Your Guiding Star

Since before compasses in common use, people used to navigate at night by the positions of the stars. Notably, the North Star, Polaris, has been followed by sailors for hundreds of years. The wise men followed another star, a new star, to Bethlehem to see the Christ child. Now I wonder, what star are we following? What star should we follow?

Of course, when I blog about anyone following anything, the moral of the story is that we should follow Jesus Christ, but that's kind of vague and cliché. Is there a more specific star that we could follow to lead us to Christ?

A Primary song, The Light Divine, indicates that truth is "our guiding star." This makes sense if you consider the scriptures as being a good source for truth. Revelation, both ancient and modern, is how we gain access to truths that lead us to God, and since truth is eternal and unchanging, that makes it a sure star that you could follow.

Another hymn states that "love became [the] guiding star" of the pioneers. This is another good star to follow because, since Jesus was essentially the personification of love, either He is that star, or He followed it. With love being at the heart of both of the two great commandments, it makes sense to choose love as your guiding star.

But the star I most wish to follow is the one followed by Don Quixote, the "Unreachable Star."

"The Impossible Dream" is an inspiring song to me, partly because I first really studied its lyrics on my mission, and of course, I found spiritual symbolism in every line.

To dream the impossible dream, (Exaltation seems impossible, and certainly would be without heavenly help.)
To fight the unbeatable foe, (Satan is an adversary that cannot be slain.)
To bear with unbearable sorrow, (Sorrow for sin - our own, and others')
To run where the brave dare not go, (Okay, maybe I should have said "almost every line.")

To right the unrightable wrong, (Making full restitution for our sins is impossible, but an admirable goal.)
To love (God) pure and chaste from afar,
To try when my arms are too weary
To reach the unreachable star. (As above, Exaltation, or alternatively, perfection.)

This is my quest, to follow that star,
No matter how hopeless, no matter how far,
To fight for the right (And keep the commandments and follow inspiration) without question or pause,
To be willing to march into hell (or earth) for a heavenly cause.

And I know if I'll only be true to this glorious quest,
Then my heart will lie peaceful and calm when I'm laid to my rest.

And the world will be better for this:
That one man, scorned and covered with scars,
Still strove, with his last ounce of courage,
To reach the unreachable star!

In life, there will be challenges and difficulties. We will often get lost and become unsure of what way to go. Having a star to follow can help us make right choices, especially when our paths are uncertain. The old mantra of "What Would Jesus Do?" can be helpful sometimes, except for times when we have no idea what Jesus would do. He has all wisdom, and we don't. If we can't think of the wisest course of action, asking ourselves what Jesus would do may not help us so much. Of course, I'd often have similar problems following the star of exaltation and/or perfection.

A better question to ask would be "What do the scriptures/prophets say we should do?" At least then we'd get some clear answers, even though the scriptures won't give us answers to match every possible situation. Another good question to ask would be "What's the most loving thing I could do?" Our answer still may not be the best choice, but at least then, our choice will be motivated at least partly by love.

One thing I learned while writing this blog post is that Polaris isn't really one star, but three stars, all orbiting the same object. If we label one star "Love," the second star "the Scriptures," and the third star "the Goal of Exaltation," we could follow any one of those stars and still be brought closer to Jesus Christ. Incidentally, I've heard a rumor that the Star of Bethlehem was actually three stars, too.

Of course, setting our course by the light of Jesus Christ will help us safely navigate through life, but there may be more than one way we could set our specific focus. We can focus on trying to be loving, we could try to follow, as exactly as possible, the guidance in the scriptures, or we could set our hearts on "the impossible dream." I believe that any of those things can bring us closer to Jesus Christ and closer to our eternal goal. The question each of us must decide for ourselves is which heavenly star will we specifically follow toward our heavenly home?