Lay Reader Ann Robinson writes:

These all began in Genesis ch 1 when God created the world in which we live and whose stewards we are. God created lights in the heavens: the sun, moon, and stars. One of the primary purposes was to mark the passage of time. These lights were for “signs and for seasons and for days and years”

I am always amazed that the moon and sun and stars control the tides and the seasons and although there is part of me which would really like to understand how it all works and continues to work, there is a large part of me which is pleased that I don’t because the wonder is so beautiful. I’m sure those who do understand it all have the wonder of knowing how it happens.

St Paul wrote in his first letter to the church in Corinth, “The sun has its own beauty, the moon another and the stars a different beauty; and even among the stars there are different kinds of beauty.” When we first moved to South Luffenham there were no street lights and we could see the night sky clearly. Now there are lights and although they are down lighters, the night sky is still to some extent unclear.

I was fortunate to spend some Christmases in Chamonix and where there were no lights the sky was stunning and immense; in fact I had trouble finding a words adequate enough to describe the wonder and splendour. Every star seemed to be visible and indeed have its own different beauty.

We talk much about the pollution in our world and there is light pollution too with one third of the population unable to see the Milky Way. It is such a glorious spectacle but I wonder how many people look up at the sky? We seem to spend much of our time looking at the ground and scuttling around instead of taking time to look up.

The Magi were probably astrologers and would need to look up to study the stars. And they saw the star which led them to Jesus in the stable. They had the knowledge to know that this star was something special and the courage to follow it. They were amongst the first to worship Christ and give thanks for him. Do we look up and see the Saviour of our world?

We spend a lot of time talking about the weather often complaining but we are also aware of the changes in the seasons and just now we are in awe of the Spring; the fresh greenery, the flowers so cheerful and colourful. We will move steadily into Summer with the gloriousness of the scent of roses and the sound of bees. Then Autumn with the wonderful colours of the leaves and the drawing in of the nights and the reappearance of the night sky early. Finally we return to Winter which is my favourite season, perhaps because I am a Winter baby. Each season moves seamlessly into the next with its own outstanding beauty.

The world works with all the parts dependent on the others; we cannot have the sun, the moon and the stars without the tides and the seasons and day and night. God made our world for us and it is a great gift to us. Like a child with a toy, we are careless and we are destroying that great gift. What can we do to make sure that life continues as God intended it to be? God created the world and saw that it was good. How can we make sure that His world continues to be good for all of us?