Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight -

I wish I may I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight.

American Nursery Rhyme

Imagine yourself out and about and alone after dark. On a cloudy night with no moon you may find yourself groping around, lost. It is a scary thought. But strip those clouds away and even without a moon what do you have? Stars of course. Which are underrated I think.

Oh folks write romantic stuff about the stars, some people hitch their dreams to one, and as I mentioned above some even wish on them, hoping they might get something that is often equally out of reach. They thank their lucky ones and even try to use them to foretell the future and base decisions on them. In the end, though, I reckon they are just stars.

However it's the first two words of that poem that often comes to me, especially in places like Colorado. Around here there is a lot of ambient light, and pollution, which even on a clear night can mask the stars. In Colorado (and in other places, I am sure, they don't have a lock on it) if you are a star gazer and looking for a particular constellation you have the best luck early on. That's because by the time it gets "good and dark" all the starts come out (which are of course there all the time) and the sky seems to turn white with them. Back to the groping around bit; once the stars build up in numbers you may not have enough light to read by but you sure can see where you're going. Of course eventually the sun comes up and reveals everything.

Ok before you think I've gone all starry-eyed let's make the obvious comparisons that I think we can draw here. Even in the darkness of this world, there are people who show grace, mercy, and kindness. They express love. They may not do it all the time, thus they twinkle, but they can still be seen. One would hope that Christians are bright and steady, and enough that a sailor might steer by and find his way. A lot of Christians in one place draw a picture in this dark world, and people take note of them just as they do the constellations. Enough everywhere and there's sufficient for those lost in the darkness of the world to see by - not the perfect grace itself but a good guide towards it.

Oh, some folks will still see the good a Christian does and admire it, maybe even romanticize about it, but do nothing to help themselves. Some will wish their lives were like they should be, and maybe hitch a ride along with someone because of who they are instead of who they worship. They may thank Christians for being strong enough to do the right things and one would hope see past that to the God that they emulate. Since Christians seem to have something going on right, they may ask advice and guidance and we should be ready to help with a bible answer.

Yet there are those who would rather distort or block the star light for their own pleasure or to prevent it from illuminating what they do. Even starlight is enough to expose their deeds done, so they thought, under the cloak of darkness and they may try to snuff us out. I think they are wasting their time - eventually the Son comes up and reveals everything.

Randy