From Sampler to Sower

Don’t know who Apophis is?  It’s the Greek name for Apep, the archenemy of the Egyptian god Ra, also known as the Uncreator, a giant serpent that tries to swallow Ra (the Sun) as it passes through the underworld each night after setting in the West in order to rise again in the East.

The more important question though may not be who, but what.  What is Apophis?

Asteroid 99942 Apophis, formerly known as 2004 MN₄, is a near earth asteroid predicted to pass closer to earth than our orbiting satellites on Friday the 13th, April 2029  and may very well impact earth on it’s way back through seven years later.

I was fascinated by this after seeing astrophysicist and incredible public speaker Neil DeGrasse Tyson on the Daily Show a couple nights ago. And then today in my Google Reader was a post on Garr Renyold’s blog Presentation Zen examining what makes Tyson such a captivating educator.  There, as one of the examples of the way in which Tyson engages both his audience and his interviewer, is a video from last February in which Tyson speaks in greater detail about the possible Apophis impact.  In case you missed it, here it is:

Does this have anything to do with youth ministry?  I don’t know, you tell me.  It was just fascinating to me.

However Presentation Zen should be in every public speakers rss reader.  And that does apply to youth ministry.