The Earth Is A Libra

Tom Russell / Patricia Hardin: Beneath Canyon Walls (Bert Loper )

Archbishop James Usher
(1580-1656) published
Annales Veteris et Novi Testamenti in 1654,
which suggested that
Heaven and Earth were
created in 4004 B.C.
One of his aides
took the calculation further,
and was able to
announce triumphantly
that the Earth was created
on Sunday the 21st of October,
4004 B.C., at exactly 9:00 A.M.,
because God liked
to get work done early
in the morning
while he was feeling fresh.
This too was incorrect.
By almost a quarter of an hour.
The whole business with the fossilized dinosaur skeletons
was a joke the paleontologists haven't seen yet.
This proves two things:
Firstly, that God moves in extremely mysterious, not to say, circuitous ways. God does not play dice with the universe; He plays an ineffable game of His own devising, which might be compared, from the perspective of any of the other players, [ie., everybody.] to being involved in an obscure and complex version of poker in a pitch-dark room, with blank cards, for infinite stakes, with a Dealer who won't tell you the rules, and who smiles all the time.
Secondly, the Earth is a Libra.
--Terry Pratchett
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch