Stargazing

January 6, 2026

I hesitated to write about stargazing in this blog since most of us can’t see many stars with the present-day light pollution that limits our ability to see the stars and planets. Very few of us will ever experience the true dark skies that our ancestors lived under.

Even so, I couldn’t resist writing about stars today, since this is the day that Christians celebrate Epiphany.

That is, the day of remembering the journey of the Magi who followed a star to find their way "from the East" to Bethlehem. These Biblical astrologers used the night sky to find their way to pay homage and give gifts to the newborn baby Jesus, (Matthew 2: 1-12).

It required night, darkness, for these Magi from the East to make this life-changing journey.

And perhaps this is important for us right now with what we’re going through in this dark period, this time of unravelling. Because, as Martin Luther King Junior famously said, “… I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough can you see the stars,” [1].

I’ve always loved reflecting on stars on the feast of Epiphany. In fact, I still cherish a crocheted star that was gifted to me during an Epiphany retreat in the 1990s. To this day I often wonder who made the yellow wool star with its googly eyes and soft pink nose.

Stars and the night sky have always been an important part of my life. When I was a small child I lived in several remote areas of British Columbia where the stars were abundant. I loved going outside with my parents during the clear nights.

My father was an avid star gazer. He often got up in the middle of the night to look through his telescope. Sometimes he even set his camera on a tripod to take photos of significant astronomical events, [2].

While my dad never spoke of his awe and wonder at the night sky, his behaviours clearly spoke of his delight in the immense universe.

And when asked, he’d describe the moon, stars, planets, comets and all of the universe, including dark matter as “God’s wonderful creation.”

My mother also had a healthy respect for the night sky. She often told me that she gazed up at night in order to feel closer to her parents who lived in Alberta, the province next to ours. In my maternal grandparents’ elder years, they regularly assured my mother that after their deaths they would be like stars shining down on her. That they’d always be there for her. My mother absolutely believed them.

What’s interesting to me is that my grandparents’ idea about being stars shining down on us wasn’t far off from recent scientists’ findings. And neither of them had finished high school or ever had access to knowledge which has shown that we all carry within us ancient stardust. That we are all made of stardust!

Like my parents, the Jesuit Brother Guy Consolmagno, past director of the Vatican Observatory invites us to find God in the cosmos,”[3].

So, how might we find the Holy in the cosmos?

The most obvious way would be to spend time looking out at the night sky. Soaking it in.

The spiritual practice on the SoundCloud file below will guide you through a time of prayerful reflection on the night sky, [4].

Some of you may already be casual astronomers and may have connected with the Source of Life through studying the constellations, using telescopes and the such.

For those who are interested in expanding your knowledge and experience of our sacred universe you may find astronomy field guides helpful in getting started in this awe-inspiring spiritual practice.

But for those of us who don’t really want to go outside in the dark or cannot see many stars from our homes, there are other ways to find the Holy in the cosmos:

• Consider visiting a space center such as the H.R. McMillan Space Center in Vancouver, [5]. Whenever I’ve seen the night sky in this planetarium, I find myself getting teary and awestruck at the immense, mysterious universe. Being there helps me to find the Divine in nocturnal beauty. Perhaps it might be the same for you.

•. Prayerfully spend time with the online images from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, [6] and the Hubble Space Telescope, [7]. Seeing star nurseries, pillars of creation, far, far away galaxies and so much more can be a spiritual experience in itself.

1. Martin Luther King Jr., I've Been to the Mountaintop, April 3, 1968, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmZvkHpX_Q4&t=2s

   
   

2. I inherited books filled with my father’s stargazing photos. The two night sky photos on this page are from these books. My father labeled the top photo as: "Eclipse of Moon, September 26, 1996" and the SoundCloud photo: "Hale Bopp Comet, March 8, 1997."

   
   

3. Guy Consolmagno, Finding God in Cosmological Things: Remembering George Coyne, in America Magazine: The Jesuit Review, www.americamagazine.org/faith/2020/02/19/finding-god-cosmological-things-remembering-george-coyne-sj/

4. This spiritual practice is based loosely on material from Christine Valters Paintner, Sacred Time: Embracing an Intentional Way of Life, Sorin Books, Notre Dame, IN, 2021, 127, 128 and Abbey of the Arts Prayer Cycle: Birthing the Holy, https://abbeyofthearts.com/prayer-cycle/birthing-the-holy/day-3/ and Christine Valters Paintner, Breath Prayer: An Ancient Practise for the Everyday Sacred, Broadleaf Books, Minneapolis, MN, 2021, 205-206.

5. See details of their programs at: https://www.spacecentre.ca/

6. NASA, Webb Image Galleries, https://science.nasa.gov/mission/webb/multimedia/images/

7. RocketSTEM, Hubble's Top 100 Images, https://www.rocketstem.org/2015/04/23/the-top-100-images-of-the-universe-captured-by-the-hubble-space-telescope/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=294050895&gbraid=0AAAAADh7MOlQpRTye_hs_3T-awkWMQ7tl&gclid=CjwKCAjwr8LHBhBKEiwAy47uUuzIYy08kxmJv-jqnsD4sx5r5jho81L7cNDBaza-IRFdXxA6NytTfBoCFWYQAvD_BwE

This blog is dedicated to the memory of Maureen Fowler, a beloved spiritual mentor.