Last night, while staying in the mountains, I took my 6-year old son outside after dark to do some stargazing. We set up a bed of blankets and pillows and we laid down to look up into the night sky. It was a clear night and we were far from the light pollution of the city so we could see the stars in all their wonder and mesmerizing splendor. We waited and we watched until Russell saw his first shooting star!
After laying side-by-side for 30 minutes or so, Russell said, “I wish I could take the light of all those stars into my tummy because then I would be a glow stick.” I love the imagination, creativity, and mind of a child!
Some people worship creation rather than the Creator. Others are drawn to the Maker of those shooting stars. God’s creation is capable of pointing us to God. I couldn’t help but wonder while laying there next to Russell if this was how a 6-year old articulates what Christian mystics call a desire for union. Or, maybe he just wants to be a glow stick! Who knows?! Either way, his child-like wonder was not lost on me.
It’s hard not to be in awe when you look up into a night sky. Isaiah 40:26 speaks to this wonder, “Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.”
When I gaze at the stars, I want to soak it all up inside me too, just like Russell, right into my belly and down to my toes. And even more, I want to be one with the maker of those stars.
Susie Grade 