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By Van Yandell Retired American industrial arts teacher, evangelist and minister

Romans 11:33 Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

One of my great disappointments in life happened in Paris. It was mid-morning on a warm June day. We walked up to the entrance of the glass pyramid in the courtyard of the Louvre Museum. The entrance was shut and locked in our face. The museum was closed indefinitely; Paris city workers had walked out on strike. My disappointment was shared by others as we had seen several enter in front of us.

Paris is such a wonderful and beautiful city. The architecture, the people, the history, are intriguing beyond the typical European city. Of all the points of interest to me, my number one goal was to feast my eyes on the Mona Lisa in the Louvre. On my bucket list is to spend a month in Paris and explore.

I, of course, am not a student of fine art but it doesnt take an art expert or critic to see far beyond the paint and canvass. To view the Mona Lisa would have been to look deep into the mind of Leonardo Da Vinci. To consider his history, his family, the town where he lived and his many accomplishments would certainly have been intriguing. That he lived 400 years ago yet he communicates to todays culture is captivating of my curiosity.

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian cascade of knowledge with many abilities. He was of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draftsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. To see the Mona Lisa would be to see him and I missed that opportunity by seconds.

I did have the privilege of seeing many great works of art in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, (Leningrad) Russia. It was founded in 1764 when Empress Catherine the Great acquired an impressive, but somewhat insignificant at the time, collection of paintings from a Berlin merchant. History tends to ignore her methodology and I find that interesting in itself.

I found myself getting lost in the depths of the Rembrandts, Paul Gauguins, and Van Goghs. The Return of the Prodigal Son was painted by Rembrandt from 1666 to 1669. Apostles Peter and Paul is an El Greco painting which was made in 1587-1592 in Spain.

El Greco once said, Artists create out of a sense of desolation. The spirit of creation is an excruciating, intricate exploration from within the soul. His paintings are an expression of the personalities of the subjects and convey a greater message than can ever be had by reading the most complex text if one can see beyond the canvas.

These, for me were paintings to be experienced, not just seen. Ones vision connects the heart and mind of the observer with the artist. What were their thoughts, their motives, their feelings? There is so much more to the great art of the world than meets the eye.

To view a Van Gogh is to share his insanity. To view his work gives a visual to his fits of anger with Paul Gauguin. He began to hallucinate and lose consciousness and during one of his periods of outrage he cut off his left ear. Im wondering his thoughts when he regained his mind.

Da Vinci art, as opposed to Van Goghs shows us his proclivity to order, precision and perfection. I cannot begin to even imagine him lying on his back on scaffolds for four years painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. My first time in the chapel, I could not take my eyes off his work.

Whereas the art connects us to the artist, the Holy Bible connects us to God in much deeper and complex detail. To superficially read the Bible and not connect with the mind of God and His lessons and purposes for the reader is to not read the Bible at all or for sure miss a part of lifes greatest blessing.

The Bible verifies displays of emotion by God. Anger, compassion, grief, love, hate, jealousy and joy are seen in God in several passages of scripture. In observing the works of the great artists there develops an emotional bond. Indepth study of Gods word connects to Him in ways previously not imagined; that connection results in an emotional bonding.

Whether we are willing to admit it or not, we connect with each other emotionally. Those feelings may be of one extreme or another, but, it seems obvious when we consider why and how we regard those we know as friends, co-workers, neighbors, etc., there exists an emotional factor.

In previous articles I have encouraged readers to contemplate and meditate on individual verses. Seek out the inner or hidden meanings. The deeper meanings are convincing of the depth of the mind of God and His omniscience.

To read and study the Holy Bible is to experience the mind of God, not to simply read the words as in an ordinary book. Consume it and digest it; take time to absorb the Bibles extended meanings. We also fail to grasp the fullness of many of our earthly experiences such as art, architecture or nature. We do not invest the time to delve deeper.

To progress deeper into Bible study is to go deeper into the mind of God. This in itself is convincing to many with an analytical mind or sense of discernment of the reality of Gods existence.

Even in its supernatural depth, for salvation, we are not required to absorb those depths. Our relationship with our Savior Jesus is simple enough for anyone to understand and believe. His sacrificial death on the cross is an emotional experience, not an intellectual one. To progress into deeper meanings is a missed and greater blessing by many believing they are students of the Bible.

In a sermon on the crucifixion, I have explained the tormenting methods employed by the Roman soldiers. I have observed tears in the eyes of listeners. To even superficially contemplate His suffering for the sins of mankind can bring even the strongest willed man to his knees.

Im beginning to see a conflicting tone to this article in the minds of some readers. If I may make an additional statement: It is not necessary to fully understand the mind of God for salvation (that, of course, is not possible). We are saved by our faith based belief in Christ Jesus crucified for the remission of sin and resurrected. There are not degrees of salvation based on the perceiving of deeper meanings!

We are not saved by our intellectual connection with God but our faith based emotional connection. He wants our hearts, love and dedication, not our belief based on our human reasoning. Our intellectual exploration into the depths of the scriptures is to enhance our relationship with Him through understanding.

Many visitors to the great museums stand and look at the works of art and do not experience the artist. Similarly, many Christians do not experience the depth of the scriptures and that emotional, personal connection with God. Do not let it be you!

Writers note: Let me again state, I do not claim to be an art expert or even a serious student of art. I simply know what appeals to my thoughts. We humans so often fail to take time to ponder and consider our experiences. One of my greatest areas of concern is not for what I have experienced, but for what I have missed.

Link:
There is more than meets the eye St. John News - St. John News Online

From the time we become toddlers, we feel the need to do things for ourselves.

Who hasnt seen a toddler fuss when mom or dad tries to help him get a toy or wants to hold his hand? Later, there are the battles over who gets to pick out the days outfit.

This only gets more intense as the years go by. The teen years are filled with the push and pull of trying to gain more independence from ones parents.

As a society, we put a premium on being able to take care of ourselves. This is particularly true here in the U.S., where independence seems to be part of our DNA.

Those who need help are seen as weak, somehow less. Or not trying hard enough.

Maybe we dont think that of other people, but how many of us think that of ourselves when we find ourselves needing help?

We dont want to be a bother. We ought to be able to do things for ourselves. Wont everyone think less of me if I ask for assistance? Whats wrong with me?

If those thoughts have crossed your mind, believe me they cross my mind on a regular basis.

For years, Tony and I were an excellent team. Put a challenge in our path and wed figure it out.

Around the house, neither of us were particularly skilled, but wed solve the problem. If furniture needed moving, wed pick a side and lift away.

These days, that just isnt possible. I was reminded of this when I foolishly thought I could roll out a new rug for our living room.

The new one is bigger than the previous one. I cleared out most of the room and started putting down the new rug pad. The problem was, I needed to get the last couple of inches under the sofa, which I hadnt cleared out because its too heavy.

I did my best to explain to my dear Tony, whose Alzheimers disease has been progressively worsening, what I needed him to do. Then I repeated myself about six more times.

Try as I might, I could not make him understand the task. And I could not lift the sofa leg and shove the rug pad underneath at the same time by myself. Obviously, the rug itself would pose the same problem.

My team now is down to just me. And Im too small and too weak to do it alone. Tears of frustration didnt help the situation.

Happily, a friend and her husband were stopping by to pick up our old grill. They were eager to help, and it took less than five minutes to get the task accomplished and all the furniture back in place.

Sometimes we just have to admit that we need help.

In my case, thats happening more and more. Thats when I remind myself of all the times that I helped other people. I never thought less of them. I was just happy to be useful.

Still, the reluctance is real, and its something I imagine I will be working through each and every time.

Sometimes we need help with more than just a heavy object. Sometimes we are struggling emotionally and having to fight just to keep getting up in the morning.

Asking for help can seem like an insurmountable obstacle. Yet help is just a phone call away.

On Saturday, an easy-to-remember dialing code was launched to connect callers and texters to the National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: 988.

Just like 911 for physical emergencies, 988 will connect those in crisis with counselors and a local mobile crisis team. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, who supports the national hotline, says the service is there for anyone experiencing mental health distress: thoughts of suicide, mental health or substance abuse crisis, or any other kind of emotional distress. People also can call 988 if they are worried about a loved one who needs support.

Sometimes its hard to ask for help. It takes courage.

However, theres no shame in needing and getting help. People want to help.

And it just might save your life.

Joan Oliver is the former Northwest Herald assistant news editor. She has been associated with the Northwest Herald since 1990. She can be reached at jolivercolumn@gmail.com.

Read the original here:
Oliver: Sometimes we need to take a deep breath and allow ourselves to be helped - Northwest Herald

With the release of theJames Webb Space Telescope's first images on July 12 (and asneaky reveal by US President Joe Biden on July 11), NASA, ESA and the Canadian Space Agency proved that the $10 billion, 1-million-miles-from-Earth, two-decades-in-the-making dream 'scope actually works. And it works flawlessly. Just take a look at theupgraded visuals Webb delivered over its predecessor, Hubble. They're visceral masterpieces that force us to think of the universe's magnificence and reflect on our solar system's negligible corner within.

But what we saw in early July was only the preface of JWST's book. It'll be the chapters that follow which will write out its legacy.

Even though the telescope's first full-color results were excellent, they're merely a taste of the instrument's capabilities. In truth, we may not even have words to describe what's to come, in the way the Hubble Space Telescope's first light image couldn't foreshadow the astounding deep fields that would one day plaster astronomy department walls or the nebulas that would inspire poetry.

Five galaxies locked in a dance make up Stephan's Quintet. Images by the JWST released on July 12, 2022.

But we might be able to infer some scenes of JWST's future because, despite this telescope's public recency, scientists have been lining up for years to use it.

Already, researchers are set to point it at phenomena that'll blow your mind: massive black holes, shattering galaxy mergers, luminescent binary stars emanating smoke signals, and even marvels closer to home like Ganymede, an icy moon of Jupiter.

More specifically, a lucky first few scientists hold proposals divided into six categories, each meticulously selected by the James Webb Space Telescope Advisory Committee and the Space Telescope Science Institute in November 2017 -- not to mention the more than 200 international projects separately awarded time on the telescope and those ready to join the waitlist.

But the initial cadre of JWST space explorers is meant to be a win-win for both scientist and 'scope. These studies will create datasets, baselines, handy life hacks and just generally prime the powerful machine's instruments for everything that comes next. For the big moments that'll go down in history.

An artist's conception of the James Webb Space Telescope.

"To realize the James Webb Space Telescope's full science potential, it is imperative that the science community quickly learns to use its instruments and capabilities," says a page aboutthe Director's Discretionary-Early Release Science Programs, which was put together to pick out which investigators will test out JWST for its first 5 months of science operations (following the 6-month telescope commissioning period).

Perusing the list has heightened my anticipation -- and I bet it'll elevate yours, too.

Here's a snippet.

Some 3.5 billion light-years from Earth lies an enormous cluster of galaxies called Abell 2744, also known as Pandora's Cluster.

One might say this is the perfect starting candidate for JWST, as it's part of the ancient, faraway universe. NASA's next-gen telescope contains a wealth of infrared imaging equipment that can access light emanating from the distant cosmos-- light neither human eyes nor standard optical telescopes can see. It's a science exploration match made in heaven.

Thus, a crew of investigators plans to observe what's going on in this brilliant galaxy cluster, hidden to human vision but vital to astrophysical advancement.

Abell 2744, imaged by combining X-rays from Chandra (diffuse blue emission) with optical light data from Hubble (red, green and blue).

They plan on using two of JWST's instruments, called the Near-Infrared Spectrograph and the Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph, both of which can simply decode chemical composition of faraway worlds stuck in the infrared zone we can't trespass.

But JWST isn't merely farsighted. It can turn on its reading glasses to scan nearby things, too.

That's why another team is more interested in figuring out how to navigate phenomena in our very own cosmic neighborhood. Their blueprints say they'll characterize Jupiter's cloud layers, winds, composition, temperature structure and even auroral activity -- aka, the Jovian version of our northern lights.

This research bit is poised to use nearly all of JWST's groundbreaking infrared equipment: Nirspec, Niriss, as well as the Near-Infrared Camera -- JWST's alpha imager -- and the Mid-Infrared Camera (MIRI), which, as you might guess, specializes in mid-infrared light detection. "Our program will thus demonstrate the capabilities of JWST's instruments on one of the largest and brightest sources in the solar system and on very faint targets next to it," they write in their abstract.

Some of the work on Jupiter has already been performed according to the status report for the project and observation windows continue into August. In addition, Jupiter's moon Ganymede, which is the largest in the solar system, and the extremely active Io, are also set to be examined with MIRI. The latter is particularly interesting, as the researchers hope to resolve Io's volcanoes and compare Webb's views to classical views.

Jupiter, center, and its moon Europa, left, are seen through the James Webb Space Telescope's NIRCam instrument 2.12 micron filter.

Next up are the scientists focused on dust. But not just any dust. Stardust.

We know dust is the main ingredient in the formation of stars and planets that decorate our universe, but we're still foggy on the timeline they followed to bring us where we are today -- especially because a lot of that crucial-to-our-existence dust is scattered in the early universe. And the early universe is illuminated purely by infrared light.

Aha. Precisely what JWST can -- and will -- delve into.

Breaking down the story of stardust means constructing an understanding of the building blocks of our cosmic universe -- similar to how studying atoms opens up knowledge about chunks of matter. And as Carl Sagan once said, "The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself."

Perhaps JWST can aid the universe in its quest to introspect.

Over the past many months in general, as a science writer I've witnessed the repetition of one striking sentiment. "Just wait until the James Webb Space Telescope sees this."

Not in those words, exactly, but definitely with that tone.

In April, for instance, the Hubble Space Telescope hit a record-breaking milestone when it delivered to us an image of the farthest star we've ever seen from the distant universe. A stellar beauty named Earendel, which aptly translates to "morning star" in Old English.

"Studying Earendel will be a window into an era of the universe that we are unfamiliar with, but that led to everything we do know," Brian Welch, one of the discovery astronomers from Johns Hopkins University, said in a statement.

Earendel (indicated with arrow) is positioned along a ripple in spacetime that gives it extreme magnification, allowing it to emerge into view from its host galaxy, which appears as a red smear across the sky.

But remember how JWST is armed to study the ancient, invisible universe? Exactly. The study authors are prepared to look at Earendel with JWST's lens, hopefully confirm whether it really is just one stellar body and quantify what kind of dawning star it is.

JWST could also solve a mysterious puzzle posed by Neptune, our solar system's gassy blue ornament: It's getting colder for no apparent reason. But "the exquisite sensitivity of the space telescope's mid-infrared instrument, MIRI, will provide unprecedented new maps of the chemistry and temperatures in Neptune's atmosphere," Leigh Fletcher, co-author of a study on the mystery, and planetary scientist at the University of Leicester, said in a statement.

There's also the intrigue of decoding our cosmic realm's violent majesties: supermassive black holes -- and even an odd, multibillion-year-old, burgeoning black hole ancestor.

"Webb will have the power to decisively determine how common these rapidly growing black holes truly are," Seiji Fujimoto, one of the discovery astronomers from the Niels Bohr Institute of the University of Copenhagen, said in a statement.

And finally, I'd say the most mind-boggling aspect of JWST -- to me, at least -- is that it's currently the best shot we have at finding proof of extraterrestrial life. Aliens.

Some scientists are even prematurely guarding against false positives of organic matter that JWST's software might pick up, so as not to alarm the general public (me) when that day comes. But if that day comes, our jaws will undoubtedly drop to the ground and our heart rate will pick up, unambiguously deeming July 12 a mild memory.

And even if that day doesn't arrive, it won't be long until NASA's new space exploration muse sends back an image as field-altering as the Hubble's first deep field in 1995-- one we can't yet fathom.

More:
The James Webb Space Telescope's Next Targets Are Potentially Mind-Blowing - CNET