The Stars Within 578.1
According to an article in The Wall Street Journal, two-thirds of the world’s population, including almost everyone in the Continental United States and Europe, no longer see a starry sky where they live.
The reason: City lights prevent us from seeing much more than a canopy of gray shadows. What a pity. In rural or remote areas with little or no artificial lights, about 2,000 stars can be seen on a clear night, and the experience can be breathtaking.
Whether we credit God or physics, how can we avoid the conclusion that our cosmos is governed by forces that dwarf anything our simple species can muster? How can we not feel like transitory snowflakes in a universe that measures time in billions of years and space in trillions of miles?
At the same time, a star-filled sky can be both empowering and inspiring. It can cause us to ponder the meaning and purpose of our lives, and it has ignited the imagination of poets, philosophers, theologians, and scientists for centuries.
It’s bad enough that the technology of contemporary civilization prevents us from seeing the extraterrestrial stars. It’s worse when we allow the shallow values and frenetic pace of modern society to prevent us from seeing and following the aspirations and principles that are our own internal guiding stars.
Every day we’re challenged to rise above petty office politics, senseless family conflicts, negative emotions, and unbridled ego so we can live our lives large and be worthy of our place in the universe.
We may not be able to see the stars by looking up, but if we close our eyes and look inward, we can find and follow the best within us.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
Comments
Are you familiar with The Star Polisher, a poem by Leah Becks? I am forwarding it as I think it nicely complements today's commentary!
The Star Polisher
I have a great job in the universe of occupations. What do I do? I'm a "star polisher."
It's a very important job. If you want to know how important my job is, just go out at night and look at the stars twinkling and sparkling.
You see, I'm a teacher. The stars are the children in my class. My job is to take them in - in whatever shape they come - and shine and buff them and then send them out to take their places as bright little twinkling beacons in the sky.
They come into my room in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes they're bent, tarnished, dirty, crinkly and broken. Some stars are cuddly, soft and sweet. Some stars are prickly and thorny.
As I buff, polish, train and teach my little stars, I tell them that the world cannot do without them. I tell them they can do anything they set their minds to do. I tell them they can be the brightest, shiniest stars in the sky and the world will be a better place because of them.
Each night as I look at the sky, I'm reminded of my very important job and awesome responsibility. I go and get my soft buffing cloth and my bottle of polish in preparation for tomorrow and for my class of little stars.
Posted by: Barbara Gruener | August 7, 2008 5:51 PM