Stars

Stars
by Brian Zahnd

I don’t spend enough time looking at stars
I’m a modern man, I live with a roof over my head
I live in a world of ambient light with washed out night skies
One reason why there’s not enough wonder in our eyes

Tonight I saw the stars from the crisp Colorado skies
And I said—
The world is old
The stars are older still
They twinkle, but they don’t blink
They’re impassive (I think)

And I wonder—
Do they watch the goings-on on the blue marble below?
Do the twinkling but not blinking stars think…
Will those curious little creatures ever get it together?
Will they ever figure out they’re all in it together?
Will it ever dawn on them they’re children of God?
Will they ever learn that in the long run—
“There’s no them, there’s only us.”

I wonder if they wonder about us
After all, like the song says—
We are stardust, we are golden
We are billion year old carbon
We’ve got to get ourselves back to the garden
Yes, we do—we’ve got to!
(The bombs are now far too big for us not to!)

I looked at the stars tonight
And I prayed a prayer—
God, I don’t know what will happen tomorrow
I don’t know what will be a billion centuries on
But I believe in you
I believe you’re good, true, and beautiful
I believe you sustain your finite creation from your infinite being
Forgive us. Restore us. Heal us. Help us. Save us. Please!
Oh, yes! I believe you will!
Glory be to Christ!

And so anon or much, much later on…
Everything will be alright—
In the end we’ll find the lost garden
And learn to love our brother
We’ll walk with you again
Or for the first time
And shine like the stars
Forever

BZ

(The painting is, of course, Van Gogh’s Starry Night.)