BYU-Idaho's top choral group performed The Heavens' Flock in the SLC Tabernacle during Music & The Spoken Word last Sunday. I was incredibly moved by the Christian message by the non-Christian poet, Paulann Petersen. In the piece, the poet lauds the stars in the heavens, which obediently graze across the sky like animate beings, never straying. The poet, lost and wandering herself, enviously emulates the Great Shepherd's celestial flock by building a makeshift fire of her own made of gathered "lichen" and "branches" and "twiggy clatter" . I loved the inferred metaphor of the collected "earthfood" to stoke the poet's internal fire. To me, her gathering efforts represent mortal obedience and sacrifice—the fuel of my own discipleship. Like the poet, though my fire is far from a constant, celestial blaze, my feeble attempts to be a light are seen and appreciated by my God, the Creator of all. LYRICS Stars, you ar...
Self growth is tender; it's holy ground. There's no higher investment.