Signs

by Robin Gray

Tonight marks the Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year.  It also marks the first night of a convergence in the heavens that has not happened in some 800 years when Saturn and Jupiter pass in their orbit of the sun in such an alignment that they appear to shine as one bright new star. 

A dark year…

2020 has been a particularly dark year for a lot of people.  We’ve had a historic global pandemic that has caused economic ruin for many.  Small businesses have closed their doors for the last time across the country.  Food bank lines are stretching out for miles in cities and rural communities all over the nation.  Political and social unrest is higher than it has been in decades.  And as of this writing, over 319,000 Americans have died from Covid-19 in the past ten months.

I have experienced a particularly dark few weeks myself as seasonal depression has converged with anxiety over other family issues.  I haven’t been able to write for weeks.  My mind has been too full and my heart too heavy. 

A sign in the heavens…

But my friend Lisa just posted on her Facebook page, “Christmas star is out!” and other friends are posting photos of the horizon and selfies looking through binoculars and telescopes.  There is excitement on my Facebook feed that cannot be simply explained away by just the scientific convergence of two planets millions of miles away.

King David spoke of God using the stellar atmosphere to declare his sovereignty when he wrote, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands,” (Psalm 19:1). Perhaps, on this darkest of days in this darkest of seasons in this very dark year, the heavens are sending us a sign…

Direction from the stars…

Astronomers have long looked to the night skies to map out our direction.  Ancient explorers have discovered distant lands with little more than a working knowledge of the constellation.  And some two thousand years or so ago, a group of Arabic astrologers began following a new star that appeared in the east, believing it foretold the birth of a new king. 

The heavens were sending them a sign.

The Magi and the Light of the World…

They found instead a lowly carpenter, a young mother and their infant son.  “When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.  On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.” (Matthew 2:10-11)

Ah yes…  The Christmas Star, and the gifts of the Magi… The heavens presenting a sign for those who look to the stars and dare to hope when the night is dark.

We call those star gazers “wise men.” They understood from the sign in the heavens that a very normal looking baby in a nondescript house in Bethlehem was actually to become the King of the Jews. The scripture tells us that they also bowed down and worshipped him. Did they also know that little baby would become the light of the world?

A sign of hope, a Christmas star…

And here we are, centuries later, on the longest night in the darkest season of this long, dark year, and a sign has appeared in the heavens.  Perhaps to announce that hope still shines and love still lives.  Maybe to tell us to remember to look up, even in the darkness.

The scientists and astrologers who watch the skies and map the stars tell us that Saturn and Jupiter will shine their brilliant convergent light for just four nights, ending on December 25, 2020.

Coincidence?  I don’t think so.  I believe it is most definitely a sign.

“In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:4-5)