When you wish upon a star…

Last night my son got out the new telescope he gave his four-year-old daughter (my granddaughter) and we all took turns looking at the stars in what was a very clear night sky. It was lovely and now as I look back, I see how fitting it was since yesterday was the feast day of the Epiphany when the wise men followed the star to find where the baby Jesus lay. Back in those days there was no ‘Google maps’ (or even paved roads for that matter) and it was challenging to find directions, but I’ll bet also amazing to follow this glorious star God had provided as a guide.

Have you ever wished upon a star, as the song in the Disney classic Pinocchio encourages us to do? I never really looked at the full lyrics until now…
“When you wish upon a star
Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires will come to you
If your heart is in your dream
No request is too extreme
When you wish upon a star
As dreamers do
Fate is kind
She brings to those who love
The sweet fulfillment of their secret longing
Like a bolt out of the blue
Fate steps in and sees you through
When you wish upon a star
Your dreams come true.” 

Being a dreamer, and someone who can be “extreme” in my wishes and dreams, I like the song lyrics because they speak to my heart. But I also reflected today that wishing on a star is not enough to make my dreams come true – that I’m not a character in a Disney movie but a real girl living in a real world where I know I have to work with God to make my dreams come true. The word “fate” caught my attention in the song…and I believe that we need more than fate but faith in God…and in ourselves. And more than that, we need to put in time and effort. Sure, to have a dream come true usually takes a lot of hope and faith in God, and He can perform miracles as He has done in the past. But as the prophets and saints tell us, we also have to act on our faith…that “faith without works is dead.” As Saint James says in the Bible, “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,†but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” (James 2: 14-18)

I pray that you have the faith to wish upon a star…and then, if they are in alignment with God’s Will and you work hard, all of your dreams come true!