My Dad is retired from the United States Navy, aviation division. He and his crew flew P3 airplanes over the ocean tracking Russian submarines during the Cold War. He job was the plane's navigator. He read the map, charted the path, and always knew their location. My Dad is brilliant. He could get his men home over the dark ocean in the middle of the night by following the stars. One of the highlights of camping as a kid with my Dad was finding ourselves in the middle of no where under a brilliant summer sky filled with pinholes of light. My Dad could point out every constellation.The stars have meaning to me because of this, they are a connection to my Father. For him they were a map that could guide him and his men to safety.
The stars were also significant to another group of people. There is a beautiful old spiritual that was born out of the era of slavery. The song called, "Follow the Drinking Gourd" speaks of landmarks and rivers, and in the chorus admonishes the listener to "Follow the Drinking Gourd." The song was actually code,a map, for the underground railroad telling the people what season to leave in and where to go. The "Drinking Gourd" represents the Big Dipper,which points to the North Star in the handle of the little dipper. The North star pointed the way to freedom.
In Paul's letter of Philippians he challenges followers of Christ to shine like stars. The context here is critical, it reads, "Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, "children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation. Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life." Do you see it? If we grumble and argue then our stars do not shine brightly pointing the way of Jesus to those around us who are watching.It becomes a cloudy day. Furthermore, we are each given gifts from the Spirit to benefit those around us. Everyone of us is important. We have to stand in our spot to form the constalation that points the seeking world to Jesus. Our faithful service, our lives free of grumbling and arguing make us into stars that shine brightly for the kingdom of God. Often the world around us feels so dark, my light feels so small. What may to me feel like a pinprick in the vast black sky of life may be the North star, that helps to guide a searching soul to Freedom. I leaned out my kitchen window tonight, with all these thoughts about the stars and God using my life to be a light I was longing to see a little light from heaven. The sky was overcast, and I had to look way out to spot a single star burning strong, flickering in the distance. Look, it's like me I thought, little me shining my light, hoping to lead a dear soul home.
