Last night, dearly wanted to see the meteor shower, but it was too cloudy. I thought about the old saying about a tree falling in the forest and no one there to see it. If meteors are lighting up the night sky and can't be seen, are they really there? Of course they are...
The Epiphany carol, "We Three Kings," has been in my head this morning. "Star of wonder, star of night, Star with royal beauty bright; Westward leading, Still proceeding, Guide us to thy perfect light!" I remember talking with students at the Community College of Vermont about "epiphanies" -- those sudden moments of insight or clarity that change our lives. They may or may not be accompanied by stars or meteors, but a sky filled with falling stars taps into our ancient sense of foreboding but also of happy anticipation. Something meteoric may be happening, or about to happen! Such sudden twists and turns have influenced the lives of humans all through history. We are not alone, and there is nothing to fear. Life will go on, but changed.
The last 48 hours or so certainly have been filled with the unexpected, small and large. The most stunning news of all was of the sudden death of one of the most prominent musicians in the organ/choral music world. I barely knew him, yet I find I cannot breathe. Breath-taking. Our breath is taken away by news both great and tragic.
So, today, keep breathing, in and out. There is beauty in the meteors, when they show up brilliantly before our eyes, when they disappear into the darkness, and even when they are obscured by clouds. There is magnificence in all of it.
