“They are like wild waves of the sea, their foam is their shame. Like wandering stars for which the deepest depths of darkness have been kept” (Jude 1.13).
Stars tend to congregate in the great islands of galaxies within our universe. Born out of the dust and gas of stars that have died, most live out their long lives in orbits that take them around the central well of their galaxy.
But, sometimes they get pushed away from their familiar orbits. Without warning, they are ejected at such great speeds they leave the galaxy they’ve always called home and begin to wander in the darkness of interstellar space.
This idea of wandering, of being ejected from the community is what Jude declares a coming punishment for those who are going about preaching what Paul would call “another gospel.” Indeed, it’s difficult to determine a better punishment than exile for those who would twist the Good News for their own gain. But those found wandering are not always objects of punishment.
Astronomers don’t currently know why some stars are expelled from their galaxies. It is thought that some interaction between the star and some greater gravitational force—an interaction with a black hole or a collision of galaxies—are what send these stars on their unexpected journey. They are, you could say, left homeless by the push and pull of powers greater than them or opposed to one another.
It’s a feeling that sounds familiar to many in the Church today. Perhaps it’s the gravity of two passionate factions colliding in the congregations you’ve long been part or the chance encounter with someone with greater influence or power who used their ability to push you out and away. Like wandering stars, you may have found yourself ejected from your orbit and into the wilderness.
We have only recently begun to identify these interstellar stars. Compared to the vastness of the universe, they are small and hard to detect. But they may be more common than we imagined.
In some of the large star clusters, there are stars brighter and hotter than expected. They don’t fit the familiar model of star-types. It’s thought that in the violent expulsion from a galaxy some stars bind to one another, creating a star that no longer fits the familiar models. And these stars become part of one of the great clusters or groups of stars that often surround galaxies in our universe.
Of course, it takes time and long distances for these stars to find a new home. The period in the interstellar wilderness likely seems like it will ever end—a feeling that’s not unfamiliar to many who are wandering, looking for a new place to call home.
Like the stars, we too may find we no longer fit the established mold. We may no longer act as expected, appear as we did. We feel separated and alone.
But we, like stars, will find a home on the outskirts of the familiar places we once lived and served and prayed. A place with others a lot like us, who have wandered the places between.
And together, we will shine bright.
Wilderness Wanderer, you are with us in places both familiar and strange. There is no place we can be that is far from you, even when it feels so far from others. Lead us home. Lead us to a place of open arms that accepts us, even if we no longer fit the expected mold.