Star Making

Star Making

    Pablito, the young angel came upon the Lord in His workshop.  The Lord bent over a project on the bench.  Pablito liked the workshop.  It was full of interesting tools and scraps of diverse materials.  Over against one wall stood bolts of unimaginably beautiful cloth.  Next to it were several bins holding a wide variety of items.  Some shone with inner fire while others gave off a smoldering smoky glow.   A huge shelf and cupboard held vials, jars, and urns of all sizes and shapes.  Each held a different element or compound.  Some were light others, tightly stoppered gurgled mysteriously when he shook them.  Some He used on a regular basis while others rarely used gathered dust.

Once, Pablito asked the Lord why He used some things so rarely?

    “Well, some things contain so much power you need very little of them to get your desired effect, love for example,” He replied, laying a gentle calloused hand on the young angel's shoulder.

Pablito liked examining all the different things in the workshop.  He enjoyed the feel of urns, running his fingers up the gentle curve and along the graceful sweep of the lip.  Sometimes he plunged his hands and arms up to the elbows in the bins of mysterious powders.  Then, lifting his hands up toward the ceiling he let the powder sift back into the bin while he watched the light sparkle on the drifting grains.

Yes, Pablito liked the worship.  Full of light and interesting tools, it invited young angels to come, see, and play.  Occasionally as some projects bubbled away over burners the Lord asked him to stir carefully.  That was the most fun of all.  He would lift the lid, sniffing the fantastic smells drifting up from the bubbling liquid.  Sometimes the vapors gave off sweet cinnamon smells.  Other times, he got whiffs of sharp unnamed spices that tickled his nose.  Yes, he liked the smelly, light-filled, noisy workshop.  It was a place of joy and discovery.

Pablito stood and silently watched the Lord for a while.  He labored on this project intently, working a lump of strange material with a mortar and pestle.  For some reason, this material resisted His efforts.  He pushed this way and that grinding hard with the pestle.  Amazed, Pablito noticed beads of sweat on His forehead.  On a corner of the bench, a pot over burner bubbled fiercely.  When each bubble popped a brilliant flash of light spilled into the workshop accompanied with a wild sweet smell.

“Pablito, come here I need you.” said the Lord without looking.

“Yes, Father,” replied Pablito.  The Lord was like that.  You never knew exactly where He would turn up or what He would do.  It was always interesting and wonderful, but just as frequently surprising and occasionally disquieting.

Pablito hurried over and picked up the indicated whisk and started stirring the burbling pot.  As he stirred more bubbles rose to the surface and popped.  For a few moments, the flashes and strong smell surrounded Pablito in an incandescent sweet cloud making him a bit dizzy.

“Careful there, you don’t want to bruise that or overexcite it,” instructed the Lord.

“Oh, yes Sir,” replied Pablito stirring a bit less vigorously.

“Do you like helping in the workshop, Pablito,” asked the Father?

“Yes Sir, I do.  It is a lot of fun,” said Pablito.

“I do too, it is fun making things,” said the Lord, “That’s enough stirring.  Will you bring me a bit of royal chromium from the shelf?”

“Yes, I will,” said Pablito turning to the shelf of ingredients.  He walked over to the shelf and stood there looking for royal chromium.  With a start, he noticed that none of the containers were labeled.  How could he tell which one was royal chromium?  

        He turned to the Lord, “Which one is it?”

“Well, here let me show you how to find it.  Clear your mind and picture royal chromium.  Do you have a good picture of it in your mind?”

“Yes Sir, I do,” said the young angel, eyes screwed tightly shut.

“Okay, now open them and look.”

Pablito opened his eyes and looked once again at the shelf full of ingredients.  As he ran his gaze over the bottles, one caught his eye.  It glowed with an inner light!  So that was how He did it.  This workshop was truly a mysterious and wonderful place.

“Wow, I always wondered how you could just reach over and pick out an ingredient on the first try,” said Pablito.

“Well, this system only works when I am around.  It helps keep young angels out of trouble.” said the Lord, laughter crinkling the corners of His eyes.

Pablito handed him the royal chromium.  Watching with great interest as the Lord added a drop to the mass in the mortar.  And so, the day went, the Lord working away on this mysterious object with Pablito running back and forth for a wide variety of ingredients.  He found such things as deep midnight blue, and mountaintop green.

“Now go and get me a cupful of starlight.” said the Lord handing him a battered tin cup.

Pablito took the tin cup and went to the shelf.  He closed his eyes thinking of pure silver starlight falling like rain on his face as he stood gazing up while the Lord carefully placed lacey pinwheels in space.  A battered clay pot at one end of the shelf glowed softly.  

“Gottcha,” he whispered triumphantly.

As he picked up the clay pot it moved!  The starlight inside surged against the walls of the pot making it shift in his hand.  When he set the pot down on the workbench it bumped and rattled a bit.  He glanced up at the Lord who smiled back and nodded for him to continue.  Carefully, he slipped off the lid.  As he did a wonderful glow filled the room.  He dipped the measuring cup into the gently swaying mass.  Carefully he handed the cup to the Lord as it gently surged in his hand.

“Wow, why does that move so much,” he asked?

“Oh, starlight must travel a long way so it must be especially powerful,” replied the Lord.

“So, we are making a star,” said Pablito.

“Yes, we are,” said the Lord somewhat quietly.

“But I thought we did that a long time ago.  I remember standing there watching you fling them into the sky.  That was a fun day,” said Pablito.

“Yes, that was a fun day.  But this is a special star for a special purpose,” He said quietly.

Pablito noticed that the Lord was very quiet and thoughtful, somewhat sad now.  That was a bit unusual.  The Lord rarely was sad.  He took the cup of starlight and gently poured it over the lump He worked in the mortar.  He took the pestle and started grinding slowly working the quivering starlight into the stiff lump.  As He did the lump changed.  It softened and started glowing with an inner fire.

Once He finished working it all together He stepped back, “Now, let’s finish up the liquid.  How is it coming, Pablito?”

“I think it is coming along fine,” he replied.  Pablito looked into the simmering pot.  Soft bubbles of light gently rose from the deep blue liquid.  Each bubble was a slightly different color, some red, others maroon, occasionally a crimson or yellow one scrambled up from the bottom.  Pablito’s favorites were the green ones.  They seemed to take longer to get to the surface and when they popped an especially sweet smell filled the air for just a moment.

The Lord took the whisk and gently stirred the pot while Pablito watched.  Pablito stared as a single tear slipped out of the Lord's eye!  Where did that come from?  Pablito had never seen the Lord shed a tear, not once.

The tear slid down the Lord’s cheek and then off.  It hung in the air for just a moment, a diamond-like jewel.  Then, just as quickly it fell into the burbling liquid in the pot.  When it did, the liquid changed.  It still burbled with wonderful colors.  The smells still filled the room for a moment when the bubbles burst.  But something was quite different.  Somehow, Pablito could never quite explain it; the liquid was tinged with deep sadness or sorrow in the background.  It was still joyful and happy, but way in the back bubbles of deep blue sorry occasionally popped.   When they did just a hint of bitterness filled the air and then it was gone.

“Well, it’s ready.” said the Lord.  He took the gently sparkling pot and carefully poured it over the glowing lump.  When He did the lump glowed brightly quickly growing in intensity.  Soon its’ brilliant light filled the room.  The Lord carefully tipped the mortar over and a star rolled out onto the workbench.

“Wow.” said an awed Pablito, “That is the most beautiful star I have ever seen.”

“Thank you.” said the Lord, “I like it too.  Would you like to come with me to place it in the heavens?”

“Yes, that would be fun.” replied the young angel.

“Come then let’s go,” said the Lord.

As the two of them padded down the hall out toward the terrace the Lord’s son joined them.  

“Is it ready, Father,” the Son asked?

“Yes, it is.  Would you like to see it?” the Lord replied offering the brilliantly glowing star.

The Son took the star and rolled it back and forth in His hands.  As He did so, the star slowly changed somehow becoming even more beautiful.

“Ah, I was hoping you would add that touch,” said the smiling Father, “Now it is ready to place.”

The small group arrived at the edge of a vast abyss.  Pablito glanced down the face of the cliff.  He never could quite make out the bottom.  The Lord stood there for a moment gently tossing the star in the palm of His hand.  Suddenly, He drew back, and with a mighty heave, He flung the star out across time and space.  

The three watched as the wonderful star arched across the deep black of space.  It scribed a perfect arc across the sky missing the spinning galaxies and constellations.  With a gentle plop, it landed on the far edge of space.

“Well, that’s just right.” said the Lord.

“Yes.” replied the Son, “It is.  It looks just the way we pictured it.”

With that, the three of them turned around and headed back into heaven.  Pablito scratched his head in wonderment.  The Lord and His Son did deep things, mysterious things.

“It is the King’s star,” said Gassur, “I think we should go and see.”

“I think you are right,” replied Bin-Maher, looking up from his parchments, “It is mentioned in this prophetic scroll.”

“Well, then, let us prepare for a long journey.  We must go and see this, the king of kings the star announces,”  said Al-Sadek.

The three men stood looking at the brilliant star glowing in the West for a few moments.  The star glowed so brightly that it cast a light shadow on the darkened balcony.