For all you star gazers out there I’m going to embarrass myself here. The nights in Tala, Kenya are absolutely beautiful. No light pollution to hinder seeing the stars, only when it’s cloudy out. The first night I realized this I was looking into the sky and it was like the stars were brighter than I ever remember them being, probably because no other light was competing with them.
As I gazed into the sky I saw the big dipper – upside down! I began turning around, like a dog trying to find a comfortable spot, to get a view of the dipper right side up. What the heck was going on, I wondered. Then Chuck ever so gently reminded me we were in the southern hemisphere (while in Tala) so the constellations would be the opposite from what I remember from the States. Ok, that explains it, thank you!
We cross the equator whenever we visit Eldama Ravine Children’s Village and to be honest I never checked the stars while we were there – sorry. However, Chuck did say water swirls in opposite directions on either side of the equator!
As Paul wrote to the Philippians –
Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life…(emphasis added)
I have a note in my bible next to this verse that says “we don’t look at the darkness around the star we just see the light”. Seeing how brightly the stars shine in Kenya helps me to understand the application of this verse – with the Holy Spirit I can “shine like stars” to those around me (without complaint or argument) so they can see the light of Christ.