Shooting
Stars
“...Don't
you know that you are a shooting star.
Don't you
know (don't you know, don't you know...)”
Paul
Rogers (Bad Company)
Perhaps you remember this
old Bad Company song about Johnny becoming a rock star—it has a bad
ending, so don't look it up. But the star in this song, and in the
story of the nativity, as well as the 2,600 stars adorning the
sidewalks of Hollywood and Vine, are symbols for importance. They
indicate someone who made it big, whose work will be remembered
forever. We know that no giant star hung in thin air just above the
stable where Jesus was born, though we like to depict it that way on
Christmas cards and church banners. We know the star was included in
the story to highlight an event. To shine light on a child whose
birth would otherwise have been unremarkable. It gave the Magi
something to hang their story on. It provided some magic and mystery.
It was there as a symbol of great things to come.
What we know about stars
is that they are afire. The fact that they are blazing hot means that
they give off light. Our sun is a star. Without its light we could
not survive because it allows us, not only to provide food for
ourselves, but to grow forests that are the lungs of this planet.
Most scientists think that when the Chucxulub asteroid smashed into
the earth over sixty-five million years ago, ash blotted out the sun
for a significant period of time and spelled the end of the
dinosaurs. Brilliant stars can be thrilling, and also killing. Like
all archetypes, they have a light side, and a dark side. In the song
by Bad Company, Johnny has his moment of glory, and then checks out.
In the story of Jesus, we know that greatness was ahead for him, but
also crucifixion. And think about how many of the stars on
Hollywood's “walk of fame” came to an early end. One cannot be
identified with an archetype, and come away unscathed.
Stars give light. They
are used as mile markers for evolution. They often change the world
with their contributions to humanity. They are beautiful and
brilliant. In my lifetime, there have been many shining stars—Gandhi,
Martin Luther King, Jr. John Kennedy. There have been musical
change-makers like Louis Armstrong, Chuck Berry, The Beatles, The
Sugarhill Gang, who brought us rap and hip-hop. They changed the
direction of our culture. There have been artists and architects,
doctors and scientists and entrepreneurs, whose contributions changed our understanding
of the world. We have been blessed with stars.
Each of us is also a
star. We may not blaze in the firmament and change the world, but we
can shine for those around us. We can find our inner light, and
create change that will help others to see their way. Today, go out
there and shine your light on everyone you meet.
In the Spirit,
Jane
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