HAVE YOU HEARD THE SKIES SPEAK?

Whenever I go out of town, one of my favorite things to do in the evening is, if I could, walk over to some isolated place away from the house lights, or the car lights, or the street light post. And then I would stare at the night sky and enjoy the spectacle of a starry starry night.

Actually, wherever I am, even if I’m in the polluted metropolis — in “the city that never sleeps” — it has become my habit to look up at the night sky. Here in the city, I may not see any stars, but I know they’re up there. Billions of them.

Have you ever done that? I mean, stare at the night sky and just look at (or perhaps look for) the stars? Of course, the view is best where you are far from city lights, from pollution. And on a cloudless and moonless night. Perfect. But in the city? Fat chance.

I keep saying to my friends who go on out of town trips that staring at the night sky should be part of their sight seeing activities. You don’t get to see that starry night in the metropolis. So, if you haven’t yet, I urge you to go and do it. And bring the kids along. They probably never really appreciated how plentiful the stars are in the dark night sky.

I did that once with my friends, when we were out on a weekend company retreat in Ilocos Norte.  The venue of our retreat was some isolated resort by the beautiful coastline of Currimao.  While we were enjoying the evening swim at the resort pool, we were floating on our backs looking at the night sky.  Yes, we saw much more stars compared to the handful that we were accustomed to back home in Metro Manila. It was a beautiful scene. 

But even with this already fine view, I lamented and said, “I wish they would turn off the lights by the pool so we can appreciate the stars better.”  Having said that, one of my colleagues thought, “Why not ask the pool attendant of the resort?”  After all, it was a relatively small resort, and our company was the only group occupying the resort, and most of our colleagues were already in their rooms resting.  And besides, it was already past dinner, and the resort employees were just waiting for us to leave the pool before they close the area.  So, it was an easy request to make.

Continuing to chat while waiting for the pool attendant to turn off the lights, we remained floating on our backs, staring up at the night sky.  Perfect for star gazing.  Then I heard the click as the attendant shut off the lights surrounding the pool.  As predicted, the night sky became darker, but much more stars became visible.  I felt proud showing off the night sky to my friends knowing that this was a novelty to them. Yet there were still many lights shining along the perimeter of the resort a few meters from the pool.   I said to the pool attendant, “Sana patayin na lang lahat na lang ng ilaw, boss,” and hoped that he would accommodate us.

And to my pleasant surprise, he did.  The moment he switched off all the ground lights:  BOOM!  The night sky exploded before our very eyes.  And as if in rehearsed unison, each one of us exclaimed:  “WOW!!!!”  The sky turned pitch black, and the stars shone brilliantly like it was suddenly a new reality, and an awesome experience for our jaded city eyes.

A list of psalms rushed to my mind:

“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.”  (Psalm 19: 1-4, NIV)

 “How manifold are your works, O Lord.  In wisdom you have created them all!”  (Psalm 104:24, NRSVCE)

Thinking about that experience, I reflect on how life must have been during old testament times.  Actually, maybe I don’t have to go that far back.  I just have to return to the times before people had electricity, just a few hundred years ago.   I imagine how blessed people were when they could use their imagination, and create stories from the stars they would see in the sky.  No Netflix movies to watch, no YouTube on your android.  Just your imagination, and an eloquent story teller, pointing to a cluster of stars and forming figures that looked like a bear, or a hunter, or a dog, or twins.  As a matter of fact, people could actually tell time and seasons and could navigate the dark seas, and walk in the forests and not get lost, just by tracking the location of the stars.  “God’s waze are not our waze,” I say.

Though these ancient civilizations would not have the benefit of science and telescopes to explain what those stars were, their imagination took their thoughts literally out of this world.  And I suppose this helped them formulate in their minds the notion of the existence a universal being, a creator, a god.

Have you heard the skies speak? Here is what the writer of the Book of Revelations says:

^“Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.’” (Rev 5:11-12)

When I look at that night sky, or imagine it in my head, with all those millions of stars, I imagine these stars comprising “the thousands and thousands of angels” surrounding the throne of God and worshiping Him, day and night without end. The skies don’t just speak, they sing and they worship!

This helps me appreciate what Paul meant when he said, “From the time the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky and all that God made.  They can clearly see his invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature.  So they have no excuse whatsoever for not knowing God.”   (Rom 1:20)

Two thoughts come to mind.

I don’t mean to judge, but maybe that’s the reason why we have so many unbelievers today.  The urban lights and pollution, the glaring LED billboards, and the lights from the vehicles, the buildings, the streets, the parking lots, have dimmed our view of the night sky and have deprived us of fully appreciation the God of creation in the way the ancients had.  Perhaps if more people ventured into the dark night and stared at the stars, they would come to know that there is a God speaking to them through the night sky.  Or that they would be moved to join all those billions of angel-stars worship God in endless chorus. Just thinking.

Secondly, while we live in the comfort of our residences and villages, within a few minutes from all modern commercial conveniences, we miss out on the spectacle of God’s perfect creation. It’s right there, but because of so many competing lights and much pollution our view is clouded. We can’t see what is right there above us. We would of course need to go out of our way today just to view this spectacle.

Metaphorically speaking, that is precisely what preachers mean when they exhort us to declutter our lives, to focus on the essentials, to engage in the spiritual disciplines, so that the busy-ness and the distractions of this world will not drown out the voice of God calling out to us bringing a message of hope.

I therefore encourage those of us who have what seems now to be the luxury of time, to please go ahead, treat yourself to an out of town excursion.  Go outdoors on a moonless night, pick a spot away from lights and pollution.  And marvel at the starry night. Let this be an object lesson in listening to God, in enjoying God’s presence, in how God’s light ought to shine in our lives. Be blessed.    

“Take a good look at God’s wonders – they’ll take your breath away.” (Psalm 66:5, The Message)