Star Gazing

PUMC Christmas Eve 2007 5 pm
Star Gazing

Once upon a time long
long ago

there was a young woman
who wanted to see God

her name was Stella
and Stella was a simple girl
wh prayed and prayed and prayed

and she worked hard
she helped others..she was honest and caring

yet by the time she turned sixteen
she did not think she had ever seen God

so
one day she went to see a wise old man who lived out it in the open field

way out on the prairie.

She went to his house and she sat down in front of the old man

and said
for as long as I can remember
I have had this one burning desire

just to see God...

Well.. not just to see God

but to look ... right into the pupil of Gods eye.
. If I could just do that
I would be so happy.
Can you tell me sir,,

what do I need to do to make this happen.
How can I see God

And the wise old man looked at Stella

he looked at her so intently.

After a long silence
he said Stella

I will you the secret of seeing God..

.in fact
I will tell you the secret of looking right into the pupil of Gods eye.


Oh yes Stella said...” tell me ....please tell me.


The young woman was begging ..almost in tears.

And this is what the old man said.

Stella
You must begin counting the stars at night.

You must begin with the middle star in Orion belt..

and then start counting to the east..

You must be very careful that do you not count any star twice

and you must not fail in your determination
don’t give up.

when you have counted the ten thousandth star

you will be looking into the very light of God’s eye.

And so Stella went out
and that very night
there was a new moon
and not many clouds
the sky was so wide and so bright.

and she started very easily to count the stars

Stella thought they were like diamonds embedded in velvet

well. after several hours she had counted hundreds of stars.

But the next night

when she went out to count the stars.

The sky was filled with heavy clouds

and the moon was brighter
so it was harder to see the stars.

But still she counted
night after night

week after week
month after month
every night
she was out in the field counting the stars.

Always careful to keep track of her count

so every night counting the stars took all this concentration and dedication.

. But if you know anything about stars..

your realize ...what Stella did not know!

As she counted far into the eastern sky

the stars were revolving around and turning in the heavens.

And so 12 months later
as she was just about to count the ten thousandth star..

She began to get the feeling that she had seen this sky before.

She counted to herself out-loud..
9,998.... 9,999

and as she counted the ten thousandth star.

She realized that she had even seen this very same star

she was looking again at the middle star of Orion belt
the very same star she had started with 12 months before.

He eyes were dazzled with the starlight
how could this be..?!

and her heart
and her mind were filled with the deepest wonder and the greatest joy.

Time seemed to stand still
and she stood there
all lost in the wonder

gazing at the 10thousandth star....

.and it was like the star was gazing back at her

hours later
she ran through t eh night across the prairie

to where the old wise man lived.

He was awake and he was praying for her.

And when he invited her to come in
. They sat at a table and shared the light of the candles...

..
he said to her
Stella I can see from your smile and the look in your eyes

that you have just counted the 10,000 star tonight
and you have looked into the very eye of God.

Yes cried
Stella yes.

. But then
she said..
The strangest thing happened
it
turned out that the 10,000 star
was the same one that I started out with

the center star in Orion belt...
What does all of this mean?

The old man
again with a smile
looked at her and said..

Its very simple
you began by looking into the light of Gods eyes

you were . Desperate wanting to see the light of Gods eye.


Yet
God was always there
all along..
But you didn’t see it.

So what happened!
the whole sky
had to move through one complete revolution

just so you could recognize what was right in front of you .

God has moved heaven and earth just to bring you this moment.

That’s how much God loves you.

And I will tell you something else.

.from now on..
Whenever children such as you
look up to see the night sky
with a desire born of love and purity and wonder..

God will wink at them

and they will catch a glimpse of the twinkle in Gods eyes
. The wise man said no more

and Stella looked at the lines on his face

and that same sense of wonder and love

welled up inside of her once again
just as it had been when she looked at the 10,000th star..

Now she was seeing this twinkle in the old mans yes.


Once upon a time another wise old man. a Christian teacher in the 13th century
Meister Eckhart
said that the eye you use
to look at God
is the very same one that God uses to look at you..

It is The eye of faith and the eye of the soul

Who know maybe God has been counting the stars?

Well tonight I don’t know about you

but I am counting the stars.

Matthews Christmas story says
some travelers found Jesus
by watching the stars

following a star
perhaps it was that 10,000th star.

But what did they really see ..

the found a child

and they looked into the eyes of God

shepherds saw the angel when they were
watching their flocks by night..
And where was that..
out under the stars

They too were looking up to the heavens
with that night sky

I wonder how many times they stood there counting the stars..

And when they too.

.went to see that baby ..
just as the angels told them..
when they looked into his eyes

was there a twinkle
in those little baby eyes

on that Christmas night
as they looked into the very eye of God..



have you seen the eye of God?


another year has passed..
Christmas has come and gone... and come again
. The heavens have turned the stars..once again
.
Are you still counting the stars



we see a baby
we see the eyes of God
we started out with that star

I remember one of the first songs I ever leaned........

I could even play it on a piano
or plink it on a xylophone

twinkle twinkle little star
how I wonder what you are

its really good theology

I see this Christmas story

twinkle twinkle little star

how I wonder who you are you..

Counting the star..

Would you l Ike to look into the eyes of God..

Maybe you just need your eye of wonder and your eye of love..

You don’t have to look that look that far

have you ever seen the twinkle in someones eyes..

Sometimes to see God.
You might not be looking far enough


and sometimes
you might not be looking near enough
to see the very eye of God.



it is a good night to go and count the stars

you can start tonight with the Bethlehem star
start with the Christmas star
start with this.
start counting now..

count the twinkle in the human eye ,,

count for ten thousand stars you can see the very eye of God