Seeing the Un-seeable

          To capture photographic evidence of a black hole billions of times more massive than our sun, in a giant galaxy 55 million light years away sounds too fantastical to be real. A black hole gobbles up anything that gets too close to its edge, sometimes, ominously enough, called the point of no return. Not even light can escape, meaning the laws of physics also collapse into this cavernous mysterious, stellar-charged denseness. "It is a smoke ring framing a one-way portal to eternity" as one NYT reporter put it. Until this month, black holes were only theoretically known to exist because they were thought to be un-seeable.

          Miracles are all about seeing the un-seeable. Sometimes it is as simple as seeing something more in the beauty that crosses our path - a flowering burst of spring, or a baby's smile, or our own ability to love. Other times, it's not so simple as there is no evidence of what lies behind or beyond; there is no tangible evidence at all. A leap of faith is required after hearing a story or experiencing our own odd coincidence. In pursuit of the black hole's cameo, a telescope the size of earth was assembled to find it. In finding the miracle, we puny humans have a wing and a prayer and a feeling. But many of us know it's there to be found.

          For the better part of a century, modern physics has proven that uncertainty is an integral part of the physical world and that as observers you and I can alter what might have been. I've always had a particular affinity for finding science, especially physics, a breeding ground for miracles and I have to say this visual evidence of Constellation Virgo called M87 where the black hole lives, beats all. Maybe other dimensions and eternities live inside black holes. We don't know and have no way of knowing at present. Anything is possible. And, the possibility of miracles lives inside the ambiguity built into the universe; miracles are the part where the light escapes. (Katie)