“Listen to the sermon preached to you by the flowers, the trees, the shrubs, the sky…they invite you to glorify the sublimity of that sovereign Artist who has given them being.”   -St. Paul of the Cross

One summer night in 1965, my older brother Joe was standing on the fire escape outside the window of our Bronx apartment.  Head tilted back and with my dad’s binoculars pressed to his face, he was looking intently at the sky.  High above the city, the stars were bright, and a clear crescent moon was on the rise.  It was indeed beautiful, and I think Joe might have stood there stargazing all night if my dad hadn’t called him inside.  But call him he did, and Joe reluctantly stepped in from the fire escape.  Aware of Joe’s disappointment at having to come indoors, I prepared a surprise for him.  I took a small blackboard and drew on it an array of lopsided stars and a sadly distorted crescent moon.  “Here, Joe,” I said, showing him the blackboard. “You can be indoors and still look at the moon and stars.  See?”  I demonstrated by propping up the blackboard and looking at it through the binoculars. Sadly, Joe not only declined my invitation to “stargaze” at the chalky pictures, but he also said some mighty rude things about my artwork!

The truth is, even the greatest works of master artists are little more than chalky images compared to the splendor of the night sky.  Psalm 19 tells us that, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”

The magnificence of the heavens is evident in a special way during the month of August, which is when the Perseids meteor shower can be seen.   While August is still with us, and indoor activities continue to be limited due to COVID-related concerns, why not throw a socially-distanced stargazing party?  Set aside an hour to “Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens” and stand in awe of Him who “brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name” (Isaiah 40:26).

Maker of all things, the whole of creation reflects Your divine artistry.  Every now and then, please remind me to lift my eyes from the cares of this world and behold Your glory in the skies.

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