. There's something about walking and relationships that goes together.

It's times like this when I wonder what it was like for the disciples to walk with Jesus among the trees on the Mount of Olives in the cool of the evening, away from the crowds of Jerusalem. I know that I want more of that intimacy with God. I want to walk with Jesus among the trees, to talk with him, to listen, to feel his hand on my shoulder and his presence beside me. It feels right to describe the Christian life and our growing relationship with God as a walk, but I find myself longing for more of those times among the trees. If only I had more awareness of the reality of that walk together and was able to relax more often in the Lord's presence, talk together and know that evening peace.

Sunshine + water =

Everyone knows about rainbows, but have you heard of Sun Dogs and ice halos, moonbows and glories? Atmospheric Optics is a fascinating site, dedicated to the beautiful results of sunshine with water droplets or ice crystals.

The site has some amazing photographs, some simple, some almost unbelievable. And although the optics/mathematics here is very involved, the basic physics of refraction and dispersion is relatively simple. it's incredible to think that such basic ingredients could combine to produce such beautiful and complex displays.

Footprints in the sand

A conversation with my dad pointed me in the direction of these very cool prehistoric footprints at Formby Point, near Liverpool.

These footprints are thought to have been created about 4000 years ago, by humans and animals walking in the mud and sand along the shore. No one's sure how, but huge numbers of footprints in this intertidal region were not washed away but left exposed, perhaps due to a lowering of sea level. They were later covered with a layer of sand, which over time turned into sedimentary rock.

In more recent years the sea has eroded these concealing layers to reveal the footprints beneath. They were first discovered almost 20 years ago and archeologists have raced to capture the prints in photographs and plaster casts because once exposed the prints are quickly destroyed by the sea. Amazing to think that such an interesting archaelogical find is being lost so quickly, and by the very process that was interrupted so long ago.

They have even discovered prints belonging to the auroch - a giant prehistoric ox that became extinct in Britain during the Bronze Age. The auroch stood 6 feet high and was 11 feet long!

I especially liked this foot detail of a young adult male, showing the pointed toe outlines of long uncut toenails! (from the Intertidal archeology page).

God's Grandeur

While we're on the subject, this is Gerard Manley Hopkins:

The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man's smudge and shares man's smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs --
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.

Listen to it being read by Stanley Kunitz.

The vote is open

I've finally finished selecting my 10 images of space and it's been fantastic to remind myself just how beautiful the universe is.

Some decisions were hard to make.. which nebulae would make it to the final cut?

Here's some images which were near-rejects:
Cygnus loop shockwave
Eskimo Nebula
Spiral galaxies collide
...and many others!

You may disagree with my choices, but all the images I chose have a particular significance.

I'm curious to know which are people's favourites and whether everyone has the same idea of beauty... Let me know your top 3 from the 10 images I've picked.

friend or food?

Here's a heart warming story!

Snake befriends snack

Also, check out the link on that page to the story of the lioness and baby antelope - amazing!

Autumn glory

I loved this poem by BJ, a celebration of God's creative awesomeness on show in the Autumn colours and weather.


"One generation will commend your works to another;
they will tell of your mighty acts.
They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty,
and I will meditate on your wonderful works.
They will tell of the power of your awesome works,
and I will proclaim your great deeds."
Psalm 145:4-6

A non-trivial congruence - or the real beauty of Mathematics

Something I often find myself struggling to explain is the concept of mathematical beauty. It's something that mathematicians and physicists instinctively recognise, but it's not easy to articulate to the lay person!

But I was most heartened to find the following excerpt on John Polkinghorne's website (a wierd site set-up means it's impossible to link straight to the article). He doesn't answer the question of beauty per se but he makes a most appealing case for the amazingness of mathematics generally!

He's discussing aspects of metaphysics... 'aspects of the laws of physics which raise questions beyond physics' competence to answer':

"The first is a property of the physical world that is so familiar to us that we take it for granted. It is, in fact, the necessary basis of the whole scientific endeavor. It is this: that we can understand the world, that it is intelligible to us, that it is rationally transparent. Not only do we understand the world, but it is mathematics which is the key to the understanding of the physical universe. In fundamental physics one looks for theories which in their mathematical expression are economic and elegant, which are mathematically beautiful. Mathematical beauty is a very recognizable characteristic. There is an expectation -- an expectation that has been justified time and again in the history of physics -- that it is just those theories which have the character of mathematical economy and elegance which will prove to be the ones that explain what is going on in the physical world. If you have a friend who is a theoretical physicist, and you wish to upset them, you simply say to them, "That new theory of yours looks rather ugly and contrived to me." They will be truly upset, because you are saying that it does not have the character which successful theory always has had.

When we use mathematics in that way as a heuristic tool, a device for finding out what's going on in the world, something very odd is happening. After all, what is mathematics? Mathematics is the free exploration of the finite human mind. Our mathematical friends sit in their studies and out of their heads they spin the beautiful patterns of mathematics. Mathematics can be thought of as a pattern creating, pattern analyzing, subject. Yet some of the most beautiful patterns that are dreamt up by the pure mathematicians in their studies are found actually to occur in the structures of the physical world around us. In other words, there is a deep-seated congruence between the reason that we experience within (in our minds) and the reason that we experience without (in the physical world around us). They fit together like a glove. That seems a fact about the physical world that is what the mathematicians in their modest way would call non-trivial. 'Non-trivial' is a mathematical word meaning 'highly significant.'"

Wow wow wow (or is it just me?!) I love this guy!