Stars

I didn’t know there would be a meteor shower until I saw an article about it on a news website. I thought it was very timely, since I would soon be leaving to go to New Hampshire, and from there, Connecticut, and from there, Maryland. Watching a meteor shower would be a nice way to wind down the evening after a day of packing, laundry, errands and general pre-trip business.

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I put on a light jacket and slipped on my sandals. It was chilly outside, but I didn’t feel like putting socks on. This is the kind of temperature I like. It’s too cold for mosquitoes, but not too cold for me. Fall is my favorite time of year, and what with the cooler days and chilly evenings we had had recently it seemed closer than ever. Time to break out the winter clothes! Well, not quite, but soon. Perhaps mid-September or so.
I went outside on the front deck for my little star-gazing experience.  I was well aware of the skunk in our barn, as he was both a frequent visitor there and since he was also there when I went in to shut one of the outside doors we had left open. He didn’t both us, but our cats seemed to know that he wasn’t someone they should become close friends with. Our smallest cat, Tucker, knew this especially well. He was probably glad to smell normal again after a day or so of trying to get away from himself. :-)

I pulled one of our deck chairs into the center of the deck so I could get a better view of the stars. My view of the sky was clear, unpolluted and expansive. As soon as I stepped out onto the deck I was almost overwhelmed by the vastness of the sky and the countless number of stars. Of course, I was used to seeing the stars and the sky at night, but tonight seemed to refresh my memory and remind me of just how big it was. That wasn’t the only thing I was thinking of, though. I was also thinking of the One who created it all; God. The same God who made the stars, Milky Way, planets, galaxies and universe was the same God who sent His only begotten Son so that we could have a relationship with Him. It made me feel amazingly small yet extremely privileged. I didn’t deserve a relationship with God, nor did I deserve this extraordinary view of the heavens that He created. “He made the stars also”: five little words that almost seem like an afterthought in the first chapter of the first book of the Bible. Even from the beginning, God knew exactly where He wanted each star. The Psalms say that He has ‘ordained them’ and that ‘He gives names to them all’. And I can’t even name all of the constellations!

I sat outside on the deck for about forty-five minutes or so. A couple of my cats took turns being lap warmers and distractions, but I didn’t mind. Two owls were whoo hoo hoo hOOing in the woods down across the neighbor's field in front of our house. It was only about three quarters of the way through my star-gazing that I noticed the repetitive sound of the crickets and other night insects.

It was a very pleasant evening; even if I hadn't seen any meteors that night it would have been worth sitting outside just to enjoy the cool air, see the beautiful sky and hear the night noises. I saw a bunch of meteors, one being so bright and long-lasting that it left a tail for about 3 seconds after the white-hot particle's light died out!

I saw more than meteors that night. I saw a glimpse of power, majesty and mercy that can’t be measured, counted, exhausted or explained fully.  The stars are in the sky are there whether we like it or not, and there are too many to number. There are too many unexplored galaxies that also have countless numbers of stars. There’s simply no way we can tally up the entire amount of stars in our universe. But from what we can see there sure is a lot of ‘em! It’s a bit like God, actually. We can appreciate what we can see of His character as shown in the Bible, revealed in His Son, and shown in creation, but we simply can’t understand all there is to know about Him. But with His help we can get to know Him better and become more and more conformed into His image.

By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.
Hebrews 11:3

...that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God...
Colossians 1:9b-10

To whom then will you liken Me
         That I would be his equal?" says the Holy One.
    Lift up your eyes on high
         And see who has created these stars,
         The One who leads forth their host by number,
         He calls them all by name;
         Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power,
         Not one of them is missing. 
              Isaiah 40:25-2