My husband and I have recently set a goal to visit as many state and national parks as we can. We have had all sorts of amazing adventures that have included day trips to parks nearby and longer road adventures to national parks on our bucket list.
Our recent trips have taken us to the Hoodoos of Bryce Canyon National Park and the desolate fields of pinon, cliffrose, and mesquite throughout the Mojave Desert leading into Zion National Park. One thing that was extra special was recently viewing the Harvest Moon from the absolute darkness of an isolated national park. I think my city living had made me forget what it is like to see a night sky in a really dark place. Absolutely amazing! It took my breath away to see so much when there was not one artificial light around, only the reflective light from the moon and stars!
When my sister and brother and I were growing up, we would sometimes lay outside on a quilt on a dark night, and we would just look at the sky. No television, no phone, no activity, no plan – we would just look up and see what we could see. My dad would point out the Big Dipper, the Little Dipper, the North Star and so many other things – I wasn’t always certain that I could really see the specific configuration he saw (I always wondered, what’s a dipper anyway?). However, I just loved that he knew everything and could point them out and it was so dark that we could see the millions of bright objects in the sky.
Those nights, just staring into the sky and then again recently looking at the moon and stars in a dark space without a light visible on the entire horizon might have been what it was like when a beautiful star shone in the sky to tell of Jesus’ birth. Can you imagine the totally dark sky and the amazingly bright star above. How exciting, how frightening, how peaceful and how daunting it would have been to be told “follow that star to the Savior!”
The next adventure on our travel list is to Death Valley National Park – they say nights there are so dark that the park is classified as a Gold Tier – the highest darkness level given by the International Dark-Sky Association. Many celestial objects viewed from there are not visible anywhere else in the world! I can’t wait – the light in pure darkness is truly sacred. If you can, drive away from the lights of the city some clear evening and spend a moment just sitting in the darkness looking into the sky. Think on these words, they can remind us that any night can be a holy night:
O holy night! The stars are brightly shining.
It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.
O holy night, O holy night, O night divine!
Lori Hall, Executive Director of Missions
