If You Could Hie To Kolob

Ok, so I am a fan of the History channel, (when I am not watching reality T.V. ;0) so tonight I snuggled in to watch a show called "The Universe" that is shown on the History channel. It is a series where they talk about things in space and all that jazz. Another topic I am interested in. Where is that solar system I made in the 5th grade...? It was awesome, and to scale, and my mother helped me paint it. Er, she painted it for me ;) I kept it and played with it for years after.

Anyhoo, now back to the reason for the post. Does it ever boggle your mind when thinking about the vastness of space and what it all really means? It does me! In this episode they were talking about energy and how the big bang created it. On and on they spoke of all these science-y things. No mention of God. No surprise. They said the big bang CREATED energy. All the energy we have came from the big bang. Energy can not be created nor destroyed; only changed in form. They also admitted that it TOOK energy for the big bang to happen. A little contradictory don't ya think? One expert they were interviewing talked about some kind of weird "unknown" energy that caused the big bang. Those were his exact words, "weird, unknown kind of energy." My head was screaming, perhaps it was God, your creator and mine! It just seems to me that too many scientists too easily dismiss the possibility of a creator. In essence, in my mind, God is the ultimate perfect scientist. You know? No perhaps about it.

They also discussed how space is actually continually expanding. Scientists figured for a long time that gravity was sucking the whole universe in little by little. Back in the 90's the Hubble Space craft provided proof that it is actually EXPANDING! At a fast pace in fact. There is no end to space and there never will be. Mind blowing right? So, after that, I watched another show. A DVD I checked out of the library. "Discovering Emma." It's a pretty interesting documentary on the Prophet Joseph Smith's wife. So I came down stairs to do some searching on the computer for something I saw in the DVD. When I ran across this--The words to the Hymn "If You Could Hie To Kolob." Hmmmm, very interesting. I had only hours before been contemplating space and God and all those deep thoughts and up popped the words to this Hymn.

"If You Could Hie to Kolob” is a pioneer hymn written by William W. Phelps.

If you could hie to Kolob In the twinkling of an eye,
And then continue onward With that same speed to fly,
Do you think that you could ever, Through all eternity,
Find out the generation Where Gods began to be?
Or see the grand beginning, Where space did not extend?
Or view the last creation, Where Gods and matter end?
Me thinks the Spirit whispers, “No man has found ‘pure space,'
Nor seen the outside curtains, Where nothing has a place.”

The works of God continue, And worlds and lives abound;
Improvement and progression Have one eternal round.
There is no end to matter; There is no end to space;
There is no end to spirit; There is no end to grace.
There is no end to virtue; There is no end to might;
There is no end to wisdom; There is no end to light.
There is no end to union; There is no end to youth;
There is no end to priesthood; There is no end to truth.
There is no end to glory; There is no end to love;
There is no end to being; There is no death above.
There is no end to glory; There is no end to love;
There is no end to being; There is no death above.

I have heard this Hymn before and never given it too much thought per se. I am glad I actually read the words. It's quite beautiful. And, of course, I love the melody. Give the YouTube video below a listen.

Abraham 3:2&3

And I saw the stars, that they were very great, and that one of them was nearest unto the throne of God; and there were many great ones which were near unto it;

And the Lord said unto me: These are the governing ones; and the name of the great one is Kolob, because it is near unto me, for I the Lord thy God: I have set this one to govern all those which belong to the same order as that upon which thou standest.

People get into deep discussion as to where Kolob actually is and what star specifically it could be. But I find that worrying myself with this stuff really gets me no where. It's pretty obvious that our minds were not meant to understand this now. I can remember as a young child getting all worked up about the unknown answers of "how was space created?" and all that.

1Corinthians 13:12

For now we see through a glass, darkly, but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

This scripture brings me to the other thing I was researching when I came upon the whole Hie to Kolob thing. Strange how the gospel is so perfectly intertwined with its self. But not really strange. Beautiful. I will post about the other thing next time. It's really quite a nice story. Stay tuned....