There is something truly magical about lying down to sleep and looking up at the stars. My wife and I, and fifty other brave souls, did just this on the night of 31 January. At around 3 in the morning we looked up and there, perfectly framed by the roof and buttresses of the Cathedral was the Plough – that saucepan shaped constellation which if you pick the right two stars will point you to the North Star, a rather faint speck of light but which fortunately has little competition and so can be fairly easily picked out.
As I looked up I remembered my father introduced me to the Plough, and to Orion, Cassiopeia and my favourite, the Pleiades, a small question mark hanging in the winter sky. My father loved the stars and took great joy in describing the different types, where and when to find them, and especially the amazing distances involved. I suppose it was the first time I can remember having a strong sense of awe – an overwhelming feeling that I was so tiny in comparison with the universe and yet, in the very attention my father gave to me, very significant.
So why were my wife and I, and fifty others, sleeping under the stars on a freezing January night at Guildford Cathedral? We were trying to raise the profile of young homeless people, as well as raising a load of money!
1 in 14 young people are likely to experience homelessness and we house quite a few at Guildford YMCA. But as I looked up at the stars and wondered how many young people were doing just the same – because they have no choice - all I could think about was my father and the focussed attention he gave to me. The sadness is that many of those homeless young people have probably never experienced that kind of attention from a father.
As I looked up I remembered my father introduced me to the Plough, and to Orion, Cassiopeia and my favourite, the Pleiades, a small question mark hanging in the winter sky. My father loved the stars and took great joy in describing the different types, where and when to find them, and especially the amazing distances involved. I suppose it was the first time I can remember having a strong sense of awe – an overwhelming feeling that I was so tiny in comparison with the universe and yet, in the very attention my father gave to me, very significant.
So why were my wife and I, and fifty others, sleeping under the stars on a freezing January night at Guildford Cathedral? We were trying to raise the profile of young homeless people, as well as raising a load of money!
1 in 14 young people are likely to experience homelessness and we house quite a few at Guildford YMCA. But as I looked up at the stars and wondered how many young people were doing just the same – because they have no choice - all I could think about was my father and the focussed attention he gave to me. The sadness is that many of those homeless young people have probably never experienced that kind of attention from a father.
