I believe there are natural metaphors all around us — where nature often conveys something deep, rich, and profound about life, spirit, or truth.  In a previous post, I shared a natural metaphor related to a woman’s womb (The After-Womb: A Parable), which, I found out, was previously revealed to someone in the Baháʼí faith.  In this post, I share another natural metaphor, which can be appreciated by anyone who has access to a clear night sky.

First, a little context … I had taken a several month break from blogging because I felt drawn to various other activities (as dabbler’s do).  One of those activities was trying to understand the Bible in greater depth. I had felt (and hoped) that the Bible had something prophetic and consistent to say about what humanity would eventually do to the Earth. Instead, I discovered that I had a lot more to learn about the Bible — that there was much more behind the words (and running through the words) than is immediately apparent.

One very early morning, after praying earnestly for some additional guidance in my endeavor, I noticed that the starry sky was particularly clear.  It was so clear that I could see not only the nearer, bright stars, but I could barely make out the dusty texture of distant stars.  It required some significant concentration to see those clusters as more than clouds.  And then I realized that I was staring at another natural metaphor and perhaps an answer to my prayer (not the answer that I wanted, but possibly an answer, nonetheless).

I created an image and wrote a short poem to convey the natural metaphor.  At first, I asked for some help with these things from artificial intelligence engines, but the results were not that satisfying; so, I just did the work myself.  My apologies to real artists and poets.  I might tweak with the image a little, as the distant stars (silvery swarms) are too tough to make out on a phone. 

Whose eyes first see the bright stars
May sense the silvery swarms beyond,
A texture of total truth to trust.

Whose eyes now nurse the near stars
May thirst for the distant, dreamy dew,
Though those nodes aren’t known by none undone.