Late last week as the old year faded into history and the New Year began,

I ventured outside into the dark cold winter air. The New Year’s night was quiet and peaceful. The only sounds were rustling dry leaves on the nearby hillside. I figured the sound was that of a deer looking for a sheltered place to bed down.

As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I began to see stars. In our daily life each of us often walk under the twinkling stars but never stop to look up. To most people, the tiny spots of light have little or no meaning. Perhaps they never sang, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star as a child.

If you take time to look around, the images of stars are so important, we have given them their own unique shape to symbolize their existence. Twinkling in the night sky, it is little wonder early man was fascinated by their presents. The history of stars can be traced back as far as man has recorded them in drawings and words. Yet, for something so prominent in our history, no one has ever touched a star.

Take a moment and look at our world today and see how many stars are part of the things around you. In school one of the first symbols of doing well is a small gold star on the top of your homework. When we say that someone is a star, we instantly recognize that means they are talented in their field of work. On top of Christmas trees, we place stars to remember that under a star long ago, our Savior was born.

Our military has used stars on planes and other military equipment for many years. The number of stars that a general has indicates the high level of his rank. For an actor to have a star on the walk of fame in Hollywood is high praise for that person. The American flag is our countries symbol for freedom and is often called the stars and stripes. The flag is home to a field of deep blue with a star for each state.

But the truth is, none of these things is what brought me out in to the winter night to take a picture of a distance spot of light. A picture of a star is a difficult subject to try and capture on a small electronic memory card. Even with my camera firmly placed on a tripod, a star is still a moving target in the night sky. Stars really don’t move, but the earth on which we live does. So my exposure has to be long enough to capture the dim twinkling light, but not so long as to have a streak that looks like the return of Halley’s Comet. If my exposure is just right I will capture a field of stars on a deep dark blue night sky.

Why try and capture something so distance from my warm home on this cold winter night? To look beyond our planet and wonder about those tiny bits of light?

A few days ago, the James Webb telescope was launched a million miles into space. At that distant point, it will look back into history of the big bang to study our past and future. How can it look back in time? Have you ever watched fireworks from a distance? First you see a flash and a moment later the explosive sound of the shell. That moment between the flash and the bang is important. The light you saw happen a milla-second before you heard the sound. Light travels at one speed and sound at another. The further the distance, the more noticeable the separation. It is the same way with the telescope when it looks into deep space. It will see the light traveling away from the beginning, looking as it did at the moment time began. You might think, okay, what is so important about old light, billions of years from earth? For scientist it gives them an understanding of the early universe. If you understand where it’s began, we can understand where our galaxy may travel.

A long time ago, my teacher, Mr. Rupert Shreve posed a question to our class at Central Grade School. What was this profound question that a small boy, now an old man goes into the darkness looking for answers still today? Mr. Shreve, “When you look into the night sky and see the closest star to our world, how long ago did the light you are seeing leave on its journey towards our world?”

Each student’s answer was different and even sparked a vigorous debate among a few of the intellectuals. Mr. Shreves being the ever-diligent teacher answered this way. “Who can tell me when Christopher Columbus left Spain to find the new world?” We all raised our hands with excitement because each of us knew the answer to the question. With a nod of his head Mr. Shreves indicated for me to give the answer. Without hesitation I said, “In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue.”

Mr. Shreve shaking his head in the affirmative said, “Now, how many years ago was that?” You could hear pencils and papers rustling as the class did the math to find the answer to his last question. Mr. Shreve began to explain the light from the closest star began it journey about the same time as Columbus started his journey to find the new world.

That lesson in the speed of light has intrigued me with the thought of looking back in time as I peer into the night sky. Above our world is the endless universe seemly filled with millions of stars? Some so far the light we see left a dying star that has now gone cold and dark. Yet its light still moves towards us.

The stars and their light arrive in our night sky having traveled differing lengths of times. Some left with the sailing of Columbus, others left with the building of the great pyramids and some left as early man first drew a star on a cave wall.

At this time of year, I remember in the night sky is a star whose light left its home to travel to our world. And at the same time a new life began in Bethlehem over two thousand years ago. That star and its light is a gift that arrives each year to remind us of the real meaning of the season and the gift the stars send us.

So on this special night, the young boy in me looks into the night sky and wonders, when did that light begin its trip to arrive this night, bringing joy for the world. On behalf of the Wetzel Chronicle and Tyler Star Staff, along with Mary and myself, we wish you all a Happy New Year Through the Lens.