Starshine

Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you shining stars. (Psalm 148:3 NIV)

Last night I watched the movie "The Impossible."  It is a true story about how a family survived and coped with the tragedy of the 2004 Thailand tsunami.  In one scene, one of the little boys from that family and an adult are talking about the boys interest in astronomy and the stars in particular.  She asked him if he knew that some of the stars they were seeing had burned out many years ago.  He said, "You mean they are dead?"  She said that they were but we could still benefit from their life.  He asked, "How can you tell which ones are dead?"  She responded, "You can't."

We are made of stardust.  And shouldn't our lives be like that of the stars?  Shouldn't the light we shine today continue to burn... continue to brighten the lives of others long after we are gone?  The only way we can do that is to touch the lives of others in positive ways.

Stars die every day, but we don't notice because their light shines on.  People we have never heard of die every day too.  And we don't notice because we didn't know them.  Certainly they are missed by their family and friends, but those little things they did in their life... their kind actions, their smiles, their helping hands, their passing on knowledge... all of these things and more burn on and on and put one more dot of light in a dark world.

We don't have to have the blazing light of a Mother Teresa.  Only a very small percentage of the stars we see at night are named by people, though God knows each of their names.  But each time we share God's love through words or action with another we can be sure that light will burn on after us.  Maybe no one but God will every be able to specifically say, "This light over here came from Karen,"  but it will be there just the same.

Where will you leave a little starshine today?

Amazing God,
Even the stars that have been gone much longer than we have been alive still shine their light on us.  Help us to shine like the stars, Lord.  Help us to bring some star shine to our little corner of the world today.  Amen.

Joys:  Going through photos and the memories and joy they inspire; movies about overcoming tragedy; the beautiful shade of Springtime green