Sometimes, like intrepid astronauts,  we have to "escape the bonds of earth" in order to see it in perspective.

“Space Travel”

by Ruth Hoppin


Far from the old familiar ground

let the earth be turned around

underneath a higher dome

a wider sky than home

Let distance tell us what is true

while silence and space keep rendezvous

over the vastness- guardian twins-

a world ends and one begins

time fades, scattered stillness reigns.


Like angels borne on cosmic wings

bent with universal sight

to probe the outer rim of night

or spirits from the body fled

to climb the heights of heaven instead,

joyous in the sky we hover

not one, but many worlds discover

and see the old familiar ground

with unaccustomed grandeur crowned.


~ from Spinning the Arrow of Time

Ruth Hoppin is best known as the author of Priscilla's Letter: Finding the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, a book in the field of New Testament studies that has been translated into Spanish, and she speaks and writes on this subject. Her general interest articles and poems have been widely published. Ruth lives in Daly City, a suburb of San Francisco, where she and her husband Stuart raised a family. The Hoppins are parishioners of Holy Child & St. Martin Episcopal Church, where she leads science and faith seminars and Bible discussion groups. Her interests include travel, studying French, and playing the recorder.