Snowflakes, Rainbows, & the Twenty-Four Hour Day—Proof there is a Creator

Leave a comment April 21, 2023 Larry Peterson

written after seeing a rainbow—

Earth & Kepler 452b public domain

By Larry Peterson

In 2006, NASA’s New Horizon spacecraft left our humble, little planet and began its voyage to the edges of our solar system and beyond. After traveling 3 billion plus miles New Horizon finally passed the dwarf planet Pluto, the furthest planet from our sun. I don’t know about you but I find it humbling and awe inspiring that we human beings, using the perfection that surrounds us, can manage to find a planet that is so far away. Yet, within our universe, Pluto is as close as a neighbor down the street.

Hello sister planet

Let’s move past Pluto. It seems NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope, launched in 2009, found a possible ‘exoplanet six years later.’This planet is worlds beyond our puny solar system. Incredibly, this exoplanet could be similar to our hometown, Earth. Hello sister planet, Kepler 452b. The Kepler Telescope has identified close to 5000 exoplanets since it started scanning the deepest parts of space. But this is the first one that could be similar to Earth.

Now, get this–it is one thousand and four light years away. Our closest star system is Alpha Centauri, a mere 4.3 light years away. This means our closest star system is trillions of miles from our solar system and would take us tens of thousands of years to get there. Kepler 452b is 200 times further than that. My question is–how can our melon sized brains discover and learn about these things?

Light from the Sun takes eight minutes to reach us

How can we possibly know how to measure distance and location and density and climate relating to places that are so unimaginably far away? The speed of light is 186,000 miles per second. (Who figured that out)? How do you measure the speed of light? Assuming the number is correct, that means in one minute light travels 11+ million miles. That would be almost 16 billion miles in one day. Multiply that number by four and a half years. Do you see where I’m going with this? The light from our sun takes eight minutes to reach Earth. Yet Kepler 452b is more than a thousand “light years” away, and our scientists know it revolves around its sun in 385 days vs our 365 days. WHEW!

What about Earth? How much of what Earth does is taken for granted? Well, here is one thing it does that we never think about and completely take for granted, that is TIME. There are 24 hours in a day. Not 25 or 23 or 24.8, but 24. Imagine if there were random hours in a day. Yeah, right. So how did we get 24 hours in a day? Let’s just take it for what it is. Perfectly ordered.

Proof of Intelligent Design

We live on a planet that is simply a speck in the universe it occupies. It sustains our life by giving us the air we breathe, the resources to feed and protect us, and we possess minds that can figure it out. It is not only MIND BOGGLING it also is proof that it is the result of intelligent design. Common sense tells us (at least many of us) that all of this could not just be the result of some random, cataclysmic explosion in space eons ago. If this explosion did occur it was managed, controlled, and planned. Question; by whom? Answer. He has many names but most of us call Him GOD.

What about explosions? (Please bear with me–I do intend to make a point.) Explosions are destructive and, for the most part, maim, kill and destroy. I can remember several Fourth of July celebrations ago when a guy in Maine, in a festive frame of mind, brilliantly set a rocket off from the top of his head. He died instantly. We can go back more than 75 years and read the history of August 6, 1945, when the atomic bomb blew the Japanese city of Hiroshima to smithereens. It ended World War II by killing about 80,000 people. It follows that if I set a bomb off in my car the chances of the result being a better and faster car are–well, ZERO.

So now–to the point. The Big Bang Theory of Creation (it was a Catholic priest, Georges Lemaitre, who first advanced the theory of the “Big Bang”) has become the favored explanation of how our seemingly infinite universe came into existence. Scientists agree that the universe did have a beginning. They also know that the universe is expanding, changing, and dying, just like we are. To the question: At the moment of creation, when the unimaginable explosion took place who was at the controls getting all of these moving parts in order? Reasoning and common sense give us the plausible answer. Trying to prove something else is simply the result of self-pride and self-serving egotism.

Twenty-four hours in a day is perfect for us

Random explosions do not and cannot result in perfection. Twenty-four hours in a day is perfect for us to depend on, including the animals. It is a contradiction to believe otherwise. Everything around us is perfect. We can predict the rising and setting of the sun to the second, the new and full moons to the minute. We know when the tides rise and fall and can predict their lowest and highest points to the minute. We know when an eclipse, whether solar or lunar, will occur and where. We have learned how to use the world around us to maintain our very existence or, in many cases, destroy it.

Bottom line: because the universe is so vast and expansive (and apparently infinite) and all of it is moving and changing within a perfectly ordered system proves someone bigger and smarter than any of us put this in place. We cannot understand this. We cannot scientifically prove it. But, no matter what, we live in it and survive by it every second of every day of our lives.

Perfection does not come from chaos. Perfection can only come from someone who is PERFECT. I know who that Person is even though I cannot see HIM or touch HIM. All I have to do is see a rising sun, a blooming rose, a full moon, a rainbow…or hear the cry of a newborn baby or ponder the magic of one snowflake, unique unto itself. Oh yes, and I check my watch often!

“a persons a person no matter how small”

Maybe Dr. Seuss nailed it in his famous book, “Horton Hears a Who”. Maybe our planet Earth is really no bigger than Horton’s, “Whoville”. Maybe we are specks on the end of a ball of dust. Maybe we are not as big and as smart as we think we are. We had to have a Creator. It is common sense. It is ultimately all in HIS hands. I am also sure HE subscribes to the famous sentence in Dr. Seuss’s book; “a persons a person no matter how small”.

It seems those very “smart” people who reject what must be so, need to breathe in a deep dose of humility and realize all this did not just happen as the result of some random explosion or expansion. It is illogical and makes no sense (at least not to me).

Please Note: On Christmas Day, 2021, a rocket lifted off from French Guiana launching the James Webb Space Telescope into orbit. This telescope replaces the famed Hubble Telescope as the biggest and most powerful in the world (Kepler was smaller) Incidentally, Hubble just celebrated its 33rd anniversary and is still on the job scanning the universe looking for new discoveries. The James Webb Telescope is able to see further than did Hubble and Kepler and capable of taking pictures thousands of light years away.

You cannot love the child’s home and then kill the child.

Leave a comment August 24, 2022 Larry Peterson

By Larry Peterson

A Person’s a Person : End of Story

A Person’s A Person No Matter How Small (Dr. Seuss)

The drums of Climate Change are pounding harder and harder every day. School children are being indoctrinated about the cataclysm posed to destroy the Mother Planet. Purveyors of the “existential threat” about to waste us are in our face 24/7. We hear about the “science” of climate change and that we should embrace it. If you do not, you are labeled a “denier.” We have been told that Miami will be underwater in three years and the world will end in ten. The projected Ice Age of the year 2000 never happened but trouble is still coming to get us. So say the “experts.”

In religion, if you deny a tenet of faith such as the Divinity of Jesus Christ, you would be classified as a “heretic.” It seems we have finally advanced the theory of Climate Change into the Church of Climate Change. Yes, it is a theory, and a theory means MAYBE or POSSIBLY (Evolution is a theory—not a fact; Gravity is a Law—it is a fact).

In my opinion, the Climate Change hysteria reached new heights on September 18, 2019. That was the day that NBC, the National Broadcasting Company, presented the Climate Change Confessional to the world. This was a place where Climate Change “deniers” could confess their Climate Change “sins.” Yes, they could now admit their sins anonymously, cleansing their consciences of harm they caused to the planet. God gave Moses the Ten Commandments about 3500 years ago. Now, in the 21^st century, NBC has given the world six Climactic Commandments: they are as follows:

Thou shalt not use plastic, including straws, bottles, etc.
thou shalt not eat meat (cows, pigs, turkey), etc.
thou shalt not use energy (natural resources such as oil, natural gas, coal), etc.
thou shalt not use transportation (cars, planes, all vehicles propelled by fossil fuels).
thou shalt not use paper (does that mean toilet paper?—must mean paper plates)
thou shalt not waste food (i.e., leftover kale must be eaten ).

Those are the first six commandments of Climate Change. The good news was there were “climate sins” posted anonymously by others for you to reference. Sort of an examination of your climate conscience. Yes, my friends, you can unburden yourself of your “Climate Sins” in the NBC “Climate Confessional” and do it anonymously. The concept is not new; we Catholics have been going to Confession for 2000 years. (The big difference is a priest will give his life rather than violate the Seal of Confession. I don’t know if an NBC employee would go that far).

The Democratic candidates running for president are all in favor of abortion. Most of them believe in abortion up to birth. Many, including myself (the father of a stillborn daughter who did not survive past the sixth month of pregnancy), consider that infanticide. The definition of infanticide is as follows:

Infanticide

[in-fan-tuh-sahyd]

noun

the act of killing an infant
the practice of killing newborn infants
a person who kills an infant

Many people proclaim that they believe in God. Many claim the Bible as God’s word. I am a Catholic, but this piece is non-denominational. It is for any and all who believe in a Creator. Many who proclaim God proclaim their fears about Climate Change and want to save the planet. Mother Earth is their home—it is my home. It is every living being’s home. So that makes sense—let us be kind to our home.

However, I believe that many of those who are pro-abortion also proclaim that they believe in God. It follows that they all believe in His creation, the Universe, wherein our planet resides. The following high-profile Democrats are all in when it comes to Climate Change. They are also all in when it comes to being pro-abortion. They are all hypocrites and include:

Joe Biden—Catholic
Robert Beto O’Rourke—Catholic
Cory Booker—Baptist
Kamala Harris—Baptist
Amy Klobuchar—United Church of Christ
Bernie Sanders—Jewish
Elizabeth Warren—Methodist
John Delaney—Catholic
Andrew Yang—Christian Reformed Church
Pete Buttigieg—Episcopalian

Proclaiming your belief in God and His creation and wanting to protect it is a noble thing to do. But you cannot leave out the most essential part of God’s creation and make-believe it is NOTHING just to save your politics. It is not only hypocritical; it is downright shameful.

All the religions listed above proclaim and teach the Ten Commandments. They are the Law handed down by God himself to Moses on Mount Sinai. That is how it has been for over three thousand years. If you want to reject it and mock it, knock yourself out. But don’t stand there and proclaim your Godly ways when you willingly are ready to destroy God’s most precious creation, a newborn child. Yes—the most important and magnificent creation of the very God you proclaim.

The Bible says that God made the Universe out of nothing. It took Him six biblical days, and he began with light and then the heavens and the planets and the land and the oceans and the plants, followed by the living things. Then, on the sixth day, God created His masterpiece, the Human Being, both man and woman, and told them to be fruitful and multiply. God looked at what He had done and was pleased. Lastly, on day seven, He took a well-deserved rest.

So I ask; how can people of faith embrace the parts of creation that they can use for their advantage, i.e., Climate Change, and reject with a dogged determination the commandment that says “Thou shalt not kill.’ You cannot because doing so makes you all “DENIERS.” The science is in and according to all the experts, the science is fact—human life begins at the moment of Conception. So how can anyone embrace the child’s home and then kill the child? You can if you are the ultimate hypocrite.

Yes—all you promoters of infanticide, partial-birth, and third-trimester abortion are the real DENIERS of truth. You have compromised your integrity and character for a political agenda. NBC might consider referring those they have directed to Climate Confessionals to the pastors of their respective churches. They can ask their opinions on Climate Confessions when they get there. Somehow, I doubt they will give that referral.

Planets, Time, Distance and Dr. Seuss; Combined Proof that there is a Creator

Leave a comment May 22, 2020 Larry Peterson

Earth vs Kepler452b public domain

By Larry Peterson

I write of this because I am in awe of the perfection involved in the entire process, and also in the fact that we have people among us who are smart enough to understand this process and are able to predict precisely when different phenomena will occur.

Every few years, the moon’s orbit follows an invisible path that allows it to pass directly in front of the sun. The sun’s faint corona, a halo of plasma that surrounds it, is thus revealed. This phenomenon is known as a Total Solar Eclipse. To witness this occurrence, you must be within the moons “umbral shadow” as it sweeps across the planet. This shadow is known as the Path of Totality.

Back in 2006, NASA’s New Horizon spacecraft left our humble, little planet and began its voyage to the edges of our solar system and beyond. After traveling three billion-plus miles, New Horizon finally passed Pluto, the furthest planet from our sun. I don’t know about you, but I find it so humbling and awe-inspiring that we human beings, using the perfection that surrounds us, can manage to find a planet that is so far away. Yet, within our universe, it would be as close as a neighbor down the street.

Let’s move past Pluto. NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope, launched in 2009, found a possible ‘exoplanet,’ located worlds beyond our puny solar system. This exoplanet could be similar to our hometown, Earth. Hello sister planet, Kepler 452b. The Kepler Telescope has identified close to 5000 exoplanets since it started scanning the deepest parts of space. But this is the first one that could be just like Earth.

Now, get this–it is one thousand and four light-years away. Our closest star system is Alpha Centauri, a mere 4.3 light-years away. That means our nearest star system is trillions of miles from our solar system and would take us tens of thousands of years to get there. Kepler 452b is 200 times further than that. My question is–how can we know these things?

How can we possibly know how to measure distance and location and density and climate relating to places that are so unimaginably far away? The speed of light is 186,000 miles per second. Who figured that out? How do you measure the speed of light? Assuming the number is correct, that means in one minute, light travels 11+ million miles. That would be almost 16 billion miles in one day. Multiply that number by four and a half years. Do you see where I’m going with this? The light from our sun takes eight minutes to reach Earth. Yet Kepler 452b is more than a thousand “light years” away, and our scientists know it revolves around its sun in 385 days vs. our 365 days. WHEW!

What about Earth? How much of what Earth does do we take for granted? Well, here is one thing it does that we never think about, but without its never-ending accuracy, we would have chaos. There are 24 hours in a day. There is NEVER any other time within one day, NEVER. Imagine if there were? Nothing could ever be scheduled. Chaos would ensue. Life would be unmanageable and ordered life, as we know it, could never survive. So how did we get 24 hours in a day? I can promise you—it was NOT an accident.

What about explosions? (Please bear with me–I do intend to make a point.) Explosions are destructive and, for the most part, maim, kill, and destroy. (Think of Iraq, Afghanistan and Oklahoma City)? We can go back 75 years and remember that on August 6, 1945, the atomic bomb blew the Japanese city of Hiroshima to smithereens. It also killed about 80,000 people. It follows that if I set a bomb off in my car, the chances of the result being a nicer car are–well, ZERO.

So now–to the point. The Big Bang Theory of Creation has become the favored explanation of how our seemingly infinite universe came into existence. Scientists do agree that the universe did have a beginning. They also know that the universe is expanding and changing and dying, just like we do. To the question: At the moment of creation, did an incredible explosion took place or was it a giant balloon expanding and expanding until it “popped” spewing matter outwards? Maybe everything was just put in place, piece by piece, like a puzzle. Whatever occurred, it all had to be controlled and managed. How could that be? It could be if Someone with intelligence planned it. There can logically be no other explanation.

Random explosions do not and cannot result in perfection. Twenty-four hours in a day is perfect for us imperfect species to depend on, including the animals. It is a contradiction to believe otherwise. We can predict the rising and setting of the sun to the second, the new and full moons to the minute. We know when the tides rise and fall and can predict their lowest and highest points and the exact time they will occur. We know when an eclipse, whether solar or lunar will happen and where. We have learned how to use the world around us to maintain our very existence. Sometimes we are implicit in its destruction.

Does it not logically follow that because the universe is so vast and expansive (and infinite) and all of it is moving and changing within a perfectly ordered system proves someone bigger and smarter than any of us put this in place. We cannot understand this. But our ability to reason tells us it must be so. The word that follows that is called FAITH.

A chaotic, random explosion eons ago could not have given us the monarch butterfly, music, or the magnificence of a setting sun. Perfection does not come from chaos. Perfection can only come from someone who is PERFECT. I know who that Person is even though I cannot see HIM or touch HIM. All I have to do is hold a blooming rose, see a full moon, a rainbow, .or hear the cry of a newborn baby. Did you ever ponder the magic of one snowflake? Millions of them fall together, yet each is unique in its shape and form, one of a kind, just like people who look the same but are uniquely different.

Maybe Dr. Seuss nailed it in his famous book, “Horton Hears a Who.” Maybe our planet Earth is no more significant than Horton’s, “Whoville.” Perhaps we are specks on the end of a ball of dust. Is it possible we are not as big and as smart as we think we are? We had to have an intelligent, all-knowing Creator. It is common sense.

It is ultimately all in HIS hands. I am also sure HE subscribes to the famous sentence in Dr. Seuss’s book, “a person a person no matter how small.” Maybe those very “smart” people who reject what must be so, need to breathe in a deep dose of humility and realize that this all did not just happen as the result of some random explosion or expansion. It is illogical and believing that defies commons sense and reason. It is the ultimate case of “denial.