Spitzer

Early this month NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory announced the discovery of the biggest ever ring around Saturn. The ring starts about 3.7 million miles from Saturn and extends outward another 7.4 million miles. It is way bigger and further out from the planet than any of the rings we are familiar with.

Even though this ring is so gigantic, no one had seen it before. This is because the ring doesn’t reflect much visible light. It took the Spitzer Space Telescope, which detects infrared light, to see it.

Dense clouds of gas and dust block our view of vast areas of space. Infrared light can penetrate these clouds. However, little of this infrared radiation can penetrate Earth's atmosphere, so from Earth we still can’t see what’s behind those clouds. The Spitzer, presently orbiting the sun about 66 million miles from us, is beyond our atmospheric shield—out where it can photograph those things.

All this reminds me that

• There are things invisible to the human eye.
• Sometimes the invisible can be made visible.
• There are things that prevent seeing.

People can’t normally see the spirit world. God has given us a protective shield because, I think, we would be emotionally overwhelmed if we could see it. Occasionally He has opened people’s eyes, though. For example, the prophet Elisha’s servant Gehazi saw the protective horses and chariots of fire surrounding him (2 Kings 6:8-17).

But there are spiritual realities we could—and should—be seeing. The Apostle Paul wrote: “We do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal,” 2 Corinthians 4:18.

What prevents seeing? For unbelievers, Satan has blinded them: “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God,” 2 Corinthians 4:4.

Sometimes believers are blind to spiritual truth because of they choose to sin. The Apostle John wrote that anyone who hates his brother is in darkness, and the darkness has blinded his eyes, 1 John 2:11.

Physical blindness makes this life difficult, but spiritual blindness affects this life and the next.

Image: Artist’s concept
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Keck