This post is in response to a great idea from Steve Nelson over at EverythingEsteban.com. It’s a twice-per-month Catholic photo challenge where we post a photo of ours that fits into a particular theme.  For the first photo, Steve invites us to post about finding God in creation:

Have you ever looked at pictures of the stars, planets and galaxies and been amazed?  As individuals, we can seem pretty minuscule and insignificant in the grand scheme of things.  It can be very difficult to see what our roles are in the “big picture” of the universe.   Do you sometimes feel an urge to find proof of the existence of God?

One way to see and feel the existence of God is in the natural world around us.

My thoughts immediately go to some of the long exposure, night photos that I’ve taken since moving out to Watson, Saskatchewan.  One of the great things about living in a small town is that light pollution is virtually nonexistent, resulting in some truly stunning views of the night sky.

In this photo I pointed the camera eastward and captured a 30 second exposure. The Lira constellation can be clearly seen near the bottom of the photo (the brightest star in the image — Vega — is at the top of the constellation).

What I find most impressive, however, is the sheer variety of colours in the image. It’s not possible to see all these colours with the naked eye, but the long exposure reveals a tremendous variety of blues, reds, greens, and yellows. Creation is stunning in its beauty, but much like how my camera had to be completely still and have its shutter open for a while, so also we can better see the beauty created by God if we take time in stillness.

Here’s the photo (click on it for the full version):

Long-term exposure of the night sky.

Long-term exposure of the night sky.

Be sure to check out the other photos at Steve’s page: EverythingEsteban.com!