Stars in the heaven of understanding

"O friends! Be not careless of the virtues with which ye have been endowed, neither be neglectful of your high destiny. Suffer not your labors to be wasted through the vain imaginations which certain hearts have devised. Ye are the stars of the heaven of understanding, the breeze that stirreth at the break of day, the soft-flowing waters upon which must depend the very life of all men, the letters inscribed upon His sacred scroll. With the utmost unity, and in a spirit of perfect fellowship, exert yourselves, that ye may be enabled to achieve that which beseemeth this Day of God." (Bahá'u'lláh--Gleanings page 90)

Image at www.commons.wikimedia.org by Vincent Van Gogh Starry Night Over the Rhone, painted in September 1888 at Arles. Oil on canvas 72.5 × 92 cm (28.53 × 36.21 in) Musée d'Orsay

My mother used to sing part of this quote. I can still hear her beautiful, clear voice ringing in my ears. I wish I had a recording I could share here. I had not read the quote in its entirety for a long while though. It is interesting to note that it is a call to action, and to continue action in the face of criticism or derision. Who was this quote originally addressed to? What could have been the "...vain imaginations that which certain hearts have devised...?" Anyway, in a broader sense it is addressed to us all, and we have all faced criticism, scorn and lack of understanding at some point or another. This leads back to the quote on "faithfulness" from a few days ago, and the need to continue in what we know is right, and this lends a special energy to what we do, that is beyond what we can produce ourselves.

When I think of stars, I think of a quiet night, over the pond, sitting and gazing up at the starry sky. I usually think of stars as something static, quiet. But far from it, they are in constant movement, and generating great amounts of energy! Gaby was telling me the other day that in Stephen Hawking's book on the Universe it talks about how the actual light that we see from the starts has been traveling immense distances. Some distances are so great that although we may see them, those stars may not actually be there anymore, however, their energy is still reaching us.

Is it, then, that the things we do, the movements we make, the energy we expend... all continues to travel, touching the lives of others, even after we are gone? Gee, that makes me want to make sure every action counts!