Heavenly Fire

I love making films about beautiful things in the natural world. Visually stunning creations that take your breath away.   During the past 36 years I’ve had more than my fair share of opportunities.

The images are seared into my memory:  a sunrise over the Grand Tetons on a crystal clear February morning; 10,000 Monarch butterflies flashing their orange and black wings in a Mexican forest; a river filled with brilliant red Sockeye salmon fighting their way upstream. There is an inherent splendor in nature’s colors, movements and shapes that draws me to their Creator.

For the past several weeks, Jerry Harned and I have been making a new JOHN 10:10 PROJECT film that features one of the most wondrous phenomena we’ve ever encountered—the Auroras. More commonly known as the Northern and Southern Lights, these spectacular displays ignite the polar skies from Iceland to Antarctica.

Auroras are the gorgeous byproducts of the magnetic field that surrounds Earth.  Without this protective shield, our planet’s atmosphere and oceans would quickly be destroyed by the sun’s radiation.  Life on our planet would be devastated.  The Auroras are formed by the collision of plasma particles (ejected by the sun) with oxygen and nitrogen atoms in Earth’s atmosphere over the poles. This interaction generates slashes of red, green, yellow and blue light that can extend hundreds of miles into space.

In and of themselves, the Auroras don’t protect us from anything.  But they do serve an important purpose.  They indicate the presence of our magnetic field and, without a word, their beauty speaks eloquently to God’s creative power.  This stunning light show captures our attention, and then confirms that our invisible protective shield is performing its life-saving task.  Auroras are a giant neon sign broadcasting to the universe that God fashioned a remarkable sanctuary for life.

I hope you enjoy HEAVENLY FIRE.  I think you’ll find it a fascinating seven-minute journey into the wonder, design and beauty so evident throughout the planet we call home.