Building Excitement by Susan L.

  The annual meteor shower is taking place August 12-14. I saw a forerunner the other night. A beautiful, big shooting star that took my breath away.
   It's nice to sit in the back yard, eyes skyward, watching the streaks of light soar through the sky. Most are tiny blips of light while others, like the one the other night, light up the heavens. Apparently there is to be no moon so the show should be spectacular. I might even find a spot up the road that is more in the open because the sky is rather limited amongst the trees.  Hopefully it isn't cloudy those days.
  The early morning is when it is supposed to be the best but getting up early isn't one of my strong points. Whatever I see at night will be good enough for me. I know they are just chunks of rock and ice hitting our atmosphere. Who else but God would have arranged for nature to have fireworks?
  It would be great to plan a camping trip around the shower. It would have to be somewhere further north where there isn't as much light pollution. Not that I am in town but the lights from Alliston brighten the Eastern sky just enough to hamper optimal viewing. The meteors are still visible, just not as bright.
  I am not sure of  falling-star-wish-making policy, if they need to be made during the brief seconds that the star is in sight or if it's okay to wish on them after they have vanished...and I smile. It's a child's playful fantasy perhaps begun when mankind didn't know what they were and used wishes to dispel the fear of these unusual nocturnal sightings. I never remember to wish anyways because of giving thanks that a shooting star has been seen; that it has delighted the part of me that is still capable of being filled with awe and wonder. Then the realization that I can still feel awe and wonder births more gratitude.
  Besides, in Christ, wishes can be made anywhere, anytime as prayer. Meteors or birthday candles are not required.
  "Then God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good." Gen 1:16-18