I've just come in from sitting in my garden at home; gazing up at the clear night sky, watching the meteor shower and losing myself in the vastness of what lies beyond this odd little blue and green ball we all live on.
The meteors were the headline act tonight as they shot across the darkness leaving their dramatic trail behind. Left-over debris, from a comet that passed by almost twenty yars ago, burning brightly in the earth's atmosphere. Cosmic drama unfolding on a backdrop of stars...
Billions and billions of stars. Some scientists even guess that there are 10x more stars in the visible universe than grains of sand on all the worlds beaches! It's a mind-boggling number and an incredible concept to think that there is that much stuff up in space.
And yet, so often, the stars go unnoticed - either lost in the blur of the light polution from our 24/7 cities and towns or just taken for granted and rarely marvelled at anymore. So why is it that when Paul wrote to a church in Philippi that he said that they "shine like stars"?
I think it's because the stars are our role models.
Whatever the weather, whoever is looking or not looking, whether they're taken for granted or being studied intently; whether day or night, whether they are upstaged by meteors or have the sky to themselves, the stars keep right on shining. And I think thats what Paul means.
In a world where fame comes and goes - we keep shining.
In a world where the economy is struggling - we keep shining.
In a world where people ignore us or take us for granted - we keep shining.
It's the time of year that thousands and thousands of people attend festivals and gatherings all over the world. I'm not saying anything negative about these festivals, I think they're great, I've been to them, I've experienced God in fresh ways there and felt blessed to be a part of them. But my prayer is this...
That the temptation to be a meteor - to feel fired up and burn brightly but briefly and fizzle out quickly - is replaced with a desire to be a star; to do what God designed you to do and to do it always. Day-in. Day-out.
You're a star. Shine.
