"Where there is a lack of home religion, a profession of faith is valueless. . . . Many are deceiving themselves by thinking that the character will be transformed at the coming of Christ, but there will be no conversion of heart at His appearing. Our defects of character must here be repented of, and through the grace of Christ we must overcome them while probation shall last. This is the place for fitting up for the family above." 16
Richard Wagoner and Heinrich Spengler shivered
in the cold night air high atop the mountain over looking vast
areas of the western deserts and mountain ranges. Richard parked
his light blue Datsun pickup near a yucca bush, turned off the
lights and gazed at the heavens with admiration.
“I love the night time sky,” he
said to his friend. “Its millions of sons, planets, moons,
galaxies, meteors, and asteroids, are beautiful.”
“I agree,” Heinrich observed.
“Ever since you got me interested in astronomy, its been
my greatest joy to spend an entire night making observations.”
They fell silent as, awed by the bright
spangled heavens, they felt a sense of reverence for their Creator.
Tonight, especially, they experienced one of those moments of
rarest joy, they were alone on the mountain.
Heinrich glanced out of the window at the
mournful sound of a coyote and his mate as they chatted to each
other across a narrow valley. Chaffing his hands together for
warmth, his breath vaporized in the still night air, Richard looked
every bit the eager graduate student in astronomy, Heinrich thought,
as he helped his friend with the equipment.
Slender of build, with a high forehead,
and a boyish appearance, the beginning of a beard showing on his
chin, close-cropped, black hair resembling that of a marine, he
was lithe and athletic. Working out in the university gym several
times a week, they enjoyed paddle ball and often swam together.
“Have you been playing any basket ball
lately,” Heinrich inquired as they set up the ST-4?”
“Are you kidding,” Richard replied,
his breath turning to frost in the cold, windless night air, “I
haven’t got the time. The dean’s keeping me too busy
lately. I can’t even go mountain climbing,” he said.
“Didn’t you fall off a fifteen
foot cliff when you lost your balance, the last time you went
out,” Heinrich observed conversationally.
“Don’t remind me of that experience,”
Richard said with a grimace, rubbing his back side thoughtfully.
Heinrich laughed.
As they watched the stars in silence, Richard’s
mind began praising the Lord for this wondrous display of His
creative power. “The heavens declare the glory of God; and
the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech,
and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor
language, where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out
through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.
In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,...” 17
“For the invisible things of him from
the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by
the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead;
so that they are without excuse:” 18
Turning to Heinrich, Richard commented,
“I love the heavens, to me, they spoke of God’s love.
It doesn’t make any difference whether I understand or just
think I understand the composition of meteors, asteroids, and
planets, I still marvel at the wondrous creation spread out before
my gaze.”
Watching the familiar stars, his heart involuntarily
went out to his Creator in praise, “Which alone spreadeth
out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea. Which
maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the
south. Which doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders
without number.” 19
Setting up his equipment, with Heinrich’s
aid, he aligned the ST-4 to auto guide on a comet rather then
a star to save time before moon rise which was at:12:15 AM.
“What film and settings are you using,”
Heinrich inquired?
“I’ve decided to shoot a newly
discovered comet, named, Levi/Anderson. Here, you can see it for
yourself.”
Handing Heinrich his 10 X 15 Adlerblick
binoculars, Richard busied himself with his equipment. After completing
the drift polar alignment, he made his first observation of the
comet. It appeared to have a twenty two arc-minute coma which
was elongated to the east, with a bright tail. Taking out his
notebook, Richard jotted details of the observation. Excellent
transparency, temperature 27.6 degrees, no wind.
Heinrich marveled at the comet streaking
across the sky. “Your going to take a picture of that?”
“For the first plot of the night,”
Richard commented, in reply to Heinrich’s question, “I’ve
selected the 130 Astro-Physics F/8 refractor set at F/6 with the
telecompressor, and I’ve chosen to use Hypered Fujicolor
Super G 800 Plus color negative film. The first exposure, of the
comet, is set for 34 minutes at F/7.”
Attempting to guide on the comet with the
80mm refractor guidescope with the ST-4, Richard began experiencing
difficulties. Unable to see the comet in the guiding eye piece
of the telescope, he needed a guide star on which to center on
the CCD chip. Making the best estimate possible, he centered on
the comet, even though it was fuzzy, knowing the ST-4 could guide
on a fuzzy image, if it was bright enough. Adjusting the settings
on the ST-4 at EA-3 sec, B-4, F1-S, BA-Faint, SA-10. The reading
on the ST-4 is 14. Watching the numbers in find and focus mode,
he hoped he was guiding on the comet. Uncertain whether he had
the comet or another star, he began the first exposure anyway.
He was satisfied to see that the tracking was normal, but every
few exposures the dec reached an error of -7. Satisfied that the
ST-4 was guiding on the comet, he settled down, with thermos and
sandwiches to wait out the remaining exposure time.
“Ever since I was a small child,”
he told Heinrich a moment later, as they sat in the cab of Richard’s
truck, “I’ve wanted to explore the heavens, not as an
astronaut, but as an observer. None of this cowboy or now cowgirl
rough rider stuff for me gliding atop a thunderous pillar of light
and smoke, I decided to study the universe with my feet firmly
planted on the solid ground.”
Heinrich laughed, but understood his sentiments,
preferring to take a bus rather fly.
“After the first exposure is finished,
we’ll watch a small corner of the asteroid belt.” Laughing
to himself, at the absurdity of the idea of a corner in the universe,
he, nevertheless, liked to think of this one spot in the vast
universe as his special corner. “Its located between Jupiter
and Saturn, and is composed of hundreds of thousands of asteroids,
whirling in their own orbits around the sun.”
That must be exciting,” Heinrich said.
“Its fascinating. I know most of the
major asteroids by name, knew their shapes as well as I knew the
shape of my wife’s body on a dark night.”
Half an hour later, Richard and Heinrich
climbed out of the truck, saying good-by to its warmth.
“Astronomers don’t often observe
stars directly through their telescopes, mostly they take photos,
like this one,” Richard said, holding out the film canister,
before placing it in a protective leather pouch. “But tonight,
I just feel like some simple star gazing.”
Peering into he eye piece of the telescope,
he breathed in awe at the spectacle. Yes, there they were, coming
into focus now, sprawling across his field of vision. Set, like
jewels, upon a black background, each asteroid, had its own peculiar
shape and characteristics. In admiration, he studied several familiar
shapes, breathing their names aloud in the silence of the mountain.
They were only dead rocks, he told himself, millions of miles
from the earth, locked in a gravitational field of their own,
controlled by well understood orbital mechanics, as fixed in their
place as the earth was fixed in its place, obeying the unseen
laws of their Creator, destined to whirl about the sun, in precise
movements, for an eternity.
“Their gorgeous,” Heinrich thought
after taking his turn at the telescope. Like a rock hunter on
earth, stooping to find a precious sample of some exotic mineral
containing rock, savoring the moment of discovery, carefully brushing
away the mud or dirt, perhaps buffing it with his pocket handkerchief,
studying it under a field magnifying glass, turning it so that
the sun glinted off the minerals buried just below its surface,
he understood the thrill of the amateur enthusiast, when, upon
finding his specimen, confirms it in his field guide, he lovingly
lays it amidst his other samples to be cataloged and admired at
his leisure.
As Heinrich gazed into the eye piece of
the telescope, Richard allowed his mind to wonder to the Creator
and his sublime love that set these precious stones in the distant
universe for him to discover, savor, catalog, and enjoy. He was
in love with the universe and its Creator. Unlike the other astronomers,
in the department, he neither worshiped the universe as God nor
divorced the Creator from His creation. He understood that the
asteroids and other celestial bodies were an evidence or testimony
of the Creator and His love for His creatures.
“That’s interesting,” Heinrich
said, “there’s a smudge in the telescope.”
“Probably some condensation, let me
have a peek,” Richard replied.
A smudge was visible in the lower portion
of the viewing field. Perhaps some condensation on the telescope
or the eye piece, he thought, removing his handkerchief to clean
the lens, but, no, this was no smudge.
Scientifically and intellectually, he knew
that the asteroids actually moved, although, except through photographic
processing, he had never actually seen them move with his own
eyes. But, here was something unusual, a smudge gradually filling
the lower corner of the eye piece, an object, far out in apace,
was actually moving across his field of vision.
Out of curiosity, more then anything else,
he made some adjustments, then slowly, out of the mist of obscurity,
emerged a rock of unusual proportions. Shaped something like a
large molar, with two hillocks on the top, tapering to a conical
base at the bottom, it appeared flattened on the side facing him,
the sun reflecting off its right side. Brownish in color, speckled
white in places, with a darker red mark near its base, the object
sparkled slightly from the reflected sun. It wasn’t bright,
as some of the asteroids were, indicating a poor reflectively.
As he watched, in utter fascination, it slowly revolved, revealing
more of its left side which was undistinguishable in appearance
from its right side.
His scientific mind clicked into gear, noting
other physical characteristics that might give a clue regarding
its chemical composition, gravitational mass, orbital velocity.
Grabbing a small note pad from his side pocket, he noted time
of appearance, relationship to other known objects, and its physical
characteristics. Only then did he allow a thrill of excitement
to enter his mind. Had he discovered a new asteroid or was this
only one of the thousands of periodic asteroids, some of which
were thrown out of their orbit by collisions with other asteroids?
He would have to describe this one carefully and compare it with
the astronomical catalog of known asteroids maintained at the
Universities astronomical library.
Forgotten, now was his friend, who had retreated
to the warmth of the truck to catch some sleep, having felt slightly
disappointed that Richard had ignored him. Maybe astronomy wasn’t
for him, he thought, as he dozed off in the warmth of the cab.
Over the next several hours, Richard photographed
the asteroid, then, using several different color filters, he
photographed it again to bring out distinctive chemical characteristics.
Other observations gave a rough calculation of its position relative
to Jupiter, some of the larger asteroids, and of far more importance,
its relation to the earth. He would have to study his calculations
carefully, checking and rechecking them again before announcing
his results to the dean. No since making a fool of himself by
discovering the moon or Halley’s commit. His colleagues would
want scientifically reliable and verifiable data before they would
credit him with this discovery.
Would he actually receive credit for this
new asteroid? He was confident it was a new one for it did not
fit the location of any known asteroid and its general appearance
was different then the other types so common in the asteroid belt.
What should he call it? Rickey? No, that sounded to childish.
Richard Wagoner 1 or Wagoner’s astroid, now that sounded
better, had a certain ring to it. Yes, he would refer to it as
Wagoner 1, supposing there might be other “Wagoners to follow.
He would check the Internet to determine if it had already been
“discovered.” Perhaps some French astronomer had already
cataloged it or an obscure Egyptian inscription in some dead kings
tomb referred to it. If it was a periodic astroid, somebody certainly
had noted it before, but if it was random, never appearing before
in this corner of the universe, it might reveal more of the chemical
composition of the universe, always a hot topic among the scientific
community. While he did not believe in anything other then Creationist
explanations for the origin of the universe, it would not hurt
to exploit the common scientific mythology. It couldn’t hurt
his budding career, either, he thought, as he secured the telescope
for the night.
His back ached, and his hands were numb
from the cold as he rose from the ground and began stowing his
gear in the truck. He could discern the faintest glimmer of coming
dawn in the eastern sky. What would today, or for that matter,
tomorrow bring? Fame, fortune, perhaps. He had just enough romanticism
in his heart to believe it would bring him world renown. In a
certain since he was right, he would become world famous, but
Wagoner 1, would also bring something else, his death.
* * *
Robert Franklin was irritated. He was minding
his own business, despite the rude gestures from the man in the
blue corvette in the left lane who was trying to pass a truck
in front of him and having a hard time of it.
Robert could see his face clearly, a savage
look of anger contorting his features, as he gripped the steering
wheel, knuckles whitened from the pressure of his hands. His face
bent forward, snarling his rage at the truck that was blocking
his lane. The blue corvette swerved dangerously close to Robert’s
car, forcing him to veer sharply right onto the shoulder as the
driver attempted to side slip between Robert and the truck that
was still blocking the outside lane. Robert’s palms grew
sweaty and his blood pressure began to rise.
The man was cursing loud enough to be heard
over the sound of his engine.
If he isn’t careful, he’ll have
a heart attack and kill both of us. Apoplectic, eyes bulging from
their sockets, face reddened in anger, the blue corvette veered
first right then left, horn honking incessantly, in a vain endeavor
to get around the slow moving vehicle.
From his vantage point, in the right lane,
Robert could see the road heavily congested in both directions,
but the blue corvette didn’t have this perspective, therefore,
he kept cursing, honking, and veering right then left. Fear rising
in his throat, Robert, normally calm and collected, began cursing
under his breath.
Keeping one eye on the potential heart attack
driving by his left elbow, Robert fervently wished the man would
go away. Blocked from behind, he could not slow down, thus allowing
him to pass to the right of the truck: so he waited and watched
while his adrenaline began flowing, but the blue corvette was
driving perilously close to the tailgate of the truck, honking,
fist waving in anger. His face grew more and more contorted as
the road congestion increased and the speed slowed.
Robert slammed on the breaks, cursing at
the ineptitude of the driver, as the blue corvette, catching the
slightest opening, slipped into the space between Robert’s
fender and the right tail gate of the truck. Motorists, behind
him, cursed and honked.
With a look of triumph, the blue corvette
shot forward, weaving and twisting its way through the traffic,
horn honking, it speed along the right shoulder, by passing three
cars, then slipped left, across two lanes of traffic to take advantage
of a slight opening, then darted right again.
Robert, now thoroughly enraged, waved his
fist in red-faced anger as he helplessly watched the blue corvette
for several moments, until it disappeared around the curve, still
swearing, honking, gesturing wildly at the traffic, his car a
weapon. He forced his way around and through traffic, leaving
motorists angered or frightened. Breaks screeching, horns blaring,
everyone on the road felt his anger. Leaving them behind in his
wake, the blue corvette barreled onward. While no accidents occurred,
men and women, alike were momentarily caught up in his rage. As
it was communicated to them, they vented their fear upon others
until the highway, for miles in both directions, seethed with
barely suppressed anger.
How many people, who lived through this
experience, Robert wondered, his teeth clenched in fury, stomach
knotted in fear, went home to beat their wives or hit their children
in fear or frustration or how many women, finding themselves backed
into a dangerous corner by this maniac, cars piled high with children,
became screaming wrecks, reeking their vengeance upon little Jimmy
or Jenny, who, picking up their mother’s fear and anger,
would kick the dog or pull the cat’s tail as they vicariously
acted out her emotions?
Ten minutes and five miles later, Robert
and many other motorists on the highway, observed, with fiendish
delight, a flashing red light chasing the blue corvette up an
off ramp. He never did learn the outcome of the chase, but supposed
the officer, as angered as the other motorists, would vent his
own rage by giving the apoplectic man a good tongue lashing along
with a ticket.
Road rage, Robert grimaced, his heart slowly
regaining its equilibrium, people were using their cars as weapons,
transforming, what was admittedly a frustrating drive, into potential
death, and for what. They never made it to their destination any
faster by acting like a childish brat then by driving safely,
and many of them never made it home at all.
