Summer Meteors

I love meteors, especially the Perseid meteor showers that arrive late July through mid-August. I wake up in the middle of the night and can go outside into the warm night. I get comfy in one of the lawn chairs on the backyard deck and gaze into God’s wonderful creation. Then I wait, wait, wait. Hope. Hope. Hope. And there one is!! Yippee! A meteor streaks across the sky. My night is complete. A summer surprise. God’s amazing work.

But this summer was different. Finally, we had a clear weather and a delightful warm night. It was about 1:00 am and I slipped out of bed anticipating my usual routine of staring at the stars and contemplating the heavens. The weather was perfect as I settled onto the lounge chair and looked up.

Was that fog?

No, I don’t think so.

Clouds?

Mmm, not sure.

Mist?

Why are the stars so dim? I could see stars, but not as many as usual. Some constellations came into view, but many of my old summer friends were faded and not entirely there. Odd. What was going on?

I waited, wondered a few more minutes until I realized what was happening. You see, I have cataracts in both eyes, and they have been getting gradually worse. In fact, the past few weeks I have noticed dramatic decline in my long-distance clarity especially with low light situations.

No wonder I couldn’t see the stars!

How sad and disappointed I was.

My appointment to see the eye doctor is next week so hopefully in the next few weeks I will have the surgery to remove the cataracts, and my vision will improve but sadly this year’s summer meteors will be gone by then.  But I know other opportunities will come along for star gazing and meteors and you can be sure I won’t miss them!

This morning I came to the Lord with a very thankful heart. I felt so blessed for my eyes. To be able to see. That alone is such a miracle when you think about our eyes.  To have the opportunity and the privilege to be able to have the surgery to have my eyesight corrected. To be able to afford this procedure. To have my health so I can have this done also. To live in an area where I can choose a doctor and have the means to travel to that doctor. I am so blessed and I know many do not have that choice.  So many in this world are just struggling to live right now, to survive, and I am whining about not seeing clearly… Forgive me, Lord. 

Then I also realized I am thankful for the stars and those meteors. You know last night even though I couldn’t see them, they were still there. Still twinkling up in the sky. Still streaking across God’s amazing creation. Just because I couldn’t see them didn’t mean they were not there! I still believe those stars and the meteors continued to dance in the heavens, even though I didn’t see them.

Sort of like faith isn’t it?

Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”