Ahhh...to sleep, perchance to dream.

Escape at Bedtime
by Robert Louis Stevenson

The lights from the parlour and kitchen shone out
Through the blinds and the windows and bars;
And high overhead and all moving about,
There were thousands of millions of stars.
There ne'er were such thousands of leaves on a tree,
Nor of people in church or the Park,
As the crowds of the stars that looked down upon me,
And that glittered and winked in the dark.


The Dog, and the Plough, and the Hunter, and all,
And the star of the sailor, and Mars,
These shown in the sky, and the pail by the wall
Would be half full of water and stars.
They saw me at last, and they chased me with cries,
And they soon had me packed into bed;
But the glory kept shining and bright in my eyes,
And the stars going round in my head.


Yes, I do love Robert Louis Stevenson...so simple...and this is, again, from my favorite book of poetry..."A Child's Garden of Verses."I have always been fascinated by the sky. It's beauty by day...but mostly, the night. The stars. The planets...the constellations.

"Dad, do you think there's people on other planets?"
"I don't know, Sparks. But I guess I'd say if it is just us... seems like an awful waste of space."

This quote/conversation is from "CONTACT" with Jodi Foster...between her and her father.

Now...do not go all cuckoo on me...I did not say I believed that there is life on other planets...I am not a UFO freak...or a Mormon.

I just wonder.

Sometimes, I wonder why DID God just throw a bunch of huge planets and stars into the sky and not tell anyone what they are there for?

Anyway...I digress...Orion...the Hunter, as mentioned in the simple little poem, is probably one of the oldest constellations. It is also one of the easiest to pick out. Orion is the legendary great hunter of the Greek mythology. It was said he was the most beautiful of men and the most skillfull of hunters. Unfortunately Orion accepted this praise with utter confidence it was true, and then some. He began boasting of his skills, claiming to have total superiouity over all creatures. Quite naturally, this annoyed the gods that be and they decided to punish him for his greatly inflated ego. Firmly believing in capitol punishment, the gods sent Scorpius, the scorpion to earth to sting Orion's foot, and kill him. Diana, an admirer of Orion (and his ego) implored the gods to place the great hunter in the sky to remember him by. This they agreed to, so long as they also placed the scorpion there to warn against such nasty crimes as ego. In Orion's last dying breath he begged not to be placed near the scorpion. And so, Orion dominates the winter skies while Scorpius' domain is the summer skies.

Sound familiar? One of the most beautiful of all men. Skilled at his craft. Big ego. Thought he was better than everyone else...and still, he had a follower. SOMEONE wrote that story. Not sure exactly who...anyone care to guess?? Let me know..okay? Back to my thought...

The story is familiar, like that of the most beautiful angel...greatly skilled...HUGE ego...thought he was better than his Creator...brought a third of the angels with him when he was thrown out of heaven. Remember?

Why is it so easy to believe the stories of the stars...and not the stories of the Bible? Why do we have such difficulty with the Truth? We are so willing to take hold of a thought that brings us a mild sense of belonging...and not a word of that brings us peace and clarity. The story of Orion is fictitious. Seriously...we ALL know that...RIGHT????

It seems so easily explained this way... the stars in the sky were put there at the amusement of the gods. To warn us...if we do something to anger them...well...you get the picture.

Reality...they were put there to...cause us to revel in God's wonder. In His greatness. In His vastness. The heavens are His home. We cannot venture to guess how vast the heavens are...how deep...how wide...how great. Another quote from the same movie (I do SO LOVE movies!):

"I... had an experience... I can't prove it, I can't even explain it, but everything that I know as a human being, everything that I am tells me that it was real! I was given something wonderful, something that changed me forever... A vision of the universe, that tells us, undeniably, how tiny, and insignificant and how... rare, and precious we all are! A vision that tells us that we belong to something that is greater then ourselves, that we are *not*, that none of us are alone! I wish... I... could share that... I wish, that everybody, if only for one... moment, could feel... that awe, and humility, and hope. But... That continues to be my wish."

This, after she denies the existence of God...then ventures on her "journey" and needs to explain what happened to her. "...we belong to something that is greater then ourselves,"

We DO belong to something...someone...greater than ourselves. And His love is as vast, as deep, as wide and as great as the heavens seem to our finite minds. I love to escape into the thoughts of what's really out there..I love to watch the sky...to see the incredible creation He put there just for me so I could wonder about Him...about His awesome hand not only in the heavens, but in my life. To escape.