Star Gazing

It was a brand new day and star making was the task.  I had the privilege of watching the great creation.  What kind of workshop would be suitable for such a job and what kind of tools could form the beautiful spectacles of light that now lay in heaps all over the floor? 

His hands were the only tools required and they worked quickly and surely as light passed from between each of his fingers.  “This star must be different from all the rest,” the master spoke.  The hot soupy mixture he worked with would have been unfit for any other hands to work with…except for his.  As I watched I didn’t only notice the precision with which he worked, but my eyes were mesmerized by the marks I saw on his hands.  He had two oddly shaped scars on both palms, but neither kept him from creating.   

A rainbow of light seemed to move in waves between his fingers as he formed the white mass into a perfect oval and when he was finished the star was more beautiful than any other he had made.

As I watched, I saw the master hang each star in its place.  He carefully placed the new born star down, and in a soft voice filled with anticipation the master spoke, “We will call this one Northern Dancer and place her in the Eastern sky for safe keeping until the day she will be needed.” 
This particular star was different.  No other star had been made to move except this one.  The star flirted with its new surroundings as it learned to take flight.  The master smiled as the star cautiously flew back and forth always returning to his hands, unsure of itself.  Chuckling the master held her, “Just wait, my little star…one day your journey will lead you right back to me.”

I watched the tender scene as the master finally placed the little star in her spot, and instructed her to be still until his return.   
Thousands of years must have passed since that day and the Northern Dancer waited patiently as her maker had commanded.  I, myself, didn’t see the star again for quite some time.  I often dreamed of it though, and felt my destiny was somehow wrapped up in that star, and that one day it would lead me somewhere great.

And then one night while walking underneath the eastern sky with two friends, there it was!  From the moment I saw it I recognized it immediately and knew I must follow it wherever it would lead me.  We followed it for three days until it finally rested over the most unusual spot, a cave like dwelling hewn from the side of a small hill, but what I saw there is hard for me to put into words.

Inside lay a couple who were strangers to me, but in a basin near them lay someone very familiar.  In the dark of night I would have almost missed it had it not been for the light of that star.  I gazed upon the face of a newborn baby still red from birth but it was no secret!  I recognized his face but what caught my attention were his hands! Even though they were the hands of a baby, they were the same gentle, beautifully scarred hands I had seen so long ago.

A tear rolled down my cheek as I realized I was gazing upon the master once more!  His hands reached up to touch once again the star he had created so long ago, and yes, I believe the star recognized him as well! She danced a dance she had not been allowed to have until this day!  My mind could only imagine where the scars on his hands had come from but somehow they comforted me.  We all fell down and worshipped and it was then I heard the most beautiful song I had ever heard come from the light of the star.  It was a song I will never forget.  It will forever be imprinted in my mind along with the scars on the master’s hands.

“ O Holy night, the stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of our dear Savior's birth,
Long lay the world
In sin and error pining
Till He appeared and the soul felt His worth

Fall on your knees
Oh, hear the angel's voices
Oh night divine
Oh night when Christ was born
Oh night divine”