The Courage to Stare Into Nothing

In December 1995, astronomer Robert Williams made a decision that could have ended his career. As director of the Space Telescope Science Institute, he had discretionary time on the Hubble Space Telescope — and he chose to point it at a tiny patch of sky near the Big Dipper that appeared completely empty. Colleagues were baffled. Some were furious. Telescope time was precious, and Williams was aiming humanity's greatest eye at what looked like nothing at all.

For ten consecutive days, Hubble stared into that dark sliver of sky, no bigger than a grain of sand held at arm's length. When the exposures were assembled into a single image, the result stunned the scientific world. That "empty" patch contained over three thousand galaxies, some dating back to when the universe was barely formed. One small act of courage revealed what no one imagined was there.

Faith often asks the same of us — to stare into what looks like nothing and trust that God is present in the emptiness. The diagnosis with no clear prognosis. The marriage with no easy answers. The calling with no visible path. Courage is not the absence of uncertainty; it is the willingness to keep looking when everyone else says there is nothing to see.

El Roi, the God Who Sees, has filled every dark expanse with more than we can fathom. Sometimes the bravest thing we can do is hold still and trust that the emptiness is full.