Words of Worth

I Heart Pluto

July 18, 2015

Pluto has always held a special place in my heart, partly because I mistakenly thought it was named after the Disney dog, Pluto (actually it’s named after the Roman god of the underworld), and partly because it was always a peculiar and mysterious planet. Well, at least it was until August, 2006 when astronomers declared, “Pluto is dead”, and demoted it from a planet to a dwarf planet.

Even though Pluto was round and orbited the sun, two of the three planet criteria, it didn’t clear its neighboring region of debris and other objects.  I think in unscientific terms that meant Pluto was simply too small to be classified as a planet. If you’re interested, you can always check out this link about Pluto’s demise:

Why Pluto is no longer a planet

Imagine how disheartened I was to learn of Pluto’s demotion not to mention how it messed up the mnemonic device for remembering the nine planets in order from the sun.  Do you remember it? My Very Elegant Mother Just Sold Us Nine Pizzas (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto). Now, in keeping with a food theme, the memory aid for eight planets is: My Very Elegant Mother Just Served Uncooked Nachos!

But not to lose heart! Pluto may have faded from textbooks and fallen off the mnemonic device sentence, but the misfit planet is back in the news with heart!  Recent imagery of NASA’s New Horizons Mission revealed a huge heart shape area on the surface of Pluto. It warms my heart to see Pluto again, although there’s nothing warm about the frozen plains that cover Pluto’s heart.

Thinking about the icy heart of Pluto, and how scientists will now probe it to find out what Pluto can teach us about our universe, made me wonder about the temperature of my own heart.  How well am I keeping the greatest commandments of loving God and loving others? As the wickedness of this world increases, I do not want my love to grow cold (Matthew 24:12). Thus, may it be said of me…

With my whole heart I seek you;

    let me not wander from your commandments!

(Psalm 119:10)