"September 11, Stars and Sorrows"
Wednesday, September 11, 2002
Last September 11 has changed the way we look at life. We know now that we share sorrows that are felt in other parts of the world. An ancient poet put side by side the sorrows of earth and the stars of heaven. "The Lord . . . heals the broken-hearted and bandages their wounds. He counts the stars and names each one" (Psalm 147:3-4 NCV). As we mark September 11, we ask the question: "What connections can there be between the stars above and the sorrows below?"Both stars and sorrows are the common possession of all human beings. No one has a monopoly on the starry heavens. The sorrows of broken hearts are the common possession of the families of those who died in New York City, in Washington D.C. and in Western Pennsylvania. The families of Afghanistan also have know sorrow as their villages were bombed and their children were killed. Campus Pastor Harvard Stephens Jr. (Howard University) says: "Our ministry in [Christ's] name must even question a patriotism that can make scapegoats and targets of poor people in distant lands. We must never lose sight of the kingdom of God" (The Lutheran, September 2002, p. 3).
Both stars and sorrows make us realize our littleness and our openness to being hurt. Stars make us feel our littleness in this immense universe. The Chicago World's Fair was held in 1933. A photo-electric cell turned on the Fair lights. This photo-electric cell was activated by light from the star Arcturus that shined through a telescope at the Yerkes Observatory. The beams of starlight left that star in the 1890s when the First Chicago World's Fair was held. Similarly, the heartbreaks of life make us realize our littleness and exposure to terrible hurts. This is the reason the poet pictured God as a physician healing the broken-hearted and bandaging their wounds.Both stars and sorrows are often hidden from our sight. In the 17th century Galileo used his telescope to prove that the sky was filled with stars that are not seen by the naked eye. In the 20th century larger telescopes revealed that some of the so-called "stars" in our Milky Way were actually other galaxies far beyond the Milky Way. These galaxies contained billions of stars hidden from our sight. Similarly, there are heart-breaks that are hidden from the sight of other people. These hidden hurts come from personal failures, losses, betrayals and separations. May our observance of September 11 remind us that the God of the stars is also the God who calls us to heal the broken-hearted and to bandage the wounds of the sorrowing. 
