The Starry Night

Vincent van Gogh is my favorite artist. When I look at his individual deeply textured brush strokes, I feel intense emotions. He didn't live a long peaceful life. He was not successful during his lifetime... only sold 1-2 paintings, and was financially supported by his little brother, Theo. The two of them wrote many letters, published as "The Letters of Vincent van Gogh", by his sister-in-law, Johanna Van Gogh-Bonger. In these letters it is possible to read van Gogh's deep thoughts about life and death:

"Life is only a kind of sowing time; the harvest is not here..."

It certainly is a strange phenomenon that all the artists, poets, musicians, painters, are unfortunate in material thing. That brings up again the eternal question: Is the whole of life visible to us, or isn't it rather that this side [of] death we see one hemisphere only?

Painters-to take them only- dead and buried, speak to the next generation or to several succeeding generations through their work.

Is that all, or is there more besides? In a painter's life, death is not perhaps the hardest thing there is.

For my own part, I declare I know nothing whatever about it, but to look at the stars always makes me dream, as simply as I dream over the black dots of a map representing towns and villages. Why, I ask myself, should the shining dots of the sky not be as accessible as the black dots on the map of France? If we take the train to get to Tarascon or Rouen, we take death to reach a star. One thing undoubtedly true in this reasoning is this, that while we are alive we cannot get to a star, any more than when we are dead we can take the train.

So it seems to me possible that cholera, gravel, phthisis and cancer are the celestial means of locomotion, just as steamboats, omnibuses and railways are the terrestrial means. To die quietly of old age would be to go there on foot.

Recently, my father-in-law caught his train to his star. When I look up at the starry sky I can dream of him and my dad, and their twinkling eyes smiling back at me.

May you feel loved ones smiling back at you from afar until we go there ourselves.

Blessings,Pastor Nancy

No matter who you are, no matter where you are on life's journey, you're welcome here!

The Tehachapi Congregational Church is an open and welcoming community of faith that believes that each person, created in the image of God, holds a piece of the truth. Therefore we respect each person's unique spiritual journey. We invite you to experience the difference that religious freedom in a caring community can make in that journey.

We are located at 100 East E St., in Tehachapi. Worship and Sunday School are at 10:30 a.m. on Sundays. Please join us for coffee and fellowship at our Friendship Hall after worship (approximately 11:30 a.m.). All are welcome.