Kathy King
The Gift of the Stars
“When it is dark enough you can see the stars.”.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
If you are in the dark, never give up.
Look up to the stars!
Have you ever gazed up in the sky at night and saw a sea of starry delight?
There are literally two hundred billion trillion stars in our universe.
They give off light in a dark void.
In the Milky Way alone, there are one hundred thousand million stars.
What does that tell you about the nature of stars?
That even in darkness where there is no real light, the stars light up the deepest darkest voids that need light.
Think about the sun, our star that shines on the earth.
A day without its rays would not be good for the earth.
So if your day or life seems not so sunny.
Look up to the stars, there is still light when all is not brilliant.
Looking to the stars. Poems have been written about the stars. Philosophers have written about the stars, there are horoscopes centered around the stars. Do you, in the business of life, ever look to the stars? This evening my husband and I took our dog on a walk, as the days get shorter here in the Fall, the stars come out with their brilliance earlier each day. When was the last time you laid down on the ground and gazed up at the stars? Or, have you ever googled where our planet is in the universe? We are but a tiny blip in a deep sea of stars. Why are we discussing stars? Simply because when all that we can see is darkness in our life, or a situation and we cannot find anything good. Look for the stars. When you look up in the sky they are tiny, right? Of course, except for the sun which is the closest star to us on planet Earth. Find the tiny stars, even if that star is so incredibly minute, keep looking. In that search there is bound to be a small point of thankfulness. If you still cannot find that small star. Try to find a star (activity) that can bring a better, more positive perspective to your life. Being a military family we have encountered many young folks who have no real family to speak of. The situation is most striking when we have attended Boot Camp graduation ceremonies. The day before graduation there is what is called a “Family Day” where the new soldier’s can leave the base for the first time since training commenced several weeks ago. The soldier’s go and eat “real food” not “chow” as my soldier’s refer to military food. The soldier’s get to just take a moment and breathe. When our oldest son graduated from boot camp there were dozens of soldiers with absolutely no one. This broke our hearts. Young people who had come to serve our country alone. It was at that moment that our family realized that we had to start encouraging these young folks to find their stars (their blessings) in their life. We extended invitations for meals to soldiers. We offered to write them. We asked if they needed anything. Because in perspective, we are quite blessed. The most heartbreaking soldier (to this day) that came into our lives was via a letter writing service. There is a group of mom’s who write letters to whole companies of soldiers during boot camp. During that time letters are what keep those young folks going. And again, a lot of these kids do not have someone with whom they can receive letters. This is heartbreaking. After writing to a company of soldiers (a lot of times I do not get a response and that is ok), I received a letter from a young mother who decided to join the military in hopes of making a better life for her young family. In this letter she pleaded for us to please call her family and check on her small children. She had not received any letters from her family, she just wanted to know that her little ones were ok. After consulting the letter writing group head she said, “Absolutely,” As I dialed the number I wondered if the family would even answer. As the phone rang we were in luck! Her family did indeed answer, I relayed to them that the new soldier was ok but very concerned that she had not heard from her family. The children were fine, they had written letters. They just believed she had not received her mail yet. After my family wrote her a letter letting her know that her children were indeed ok. She wrote back expressing her thanks. While writing letters may not be what you want to do.. You can find someone, something in your life to look up and find even the tiniest star. We can find our stars in the dark. We can be stars to others when their life is dark. Look up! Encourage them to look up and count the many stars in life.
We grant your loftiness the right
To some obscurity of cloud –
It will not do to say of night,
Since dark is what brings out your light.
Some mystery becomes the proud.
But to be wholly taciturn
In your reserve is not allowed.
Say something to us we can learn
By heart and when alone repeat.
Say something! And it says "I burn."
But say with what degree of heat.
Talk Fahrenheit, talk Centigrade.
Use language we can comprehend.
Tell us what elements you blend.
It gives us strangely little aid,
But does tell something in the end.
And steadfast as Keats' Eremite,*
Not even stooping from its sphere,
It asks a little of us here.
It asks of us a certain height,
So when at times the mob is swayed
To carry praise or blame too far,
We may choose something like a star
To stay our minds on and be staid.
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