Meditation 1: Gravity and Light
Earlier this year, I had an opportunity to rediscover a piece of cinema that had
long been among my favorites to view. The movie Interstellar was released in the
summer of 2014. It is a film by Christopher Nolan and it tells the story of a group of
scientists who are on a mission to find a new habitable planet to escape the blight that
had consumed all of Earth‘s Crop yields.
One of the hallmarks of this movie is that it has a hard science fiction premise.
That is to say, when developing the plot, exploring the technology, and visualization
of space, all was done through known scientific theories. One of the major scientific
principles that were explored was the nature of gravity and time. There are several
scenes where challenges arise as a result of gravity/time and the urgency of their
mission and work become even more heightened. Yet, at the end of the day, the
dominant theme for the entirety of the movie is this: of all of the forces in the universe,
including gravity and time, there is no more powerful and transcendent force than love.
Love was the fundamental motivation for the main protagonists of this film. It was love
for humanity and most importantly, love for their family that drove them to push the limits
of exploration, science, and the human endeavor.
A decade ago when this movie was released, I really appreciated the
commentary on the transcendent nature of love. Yet, as I experienced again the film
and all of its questions, I could not help but think that as a Christian, there were other
things to explore, especially when it comes to the nature of some of the physics that are
discussed throughout the course of the movie. For our devotions the next 3 days, we
are going to be exploring a different aspect of the physics of Interstellar in light of
scripture and life on this side of Glory.
The first idea that we will examine for our initial meditation this month is the idea of gravity and light. As we think on the cosmos and as we observe the world that has been
ordered around us, one of the foundational starting places is gravity. To spark our minds
in this first meditation, I am going to posit an idea that will help frame the rest of our
discussion going forward. The idea is this: gravity itself is an echo of Yahweh in
creation.
When we think about that idea, there is a textual clue in the Hebrew that may
lend credence to that thought. Specifically, when we encounter the word Kavod, We
typically translate that as glory. When we hear about the glory of the Lord, we are
talking the Kavod of Yahweh. However, in addition to being translated as Glory, that
word also has this sense of weightiness, oftentimes weightiness that is indescribably
heavy. In fact, those who encounter this weight of Glory often experience a truly visceral
sense of terror at being in the presence of Yahweh.
However, for God's faithful, this weight of Glory, the gravity of the presence of
Yahweh is something that is not always to be feared, but is also something that is a
reflection of the very real life and light that comes with being in the presence of God.
Truly in scripture, the presence of God is enough to generate light in life itself, as in
what we see in our reading from Revelation. Regarding the holy city, we see the New
Jerusalem being filled with light, not from the Sun, but rather from the Lamb and the
throne of God itself. Interestingly enough, when we go to the opening bookend of
scripture, we potentially see a similar situation. If we look in the days of creation, it is
clearly seen that light is made before Sun, Moon, and stars. A literal reading of Genesis
will then run into difficulties with what has previously been known about the universe
and how light permeates the darkness and void of the cosmos. Yet, a recent scientific
discovery demonstrated that light itself can emanate from a sufficiently strong
gravitational field. Where there is enough density of gravity, let there be light!
If indeed gravity is a primary echo of Yahweh himself, then certainly the glory and gravity of God is enough to manifest light wherever the fullness of His presence may be, regardless of the status of Sun, Moon and stars. Could it be that science itself is catching up with what has been plainly made known in scripture? It certainly looks like it, in light of the Kavod of Yahweh. As the psalmist writes: “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” Indeed, the universe testifies to the gravity of God and the weight of Glory. Gravity and light, Alpha and Omega. In the beginning and in the end, the glory of God will shine forth his light in all corners of the cosmos.