A thinking space 

3rd December 2018
Tony Mallion
Cliff Park Community Church
picture courtesy of Stephen Gostick
 
It’s amazing what you might find in a cathedral these days - anything from a space ship to a dinosaur – as well as services of course.  Norwich Cathedral was packed recently to bid farewell to Bishop Graham James as it was earlier for Remembrance Day and will be  throughout Advent. But the Cathedral is also used for events and exhibitions which reach out to the community, like the tour of the massive Dippy the Diplodocus dinosaur skeleton from the Natural History Museum, although you’ll have to wait until the summer of 2020 for its arrival
 
From August to November Peterborough Cathedral displayed the Soyuz Capsule which took astronaut Tim Peake on his six month voyage into space along with his spacesuit and the parachute which brought the spacecraft safely back to earth
 
In a talk Tim Peake revealed his space journey made him wonder whether an intelligent designer is behind the creation of the universe. “Although I say I’m not religious it doesn’t necessarily mean that I don’t seriously consider that the universe could have been created from intelligent design”
 
It reminded me of the time in 1990 I interviewed on Radio Norfolk Apollo 16 astronaut Charles Duke who walked on the moon in 1972. He was in Norwich to speak at a dinner about his Christian faith  yet, much to my surprise, it wasn’t the lunar experience which contributed to  Charles Duke’s faith journey; his conversion came somewhat later when his feet were firmly on the ground but he faced personal problems which led him to put his trust in Jesus. Meanwhile Tim Peake admits there are many things in science which can lead to a conclusion there could be a creator, not least ‘the scale of the universe’ and the ‘magnificence’ of the earth
 
Centuries ago the writer of Psalm 19, the former shepherd boy, King David, had no doubts about it. He simply declared “The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known”