"Star of wonder, won't you guide us..."

"Star of wonder,
star of light,
won't you guide us..."

Sometimes it is the simplest thoughts that resonate most deeply with us. At least it seems to be that way for me. A clear, true tone of truth reverberates through my being like a tuning fork. I can feel it bringing me into tonal alignment and in perfect pitch with the universe.

My friend Laura Matthews was the first spiritual thinker, I knew, who blogged. Her musings were honest, clear, and simple. I loved them. She encouraged me, and others, to find our voice and speak our truth. Then one day, she stopped blogging. Her writing took her in another direction. She'd stopped, as fearlessly as she'd started.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning once wrote:

"The capacity to terminate
is a specific grace."

It takes a manger-like stillness to hear the voice of angels whispering "this is your path." It takes the watchfulness of a shepherd to see when a faint star is pointing towards a hushed stable, and not be distracted by the bright lights of a bustling inn. It takes a wise woman to know when to turn her back on the Herod urging, and go "home" by another way. Laura has that capacity to terminate...and to courageously begin a new adventure. I watch in wonder, and celebrate in awe.

Laura's still writing. She's still encouraging blossoming writers. She's still making the rest of us "sound" cogent and wise through her editing business. I am so grateful she was willing to midwife the birth of my blogging, and cherish those infant stories. When I think of her, it is always the clear, simple voice of a single star on a December night, the tinkling laughter of a crisp, well-written sentence, the warmth of a kind word falling softly on the page like an infant's breath, that fills my heart. The following post from 2005 is just one example of her voice.


Christmas Starshine
by Laura Matthews

The manger. The animals. The shepherds. The wise men. The dutiful and selfless husband, the willing and innocent young mother. A perfect smiling baby. Compelling symbols of a miraculous event.

The symbol that moves me the most is the star. Each year our star glows brightly at the top of our tree, illuminating the entire room. That beacon light draws us along our journey, closer to Christ with unfailing certainty. It guides us in the quiet of prayerful moments, it lights the way in the darkest night. I look for the starshine whenever I pray.

I know this weekend will be very busy for most of us. I know we're hoping for memorable and pleasant family times, and to please each other with gift-giving and communing. Steal away, though, for a moment, sometime this weekend, and watch for the star. Watch for it with me. Let the star lead our actions. Let it bless us with its light.

And we will see the Christ appearing, in our hearts and our homes.

copyright Laura Matthews 2005


Here is a link to Sara Groves' recording of a prayer, as simple a single star, singing in the stillness of winter's night sky: "Star of Wonder."

Thank you Laura...for sharing your clear voice.... always,
Kate