Life is Sailing

It was a crystal clear sky tonight, crispness lingering after a brief cool front pushed through. Twinkling stars felt closer somehow, like I could reach out and take hold of them in my palm. These stars – Orion, Pleiades, one that looks like a reindeer face to me – and planets like Jupiter… they “appear” every night all around the world. I have seen them before from paradise and from snow covered Maryland, from wide open plains and the dry deserts of Nevada. Whether I gaze up at them lovingly or see them through tear streaked eyes, the stars and planets continue to be. Our earth rotates and spins, shifting how and where we see these celestial bodies, guiding our eyes to different sections of the night sky, occasionally delighting us with meteor showers or bright comets.

Yet who made these stars and planets? Who made these flashes of light that burn bright and then extinguish – comets and meteors? Why do we rotate on an axis, transitioning from day to night and through the seasons? Is it not our God, our Creator, the One who made us and placed us on this diverse life-sustaining planet? He did! He it is who guides our eyes across the heavens, who clears away the fog and clouds and reveals a clear vision of the twinkling lights of the night. Oh to see Him so brightly, so clearly as I see the dots of light on a crisp night. Clear away the fog and clouds. Lord, help us see you this Christmas so You shine brightly through us.