A handful of sand vs. the size of the universe
I recently had a business trip that took me to Middletown, Rhode Island. As I usually do, I took some time to go on a run to see the local sights (so many good things happen when I run!). I ran along the beautiful RI coastline, and enjoyed the spectacular scenery. I stopped at a beach and started thinking about grains of sand. Several verses in scripture mention the sands of the sea in describing an extremely large number. The Lord promised Abraham an innumerable posterity after Abraham demonstrated his faith and obedience: "That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore." (Genesis 22:17) In thinking about the number of grains of sand on that beach, I remembered an article I read recently that compared the estimated number of stars in the known universe with the number of grains of sand on earth (specifics from that article coming up shortly). I wanted to