A Backlit Canopy With Holes Punched In It

Simply beauty.

I had the opportunity to go camping this past weekend with some most excellent friends of mine.  The nights were frigid, what with it being mid October and all, and it rained half the time, but on the nights that it was clear, the sky was downright breathtaking.

We were in the northeast part of Minnesota, far from any cities of note or other forms of light pollution, which made for ideal viewing conditions.  Both due to my lifestyle and due to where I live, I rarely get out to see the stars and really apprecaite them, but as I looked up these past few nights, it left me stunned.

The sky was the darkest black, deep and endless.  When I turn my eyes to it, it's was almost an auditory sensation, as though the darkness had fallen onto the dome of the sky and enveloped it with a deep _whuff_. The stars were bright and pure, tiny pinpricks of light that melded together into a glorious sea of light.  The Milky Way glowed faintly in the background, a soft haze that lent the night a calm, quiet mood.

Looking up into that sky filled me with serenity.  When life is tragic or hard or filled with sorrow, the sky is a constant beauty, an unchanging reminder of God's power and presence.

In it, and in Him, I find peace.