she visits my grave, when the night winds wail...
Once it happened that a super nova was detected in another star system from ours. It had happened quite a long time ago, but only now had we been able to study it and reach the system where it had occured. A team was sent to the remains of that far-away galaxy, including some scientists, some researchers, and a lone Christian preist. To their surprise, when they arrived, they discovered a lone planet on what would have been the edge of that system. Similar to Pluto, it had miraculously escaped the armaggedon of the dying star, and it soon became obvious to the team that a civilization had once flourished on this now-barren planet. Not long after they landed, they discovered the remains of a huge, man-made pylon. The pillar had been hundreds or even thousands of feet tall, but now only crumbled bits of it remained. Beneath the rubble they unearthed a treasure store---vast records and pictures, a horde of information, the history of the dead planet. A sad story was revealed as the team studied the last years of this foreign race. They had known that their star was going to go nova, and what was worse, known that they could not escape the inferno. These records, then, had been their last attempts to prevent memory of them from being lost forever.
It was a depressed and morose team that finally left the dead planet, heading once more to earth with their sobering news. The team had been able to determine exactly when the star had gone nova, and where it would have been visible in the heavens from earth. This last information had saddened all the team members, but the priest was shaken to the core of his being, his faith finally called into question. A few hours after take-off, he went to the ship's chapel to pray to his God for guidance. Staring at the stone Crucifix that was hung on the wall, he asked the silence the question that burned in every member of the crew's being.
"What was the need, O Lord, that the light of these people's passing should shine low in the western sky over Bethlehem?"
It was a depressed and morose team that finally left the dead planet, heading once more to earth with their sobering news. The team had been able to determine exactly when the star had gone nova, and where it would have been visible in the heavens from earth. This last information had saddened all the team members, but the priest was shaken to the core of his being, his faith finally called into question. A few hours after take-off, he went to the ship's chapel to pray to his God for guidance. Staring at the stone Crucifix that was hung on the wall, he asked the silence the question that burned in every member of the crew's being.
"What was the need, O Lord, that the light of these people's passing should shine low in the western sky over Bethlehem?"