Dead Starlight

Once in science class they taught
us that the light we see is made
from stars that died a thousand
years ago, winked out of existence
by the time we see its light.

A friend of mine in the class leans
out of his seat towards me and says
“God is dead. The hope and faith
from a thousand years past reach our
eyes but there is no life left in the words.
We are alone here”

I fear that he was right, that God
has abandoned us here, that we
too are those dead stars, and will wink
out of this world. I imagine the stars
dying, one by one. Has God left us?
Did he ever exist to leave?

Lift up your head and look

There are still stars winking in the sky,
new stars created, always new ones
to replace the dead. The universe expands
constantly being remade, the particles reformed,
everything being made new again. Open your eyes
and look. There is more of God in your life
today then there was yesterday.

God is alive, his hands wrapped around the fabric
of life, weaving new patterns from old matter.
Our own cells die and regenerate, our own bodies
made new again, recreated, reformed.
Everything is being born again, a new people,
a new heaven and a new earth.