麻豆约拍

From comedian & writer Paul Kerensa:

Easter holidays, for us, meant a few days at home with the littluns doing dot-to-dots, then a few days of 鈥榮taycation鈥�, following those Great British icons: the brown roadsigns. And one rainy day, that meant鈥� a Science Centre.

Via a hundred hands-on experiments, our children discovered cogs, balance, force, energy, thermodynamics, the joy of a packed lunch and Newton鈥檚 Third Law of Motion. But my highlight? The Planetarium鈥� What a ceiling! I鈥檇 thoroughly recommend getting down to any Planetaria鈥� if that鈥檚 the Latin plural.

Oh yes, astronomers love their Latin. Our ceiling sparkled with Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Polaris, Leo, the Emergency Exit sign鈥� and I learned as much as the children. We were shown the constellation Ursa Major, looking like a big question mark, its top line pointing to Polaris, the North Star鈥�

At that point, I realised we鈥檇 left dot-to-dots at home to do more dot-to-dots 鈥� just now, in the night sky. We鈥檝e been doing them for centuries! These star patterns were named after such ancient myths, the constellations even get a mention in the Old Testament. The Book of Job calls God 鈥渢he Maker of the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.鈥�

We鈥檙e still puzzling it out. My belief is that God鈥檚 behind the major stuff, like, you know, 鈥榯he universe鈥�, but also the seemingly minor: behind the small everyday gestures, that are mirrored in the laws of physics we learned about鈥� Human energy creating heat. Force begetting force. Balance, in loving and being loved back 鈥� each action sparking a reaction.

Whether we call it karma, or physics, or something else entirely 鈥� surely we are all cogs, like those in the Science Centre, and as we connect, our connections make a difference.

And I guess some look to the stars and see, like the North Star, a full stop 鈥� end of statement, no further questions, everything answered. Others look up and see that question mark, that I saw in Ursa Major this week, that鈥檚 been there for thousands of years. Either way, it can make you feel small 鈥� but I also learned the smallest of cogs can turn the biggest of wheels.

Whatever we see in the stars, we鈥檙e still just connecting the dots 鈥� but it鈥檚 good to know those dots even include us.