Two weeks after Jeff's funeral. I was driving to see my mom and dad. I went out toward 3-Way market on the old Manchester highway. As I turned left on Sears Roebuck Road, it occurred to me that Jeff and I rode our bikes this way the day he told me he was sick. I drove along, sniffling and wiping tears from my eyes. Over to the right, above a big wheat field, I saw a shooting star.
There was no mistaking this one, it was bright, and lasted at least a full second. It traveled across the night sky, and was as beautiful and complete as any shooting star I have ever seen. I was reminded of the early morning bike rides that Jason, Brad, Jeff and I enjoyed. We rode often enough, and at the same time every morning, that we recognized the brightest stars and planets in the sky, and knew where they would be. I was reminded that its ok to be sad, and that's its ok to mourn. I know also that sadness looks down, while hope looks up. Did the Lord send that shooting star to remind me to look up? At that moment I was reminded that God is good, and God is in control. If I can get to heaven one day with my index card full of questions, I'm asking about that shooting star.
The science behind a shooting star is simple enough. The earth's gravity draws objects in space closer. Once the object enters the atmosphere between space and the ground, the speed at which it is traveling, and the temperature changes it is experiencing, cause the item to glow, and most of the time, completely burn up before ever reaching the surface. It goes from being space clutter, to a beautiful shooting star.
People are like a shooting star. We start out in this life doing the best we can, but broken and incomplete. We are drawn to a loving Creator, who wants us to know Him and trust Him. We have to change from the inside out, and allow God to change us into something better than we could ever be alone. Our inner light glows the brightest when others see something of God in us. Jeff's life and testimony points to a loving, risen Savior. Jeff's light was as bright as any shooting star.