Stargazer

This poem was inspired by a recent conversation with a friend. We were discussing how Abraham must have felt waiting 25 years to see the fulfillment of God's promise to him.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick,

but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.

Proverbs 13:12

Stargazer

I know of a man who nearly lost hope.

Peering desperately into the stars.

Gazing with restless intent.

A voice beyond them beckoning him to belief.

Reminding him of a promise nearly forgotten.

Obscured.

Dark and light.

Hope and sadness filling the sky.

Like two brothers quarreling with one another.

A nightly reminder of what might be or might have been.

Seeds of joy or scion of sorrow.

“Kith and kin will be more than these you perceive now with your eyes.”

Words of hope that just now seemed to mock his thoughts.

Life so far had been a barren struggle without even a hint of fruitful seed.

A long and sometimes confusing journey.

And yet a whisper in the wind beckoned him to believe the unbelievable.

See the unseeable.

“Behold without holding.” it told him. “Perceive the truth in blindness.”

“Love made this promise. And love never fails.”

We are stargazers all.

Peering into the heavens,

Hoping on the edge of certainty,

That there IS something more.

More to life, more to us, more good than we have ever known.

A completeness that our souls were created to clutch.

Holy dreams dance within us.

Gifts that are the shadow of their Maker.

Not one identical to another.

A particular nebula that bears our own unique colors.

A stanza we were meant to sing.

A verse to scribble upon eternal pages.

Sometimes our hearts ache to finally hold what we have beheld.

Longing to confirm the promise that we have trusted.

Dare we venture to the place where dreams dwell?

Believe that the heavens bear witness to the truth?

They must.

For they were formed by Love that is more ancient than their stars.