“Twinkle, twinkle, little star, like I wonder what you are.”

For centuries, people have gazed in wonder at the night sky. Songs were written, nursery rhymes memorized and wishes sent over us. Lovers kissed in the light of the moon, and many of us looked up to find the Big or the Little Dipper. Ancient astronomers saw patterns in the stars and named them Constellations. The polar star has, for centuries, guided sailors in the northern hemisphere on their way home.

When I was a child, it took practice and conviction to focus on the stars that made up the Little Dipper. When I finally saw it, I could see it every time I looked.

The International Astronomical Union website says, “Sometimes the stars will be physically close to each other, like the Pleiades, but constellations are usually really all about perspective. They are simply our Earth-based interpretation of two-dimensional star patterns in the sky made up of stars of different brightnesses and distances from Earth. “

The issues, challenges, changes and differing opinions in our world today can sometimes seem as vast as a clear night filled with stars. It may seem that there are only crises and problems in the world, but that is not the whole truth.

Author Melody Beattie said, “It’s so easy to look around and see what’s wrong. It takes practice to see what is right.

Sometimes here in Southern California the moon is easier to see than the stars. We can remember that we all live in the same moonlight. The same sun shines on all of us, and although the clouds hide it, the vastness of the universe is all around us.

So are acts of kindness, words of praise, feelings of support that are the very essence of our humanity. It may take conviction and practice to notice them, just like for me as a child to finally see the Little Dipper.

Whether we think we live in a world that has collapsed or think we live in a world that thrives on change, it all depends on our perspective. When we get used to seeing the good, chances are we will see it all the time. Then we will dance with the stars.

Reverend Linda McNamar is a resident of Laguna Woods Village.