At Mass this morning, I noticed that the shadows of some palm branches cast on a wall by a ceiling spotlight were absolutely still and I realized that none of us on earth could sense that we are moving through space. How fast are we actually moving? We know that the earth rotates about its own axis once every 24 hours or so and is approximately 8,000 miles in diameter. About the axis, those who live on the equator whirl through space at roughly 1,000 miles an hour. Then the earth itself revolves around the sun once a year. Knowing how far we are from the sun, we can calculate that the earth is whirling through space at, get this, 67,000 miles per hour. Plus the fact that our solar system itself is whirling around the center of its galaxy at 490,000 miles per hour! I'll stop right here, ignoring any motion of the galaxy. This is like the fact that we do not physically sense the presence of God, yet he is all around us, watches over us, and knows what's in our hearts.
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