Can a Nebula Remind Us Why Christ Came?
Reflections on the California Nebula and the gift of redemption
This week I spent a few quiet nights under our night sky (see what I did there?), letting the cold settle around me while I worked on capturing the California Nebula. When the final image came together, that deep, vivid red stopped me for a moment. It felt so clear and so vivid. It felt like a reminder worth exploring.
As Christmas approaches, I find myself needing that reminder more than ever. Life has a way of speeding up in December. Expectations pile up. Calendars fill. Even the good things can crowd out the stillness my soul is actually craving. So I have been trying to slow down, simplify, and pay attention to the reason we celebrate at all.
Looking at the California Nebula, I kept coming back to its color. That red glow is the light of hydrogen energized by nearby stars, but it also stirred something deeper in me. It made me think of the blood of Jesus, the reason I am forgiven, the reason hope is not just an idea but a reality. Christmas is the beginning of that story. The birth that leads to the cross. The cross that leads to redemption. The redemption that leads to life.
Scripture says, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18). I have always loved that verse, but standing under the night sky this week, it felt different. The scarlet of the nebula is beautiful, not shameful. It is a reminder that God takes what is broken and makes it whole. That He steps into our world, into our mess, into our humanity, and brings light that cannot be overcome.
Christmas is not about rushing. It is not about perfection. It is not about checking every box on a list. It is about remembering that God came near. Emmanuel. God with us. And because He came, we are forgiven, restored, and invited into a peace that does not depend on circumstances.
So as I share this image of the California Nebula, I am sharing more than a photograph. I am sharing a moment of clarity. A moment where the sky reminded me to breathe, to slow down, to look again at the story that changed everything.
My prayer is that this season draws us back to that simple truth. Christ came for us. Christ died for us. Christ lives for us. And even the stars seem to echo the beauty of that gift.
Until next time, keep looking up.
-g
