The North Star

Yesterday night, Tricia and I were walking with Belle, our dog, around the yard.  It was quiet, except for the occasional passing car.  The night air was crisp, no mosquitoes yet, and the stars shone brilliantly in the sky.  It was a peaceful, enjoyable evening.  My wife and I talked about important questions that often plague us, including questions of existential import like, "If you had to choose, would you rather have a slice of pecan pie, chocolate cream pie, or coconut cream pie?"  (Coconut cream pie won, but I would choose to have a sliver of each one!)

As we looked up while walking due west, two 'stars' caught our eyes.  Can you see them?  They are directly in the middle of the photograph below - one brighter than the other.

I've never been real good at identifying constellations.  I had to come in and search for the answer on the computer.  Here is a zoomed in photo of the 'stars' for a better reference point.

As it turns out, they aren't stars at all.  They're planets.  Venus is the brighter one on top and Jupiter is the dimmer one on the bottom.  As the month of March goes on, Venus will climb higher and Jupiter will drop lower.  By the end of March, Jupiter will be hard to spot as it will be low on the horizon.  Very interesting to me!

This morning in church, the preacher told a somewhat related story that I'll try to recount.  I love the movie "Lonesome Dove".  We just finished watching 1883.  Both shows had a cook who drove the chuck wagons.  They were memorable characters.  The cook's primary job was to ensure that the cowboys received three hearty meals each day.  It was hot, tiring work and a treacherous journey, with many pitfalls along the way.  They were driving cattle from Texas to the rail head in Kansas City.  

But the cook had another responsibility that could not be overlooked.  After cooking the evening meal and cleaning up, the last thing that the cook would do before bedding down for the night, would be to take the tongue of the chuck wagon and point it toward the North Star.  You see, during  daylight hours, the North Star wasn't visible and familiar landmarks may not be easily discernable.  At nighttime, however, the North Star was there pointing you toward your destination.

There's a spiritual truth here.  Jesus is our North Star.  He is the Word made flesh.  This old world we're living in has many distractions, signs pointing the wrong way, familiar landmarks obscured by the 'wisdom' of man.  Oh, what folly we fall prey to in our journey.  These all are broad paths that lead to destruction.  There's a narrow way, however, that leads to life and Jesus is pointing the way.  In fact, He is the Way.  May we always ensure our wagon is pointed in the right direction, toward Jesus!

There's an old country song by Red Steagall, called "The Wagon Tongue," that tells the story of making sure your wagon is headed in the right direction.  The chorus is in bold below as well as the video of the song.  I think you'll enjoy it.

Life is like a grassy sea,
The trail ain’t always plain.
One may lead to pleasure
And the other lead to pain.
But you’ll never lose direction
And you’ll know just where you are,
If you’ll always point your wagon tongue
Toward the old North Star.

Let's make sure our wagon is pointed toward Jesus!