The Littlest Star

Have you ever wondered "how it really went down"? Christmas, I mean. I love thinking about it. We put these stories on a pedestal or don't think about them at all. The details, the tiny pieces that come from being built on the experiences of humans like you and me. I've long since thought about writing a short story about this piece or that piece of the story of Christmas, but I never have. So this year, I'm going to try something different. I'm going to write a couple journal entries throughout the next week. Just short little expos that will hopefully get you thinking. Get your imagination working. Because it's fascinating when you really start thinking about it.

Note: I just finished writing this piece and a it's a very rough draft. I'm not even going to edit it, because it's an exercise in creativity and I just had fun with it. Anyway, enjoy!



The Littlest Star

Once upon a time, many years ago, God created the heavens. And in the darkest night, he set up the Night Sky Council. Every night, under the guidance of the silver moon, the stars would glisten like diamonds. Some stars were brilliant and bright and they would light up the sky with their dazzling light. Other stars were dimmer or further away. Still other stars were not stars at all, but distant planets that shone in shades of red or orange. Every star had a purpose and a place, and every star took pride in its role.

Whenever a sailor or traveler looked up into the night sky, he looked first to the brightest stars, which had special names and stood out like beacons. Then he would look to the dimmer stars, gathered together in constellations, and the turning and location of these constellations could tell him where he was and where he needed to go. Even the color-tinted planets could tell the traveler about the seasons and the weather to come. In this way, every object in the sky had a purpose and a job.

But there was a tiny star that God had hung high in the heavens. This star was not bright and sparkling, nor was it close enough to be a part of any constellation. It was not even a special color like the distant planets. It had no role and this made the littlest star very sad. The other stars and planets looked down on the tiny star and they left him out of their gatherings, for he had no purpose. Sometimes, the older and wiser stars would try to help, telling the tiny star what he needed to do to grow up big and bright, or how he needed to become part of a constellation. Sweet Venus even offered advice to the tiny star about how to become red or orange like a planet. But none of this advice worked and over the years, all of the heavenly beings finally gave up on the littlest star. Cold and alone, the star sat in his corner of the sky, completely forgotten.

One day, the littlest star was visited by the leader of the Night Sky Council - the silver moon herself. With her was a young man with bright eyes and a kind smile. She introduced the young man simply as "the Son".

"Sun?" The littlest star asked, eyeing the young man, skeptically. "You sure don't look bright enough to be the sun."

The man laughed, a gentle chuckle, and sat down next to the star. "Not sun, Son."

"Oh," The littlest star still didn't quite understand, but he let it drop. Either way, he didn't understand why this kind man was here, talking to him. But when he turned to ask Silver Moon, she was gone!

"What is the matter, little one?" The man asked.

After a moment, the star blurted out his questions, "Why are talking to me? There are lots of brilliant stars out there. And stars that have constellations and planets in shades of red and orange. I don't have a purpose in the heavens. That's why I'm here, in this corner, and no one talks to me."

The man was silent for a long time before replying. "Well, little one, I do not need a brilliant star to light up the sky like a beacon for me. And I do not need to read the constellations to tell me where I am or where I am going, or the red and orange-tinted planets to tell me about the weather and seasons. Those stars and planets, they are for the people below, on earth. You, however, were not placed in the heavens for that purpose."

"I don't have a purpose," the littlest star protested, but the man shook his head.

"You will. Do you believe in God?"

"Of course," The littlest star looked startled, "He created me."

"Do you believe in me?" The man asked next.

"Well… yes. But I don't understand who you are."

"Neither do they," the man replies. "But they will. And so will you. Simply shine. Shine for me, alright?"

"Okay…" But the littlest star was even more confused than before Silver Moon had arrived with the man.

Sometime later, long after the man had left, there was a disturbance in the night sky and the littlest star went to investigate. When he found that Silver Moon had called for a meeting of the Night Sky Council, he went to Sweet Venus to find out why.

"The Son is gone!" Venus replied, distraught.

"Gone?" The littlest star was shocked, remembering the man who had sat with him and talked with him. "Where has He gone?"

"Down to earth," Venus replied. "And Silver Moon says it's our job to lead the world to Him."

"Oh." The littlest star frowned. "Well, that should be easy. I mean, the brightest stars can light up the night sky and the constellations can tell the world where they are and where they are going. And you can help, too."

But Venus shook her head. "No, little one. God has placed us in the heavens to guide men through the world. We do not have the power to light the way to Emmanuel."

"Then who will find Him?" The littlest star asked, distraught.

"We do not know," Venus said with a sigh. "And night will come soon, and then the Son will be born…"

The littlest star sighed and thought about this while the other stars and planets despaired. Suddenly, the thought struck the littlest star and he lit up, "I know! I'll find him!"

The other stars looked skeptical. "You?" They asked. "What can you do?"

"I can shine," The littlest star replied, stubbornly. "I can shine for Him!"

The other stars grumbled, but Sweet Venus silenced them, "Let the little one try," she told them. "We've nothing to lose." Reluctantly, the other stars agreed, and Silver Moon gave the littlest star an encouraging smile. "Just remember," she told him, "All you have to do is shine for God, and shine for the Son. You can do that, because God made you and you are special."

"Right! I'm special!" The littlest star told himself "And I will shine! Because the world needs to meet the Son!" With a fierce determination, the tiny star left his corner of the night sky while it was still early evening. He found three men, students of the stars. "Here goes nothing!" And screwed up his face and shone as brightly as he could. Startled, the men noticed the strange brightly shining star and they determined to follow it to where it led. And so the now-not-so-tiny star led the wise men to a small town of Bethlehem. And when, that night, the little star looked down upon the baby Jesus, he couldn't help himself. He shone so brightly that the entire sky was lit up and everyone who looked up stood in awe of this mysterious star and the baby that it shone for.

From that day forward, the not-so-tiny star was known by all as the Star of Bethlehem, and the only one who ever again called him "little one", was the Son. But that was okay, because the star could remember when the Son was little, too.

Bethlehem Star, Ray Boltz

When God created the heaven and earth
He said let there be light
And a million shining stars appeared
On the canvas of the night
They all declared the glory
Of the Father up above
But only one star led the way
To His greatest gift of love

CHORUS:
Bethlehem star How beautiful you are
Shining in the darkness
Guiding strangers from afar
As your light fills the heavens
His love fills my heart
So shine for me my Bethlehem star

Confessions of a Student

First of all, let me be frank. I was raised a rich little white girl. Okay, not exactly rich, but we certainly weren't lower class (and I use that term purely economically). I went to public schools in a nice-sized school district. You know, the kind of city that is neither one-horse-town, nor urban inner-city. I moved around as a kid, but I spent my entire high school at one school in the midwest. Yes, we had minorities in my school and in my classes, but there wasn't any major issue with discrimination. Nevertheless, none of my close friends were minorities. I had a nice, safe, group of euro-american (which I'm told is the new politically correct term) friends. In college, it was the same. I had a great support network - all euro-american girls. And here's where my confession comes in - subconsciously, a lot of that was my doing.

African Americans make me nervous.

They are flamboyant, extroverted and self-assured. If something's on their mind, they say it. There is an unspoken culture that reveals itself when African Americans come together, one that I have never seen the inside of. So, yes, it makes me nervous. That does not mean I look down on the culture or the race AT ALL. It means, rather, that I am nervous because I don't know how to act around them. And so I never feel like I can fit in with them. In the end, it simply is not the social web that I run with.

There. I confessed it; something I've never put into words before. What's my point? Well, fast forward to this year.

I'm in Houston. In south texas. But even so, at my job, there are very few African Americans at my job. Oh, we have minorities. Lots of asians of various nationalities, a guy with a beautiful irish accent and one girl who came (literally) straight from Russia. But very few African Americans. I can't even think of one that I work directly with. Odd, considering I'm in Houston, huh?

Then there's my school. Tiny Houston seminary. Imagine the culture shock when I walked into class on the first day and realized that I was one of 2 euro-americans in my first class - and there were 9 African Americans. It's not just the class, either. It's the student body. I walk down the hall and pass a group of 3 African Americans chatting in the hallway. I sit in the study and there are two African American girls studying with me. At first, I'll be honest. It was very unsettling. It still is. I feel like a fish out of water. There's an atmosphere that I'm not familiar with, in all of my years in the educational system. An openness. And as an insecure, uncertain, introverted young woman, it's not easy to grow accustomed to it.

Well, a semester has passed and I can't help but look back on my experiences. I walked into class yesterday and felt safe admitting that I was a little tired when someone asked me how I was doing. One woman, who I didn't know, insisted that I come out to the party that another class was throwing and there I saw a classmate from another class, who came up and gave me a hug, just to say high. And later, when several of us were talking, one classmate stopped to ask me if I was feeling okay, because I was being quiet. And yes, all of these are African Americans.

I don't know how else to explain it. I know that a large part of this welcomeness is the fact that this is a Christian university, where we are all studying to further pursue our journey of faith. We come together not just as classmates, but as Christians. But I also think that that bond of faith, when combined with the African American culture of extroversion (is that a word?), is part of what has made this semester so special to me.

I mean, come on. When a classmate that you don't know outside of class gives you a hug just because you ran into them in the hallway... that's not just a special sign that you are accepted. That's a big huge warm fuzzy is what it is. ;)