Stars shining bright above you
Night breezes seem to whisper “I love you”
Birds singing in the sycamore trees
Dream a little dream of me

Say nighty-night and kiss me
Just hold me tight and tell me you’ll miss me
While I’m alone and blue as can be
Dream a little dream of me

Stars fading but I linger on dear
Still craving your kiss
I’m longing to linger till dawn dear
Just saying this

Sweet dreams till sunbeams find you
Sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you
But in your dreams whatever they be
Dream a little dream of me

Stars shining up above you
Night breezes seem to whisper “I love you”
Birds singing in the sycamore trees
Dream a little dream of me

Sweet dreams till sunbeams find you
Sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you
But in your dreams whatever they be
Dream a little dream of me

Yes, dream a little dream of me… 

This little ditty was in my head this morning, so being the blooming, blogging addict that I am, I had to post it on Facebook, and Twitter, and say something about it in my blog. 🙂 This song has always been a favorite of mine. For one thing, it makes a great lullaby. It also makes a great love song. 🙂

Who hasn’t been enchanted by a night sky full of winking, blinking stars? I remember sleeping outside as a child, watching the stars….I would fall asleep for an hour or two, and wake up, and they would have moved. Then I would drop off to sleep again and the next time I woke up, they would have moved again. The night ended with the pale blush of dawn creeping over the stars like a gauzy veil until they slowly disappeared. It was an experience I remember to this day, the cold air, the errant mosquito, the arc of the stars which mirrored the earth’s rotation.

SO much has been written about the stars, most likely since people were writing about anything, it makes me wonder WHY we are so drawn to them in the first place. The answer may be fairly simple: they are beautiful, period. It may be, however, that there is a slightly more complex reason. The stars are far-flung in the universe, glimmering, shining, twinkling, and surrounded by darkness. As we learn in school as children, stars are not the tiny pin-pricks we perceive them to be, but vast, hot, and blazing spheres that can be seen from enormous distances. The darkness is all around, by all appearances, swallowing the stars completely. And yet, the stars continue to burn, and shine, and give light to us, millions of miles away.

It makes me think, in many ways, how much the same description can be applied to some people. Though surrounded by darkness and trauma and grief, they continue to shine the light of hope and encouragement to those around them. You don’t necessarily have to agree with them to be touched by their infectious goodwill. Encouragement and hope are so rare, and so valuable, that the worth of these individuals is beyond measure.

To the people that toil day after day in the ER, or the classroom, or the thankless job that nonetheless pays to keep a roof over their families heads, let me take a moment to say “thank you”. To the lonely individuals who stand up and do what is right, whether or not it is popular or praised, or politically correct, I say “thank you”.

Do not be discouraged!! The world has such a deep need for you! Without these acts of faith and kindness and hope and faithfulness, we would be in overwhelming, suffocating darkness. There will come a certain day when you will be rewarded.

“In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very natureof a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death — even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, ‘children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.^‘ Then you will shine among them like stars in the skyas you hold firmly to the word of life.”  Philippians 2:5-16a