RM> I've seen *thirteen* galaxies. Although I'm not even vaguely
 RM> religious, I think I can begin to see what is meant by "the
 RM> hand of God".

 BL> Does your God play dice?

 RM> There was a thread in the internet echo sci.astro.amateur that
 RM> dealt with this recently. The first writer had noticed a
 RM> correlation between the size of a newly acquired scope and the
 RM> number of cloudy nights that immediately followed its arrival,
 RM> and wanted to know if the cloudtime was proportional to scope
 RM> aperture or dollars spent.

 RM> There were two notable replies. The first suggested that an
 RM> equal action-reaction relationship existed, because the time
 RM> between ordering a scope and its arrival was inevitably cloud
 RM> free, still, and transparent, especially if the scope had to be
 RM> back ordered for a month or two. The second guy made the morose
 RM> observation that after he'd bought a van to carry his scope and
 RM> accessories around, he was socked in for six months.

 RM> So yes, God does play. I'm not entirely sure what, though.

  Can I interest you in a new god? E. Jupiter Fluvius is directly
responsible for weather (Thor holds the thunder franchise), and as far
as I know there is only one current worshipper, so he offers same-day
service for new customers.

  Worship is simple, and informal... just sand out in thunderstorms
and when the lightning flashes shout: "Yea! Send 'er down, Hewie!" 

  I claim personal responsibility for the recent 10" of rain in
Sydney. The grass was looking a bit brown, so I said in passing:
"Bloody hell, Hewie, you're doing a shit of a job, aren't you?" and
two days later it rained for a week.

  Naturally, I stood out in it and yelled "Yeah! Send 'er down,
Hewie! Whatta bewdie."

  Hewie is an excellent god. He is ambivalent on looting, shooting and
rooting, and has no opinion either way on gambling or vice. All he
wants is genuine admiration for his weather. If you mow the lawn and
it looks like rain, you just say: "Don't be an arsehole, Hewie. All I
want is another 30 minutes," and he holds the rain till you're done.
Of course, you have to stand out in it and yell: "Yea! Send 'er down,
Hewie!" when it does rain. Fair is fair. You have to treat worship
responsibly, being the god's only worshipper. Sincerity counts...

  No god is perfect. It's not an easy job controlling weather (or even
predicting it), but by telling Hewie how the grass is going I hope
to get him interested in a long-term plan for greening Sydney. I see
no reason why a similar project would not work keeping Townsville's
night skies clear.

  Which is more than you can say for the miserable Christians.

Regards,
Bob
 
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
@EOT:

---