SENTINEL WATCH April 23, 2007 Issue

TAKE ANOTHER LOOK

WALTER RODGERS

SO MANY STARS filled the vault of heaven above the Afghan desert that they seemed to crowd each other for space. A Marine Corps officer with whom I was chatting suggested I take another look, this time through his night-vision goggles (NVGs).

When I'd strapped his NVGs to my head, the entire night sky exploded into a sea of green light. The dome of the moonless firmament revealed stars beyond reckoning, a hundred times more than were previously visible to the naked eye. The heavens were awash in an infinitude of stars, constellations, and galaxies beyond human imagining. Where moments earlier I'd been able to isolate single stars or star clusters, now, with the help of the NVGs, the panoply of heavenly bodies completely dazzled me. Those points of light increased exponentially. Words like billions and trillions lost all meaning. Night became day.

Ever since, I've viewed that awe-inspiring experience as a metaphor for God's infinite abundance. His goodness and inspiration are far beyond human imagining or reckoning. The night sky I beheld above the desert was lovely. But there was so much more out there than the limited physical senses could ever locate. The word infinite came alive for me as never before, as those goggles adjusted my focus—changed my impressions of the night sky.