Change Your Stars.

It has been a little while since I last blogged, I suppose there hasn't been much to blog about; however returning to the world of writing I have high hopes of being humorous and morally educational. Let see how this plays out.

 As most of you know from previous blogs I work nights at a local pizza joint and walk home after my shifts at around one in the morning. I have written a previous entry regarding one of these walks that involved a conversation/lesson with a rather humorous omniscient being known as God and a humbling challenge to pick up garbage. Well... It happened again, this time is not as humorous and the lesson has changed but God in his infinite glory remains the same.   

 I was cruising down the road in my 2008 pumas; stride long and maintained, one arm pocketed in my 100% wool pea coat as the other sort of dipped and swayed with each step, my own hardcore theme music playing in the background of my mind as I hoped that someone was out in the middle of the night starring at me and noticing how utterly cool I looked. Undoubtedly the most prideful thing I could be doing at that moment was walking down the street with a swagger in the middle of the night; but as God likes to humble the proud, this egotistical “runway shoot” was soon followed by the most humiliating thing I could be doing at that moment; carrying a butt load of someone's garbage.

 As I breezed passed the mound of hot dog boxes, I said in my brain “ What jerks just leaving their junk all over the place!” to which God instantly replied  “Well then why don't you pick it up?” This made my heart sink.

 I kept strolling by pretending that God had not indeed said to pick up the garbage and that I was just being overly condemning due to the nature of my last run in with late night garbage. This was obviously not the case.

 “Didn't we do this last time? I thought you conquered this? Do you feel that you are above this?” The giant voice of conviction shot me these thoughts plus more in a matter of moments as I continued down the sidewalk.

 My feet stopped, finally, and my head turned to look at the pile of red boxes marked with the numbers 7 and 11. Words like servant, humility, love, patience and grace flashed through my mind as I battled my flesh to pick up the mess. Reluctantly I submitted and returned to the entourage of cardboard and began to pick it up. A minute or two later I was continuing on my late night walk home thanking the Lord for humility; as I passed by a parking lot to an old closed down shop I noticed 5 other hot dog and pizza boxes.

 “You can grab those too.” Spoke the Lord in a gentle tone. I imagine a small fatherly grin approached his face as well.

 Minutes went by again and there I was cruising down the road in my 2008 pumas; my feet shuffling across the pavement, both arms trying to balance the cluster of  garbage in my arms, a piece of renegade hot-dog fell out and sauced my 100% wool pea coat, the hardcore theme music was gone now and replaced with songs to worship the King. Due to the lack of garbage cans on main roads I carried the load for 10 minutes and of course in those moments was passed by an abundance of vehicles that of course took notice of utterly stupid I looked. “Where were you 12 minutes ago?!?”

 After I disposed of my lesson in humility for the night, I was met with more of a lesson the I had expected. God spoke to me as I walked through the residential neighborhood to my home.

“Am I not God Michael? Can I not change anything in this world?”

“Well yes Lord you can do anything.” I replied the obvious answer.

 I strolled by a bush “ Could I change the color of this bush or the way it grows?” His voice posed yet another obvious question.

“Yes Father, you are all powerful. Nothing is beyond you.” I spoke truth yet wondered where this was going.

“Do you see the stars my son? Could I but move one and completely change and reshape mankind’s beliefs and all that he sees and knows?” His question was deeper and more meaningful.

“Yes Lord you can do this and it would flabbergast the world and force man to believe in your mighty presence.” My heart began to weigh in heavy on these thoughts and revelations.

“Could you, on your own, change these stars my son?” He inquired.

I answered  “ No Father I am only a man.”

“ But my son you can pick up a piece of garbage and in proportion to your size and power it is the same relation to me as a star. So if you pick it up move it to a new location, even if no one see's you do it, will not the world be changed and mans eyes be opened?” He announced in the utmost sincerity.

 My mouth had no words for this, no response, nothing.  I continued to walk, trying to take in this new idea that the Lord placed in my mind. He, the King, the creator, had just shown me how to change the world in the smallest way imaginable; however his lesson was not finished.

 As I continued along the sidewalk, parallel to a gated community field, I noticed a small can over the fence and about 25ft in. The Lord then placed it on my heart to, patiently, walk to the  fence opening and backtrack 100ft to reach the abandoned can and, again, pick up the trash.

 A few minutes later I approached the small pop can and heard the voice of God in my head one last time saying “ My boy I want you to try harder and sacrifice more and I'm about to ask you to give me one more thing not out of punishment but because I want you to change your stars.”

 Coming up to the tin can, I finally noticed the label, 'Dr.Pepper.'. My favorite pop... my favorite little sin. I knew in that instant that God wanted me to give up this little indulgence, that I loved so much.

 Is pop a big thing or major sin in my life? I would say not. But I ask; is a star a big thing in the eyes of God? And yet if he moves one or makes it disappear, our whole world would be altered for eternity. So if I make pop disappear out of my life, wont my stars be moved and thus wont the world be changed forever? And so I encourage you, my family, change your stars with me so that we may change the universe and celebrate it for all time with our Christ.