In a small patch of sky, seen from the South Pole, researchers say they have glimpsed the beginning of time. They have found the faint microwave glow of the Big Bang, when the universe was one trillionth of one trillionth of one trillionth seconds old. Or maybe, just maybe, they found something scientists cannot explain.

Written this morning, this meditation is a first attempt to combine original writing with both secular and religious texts. At the beginning, I’ve taken lines from the caption of a photo from the Associated Press as it appears in The Times of Israel. It closes, with lines from Gensis 1:1-5 as translated in the 1962 JPS volume The Torah: The Five Books of Moses.

Evidence of Holiness
Suppose G-d
Plays hide and seek
Among the stars

Cosmic microwave radiation
Is a form of light…

Leaving evidence of holiness
So that we might yearn
To glimpse the moment when

Changes in a particular
Polarization may be caused
By gravitational waves…

The divine desire to create
Burst forth

These waves
Are signals of
An extremely rapid
Inflation of the universe…

Into an explosion of awe
And wonder.

Consider this, dear sister.
Answer this, dear brother.
What is it that you see
With your heart
When a faint glow
From the beginning of time
Reaches the earth?
What is it to know that
A rhythmic pattern
Of radiance is the
Foundation of everything?

Could it be,
Could it be,

With darkness
Over the surface
Of the deep…

That the Painter,
The Composer,
The Sculptor,
The Author of all Being,

A wind from G-d
Sweeping over the water…

Signed this masterwork
Of creation –

G-d said:
“Let there be light…”

Leaving a trace of glory
For us to find –
Using ripples in the
Fabric of the cosmos?

And there was
Evening and there was
Morning.
A first day.

© 2014 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.

Postscript: I welcome reactions to the combination of news text, with scripture and poetry. Note here that I use the technique of posing questions to the reader within the prayer, a tool I use in a variety of meditations and prayers, including “For Healing the Spirit,” “Regarding Old Wounds” and “For Sharing Divine Gifts.” All three appear in my forthcoming book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing.

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Photo Source: WikiMedia Commons