Imaginary

“Have you been to the Space and Science center lately, Helen?”

“No, why?”

“They have the most incredible movie going. I mean the most incredible imaginable. I don’t know how they could have ever done it.”

“Tell me about it. “
“Well, let me see. I only wish I could do justice to it. It is based on Psalms 19. No, don’t let your eyes glaze over. It is truly, truly amazing. First the screen is all dark, really dark then it gradually “awakens” to a midnight blue. After that happens, a vast banner is unfurled across the whole midnight sky and it is covered with stars that are twinkling and dancing and changing positions until they gradually form a glowing message. One by one the words The Heavens Declare the Glory of God fluttered before our awestruck eyes.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you; the banner doesn’t just happen to be there. It is gradually unrolled by a huge Man of tremendous majesty. He is arrayed in the finest raiment like an exceedingly wealthy Bridegroom from the time of the Magi, and His face was radiant like the Sun. While we stared at the screen, this Bridegroom is transformed into a powerful athlete whose feet barely touch the ground as he skims over the continents and oceans while the banner undulates across the mountains and plains. And remember the words The Heavens Declare the Glory of God are constantly fluttering on the banner as it unfurls behind Him.”

Helen stopped what she was doing to stare at Rose. “And then what?” she breathed.

“Then the animals; we saw the animals emerge in family groups or clusters like dream pictures surrounded by the darkness. We saw each colony of them in their natural habitat but it was as if we could hear the language of their pulsating heartbeats;

“Praise Him, Praise the Lord all ye nations, praise Him all ye people. Praise Him, Praise Him; Praise Him.” The vibrations were as regular as drumbeats and the message seemed to pound into my soul. For example, we saw the chipmunks float to the forefront then fade back only to be replaced by deer, horses, cattle and countless other animals. Faster and faster the pictures whirled with first one animal colony surging to the front then another, starting with the tiniest and last of all astonishingly vivid snapshots of elephants and other mammoth beasts from both the present and the past. The Heartbeat message was thunderous by then but I was too frozen to the spot to cover my ears.

Helen took a deep, shuddering breath, but Rose hardly noticed; she was too caught up in the telling.

“I thought the animals were incredible but the birds were even more so if that were possible. The Bridegroom appeared with the Banner and with a flick of his wrist the stars scattered throughout the heavens and quickly formed their orderly constellations, and then living breathing birds, thousands of them, millions of them, billions of them swarmed across the rippling banner. I can’t begin to describe how glorious, yes, and orderly all those birds appeared. They were an absolutely superb rainbow of fluttering colors. But as the cadence of their harmonious singing gradually increased until it filled the whole universe, it felt like my heart was expanding and stretching and yet it still could not contain such beauty of color and sound.

Her voice dropped to a whisper. “And the message was also one of heart-bursting praise to their Maker. Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord.”

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1. The Heavens declare the glory of God: and the firmament showeth his handiwork.

2. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.

3. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.

5. Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.

6. His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the end of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof. Psalms 19 (first part)