Stars

"When did I stop paying attention to the stars?" I wrote these words in my journal the other morning after stepping outside in the dark pre-dawn and whispering a soft 'bonjour' to the Big Dipper hanging low in the western sky. One night earlier in the week I was startled by my friend, Orion blazing high over the bare oak tree in my back yard. When did I stop seeing these old friends, these reminders that life is Life and much more immense than me and my petty problems? When did I get so caught up in the drama of my life that I ceased looking for starry reminders of the Divine presence in all of Life? Shame on me for neglecting my friends, the stars. Shame on me for forgetting to see the Divine in all of Nature...in the glitter of sunlight on fresh snow, in the pinpricks of green pushing out of the wet soil towards spring, in the honking of strings and strings of geese finally freed from frozen winter and winging their way north. Like the graceful Canada geese, I too, feel as if I've been freed from a frozen life. I feel ready to take wing. And seeing my Creator again in Nature, I trust that He will guide and protect me on my pilgrim's path as I move toward fulfilling His plan for my life.