Stars of Wonder

It was too early to get up and too late to go back to sleep so I let my mind go walkabout this morning. Megan and her three boys are coming today for a Halloween visit so I rambled through a grocery list and fun to do list for awhile. Then I began to recite Bible verses and passages I memorized as a child. I was surprised at how many I remembered. I wondered if children memorized Bible verses today in Sunday School. It was a comfort to be able to turn those ancient beloved words over in my mind, hearing and seeing those words that have been a part of my faith for sixty two years.
And then I remembered last night. After supper with mama, I went down to the stable to settle the horses in for the night. I called them in from the pasture, gave them some feed and hay, patted their suddenly wooly winter coats and began the walk up to the house. After several days of windy, cold, snowy weather, the world around me was still and calm. The dark night was lit up with thousands of pinpoint lights. As far as I could see, from mountaintop to mountaintop, stars and planets blossomed with a living light and it took my breath away. I stood still, breathed in the crisp night air and fell on my faith knees in wonder. The world of the universe is a mystery and an enormity beyond my ability to understand. All I can do is stand in silence and awe in the midst of such abundance and beauty.
It is a worry and a wonder that the One who created the stars, the One who is as far from me as the stars, is also as close to me as my heart. My mind, which cannot encompass the infinitude of the universe or the endless being of God, must make room for the presence of God in my tiny, limited self. I am, in my own peculiar particular self, a home for a part of God, the same God of the stars in the heavens. “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you which you have from God?” This question in First Corinthians reminds me of God’s gracious gift of Spirit to my body. And in my body, my heart, is a universe as infinite as the stars in the skies above. “Star of wonder, star of night, star with loyal beauty bright, westward leading, still proceeding, guide us to thy perfect light.” May I always be able to see stars and feel the wonder, accept the mystery, and celebrate the presence of the starlight within my soul.