Away from home?

Many have found that the awesome sight of the star-studded heavens envoke a sense of wonder, and awareness of trancsendence, that is charged with spiritual significance. Yet the distant shimmering of stars does not itself create this sense of longing; it merely exposes what is already there. They are catalysts for our spiritual insights, revealing our emptiness and compelling us to ask whether and how this void might be filled.

Might our true origins and destiny somehow lie beyond those stars? Might there not be a homeland, from which we secretly long to return? Might not our accumulation of discontentment and disillusionment with out present existance be a pointer to another land where our true destiny lies and which is able to make its presence felt now in this haunting way?

Suppose that this is not where we are meant to be but that a better land is at hand? We dont belong here. We have somehow lost our way. Would not this make our present existance both strange and splendid? Strange, because it is not where our true destiny lies; splendid because it points ahead to where that real hope might be found. The beauty of the night skies or a glorious sunset are important pointers to the origins and the ultimate fulfilment of our heart's deepest desires But if we mistake the signpost for what is signposted, we will attach our hopes and longings to lesser goals, which cannot finally quench our thirst for meaning.