Seeing Stars

"I confess I do not know why, but looking at the stars always makes me dream." - Vincent Van Gogh

A favorite thought from a much loved artist...probably because it's true, at least for me it is. I love a night sky full of stars. I think it's probably one of the greatest beauties God has to offer. And it is evidence of His boundless nature, His ability to give and give and give. When I look up and see stars, I always think of what is possible. I always feel hopeful. I always feel a sense of gratitude. Isn't nature just wonderful and perfect that way? The way it helps you to feel renewal? It brings Kant and the "sublime" experience to mind. Sublime is a perfect way to describe the way star gazing makes me feel.

But there is something else about seeing stars. It always makes me feel so small and reminds me that my life is insignificant. Because it is. It's a speck, a mere tiny little blip, on the map of the entire universe and it's vastness. And that is comforting. You might ask why being insignificant should be a comfort. It is because it puts my problems in perspective. They don't seem so big, so looming, so impossible when I see them for what they are. If my entire life is but a tiny little blip on that map of the huge, wide, vastness that is the universe, then what are my problems? What is a year of uncertainty? Even what is ten years of loneliness? Those things become nothing...mean nothing. They are so small as to be incalculable.

That is a beautiful thought.