The Milky Way

Since “way” is my word of the year I look for all the “ways” this word pops up in my life. I watch for quotes, lyrics, and phrases. One phrase I read the other day jumped out to me: The Milky Way and this use of my word invited me to explore. 

Learning more about this Way, I savored awe and wonder, and the amazing creation God has gifted us. I paused. I listened. I worshipped. And just think: the Creator who designed this magnificent marvel, knows you, loves you, guides you and will always be with you.

May these tidbits bring you also into the incomprehensible and beautiful miracle of the universe and life itself:

• The Milky Way is our home. We, the Sun, Earth and the rest of our solar system, live on the inner edge of a minor galaxy about 27,000 light-years away from the Milky Way’s center. We are THAT small.
• When a person sees the Milky Way at night, they are seeing only about 0.0000025% of the galaxy’s hundreds of billions of stars.
• The Milky Way is so massive that even traveling at the speed of light, it would still take around 100,000 years to cross it.
• The galaxy stretches roughly 100,000 to 120,000 light-years across. For perspective, one light-year equals nearly 6 trillion miles.
• Earth orbits the sun at about 67,000 miles per hour. But the entire solar system orbits the Milky Way’s center at roughly 514,000 miles per hour.
• We all know one year is a one trip around the sun. But a “galactic year” is how long it takes for our solar system to revolve around the Milky Way’s center.  One orbit takes 226 million years.  Only .0008 orbits have been completed since humans have evolved.

Reading all this makes us feel small and maybe a bit insignificant, doesn’t it?  And what does this teach me about my word of the year?

Pondering “way” as I ponder the Milky Way drenches me with wonder and astonishment. Its vastness and beauty surrounding and holding us humbles, amazes, and awakens me to the presence of God and the preciousness of life.   

Mary Oliver wrote,
 “Instructions for living a life.
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.”

Yes, Mary, that is the way I want to live too.