This is an actual conversation I had with an Old Order Amish Bishop on election night:

Samuel: “Hello, Suzanne. I was going star gazing tonight and stopped by the phone shanty to pick up my messages. Thought I’d return your call.”

Suzanne: “Samuel, do you mean to tell me that the entire country is glued to the television tonight and you’re going star gazing?”

Samuel: “Well, you see, Venus and Jupiter are moving close together this month…” (He then went on to describe the alignment of the planets with great enthusiasm and detail. I could barely keep up! Remember, this is a man with an 8th grade education. But that doesn’t mean his education stopped at 8th grade.)

I was scrambling to take notes, but my mind snagged on what a profound remark Samuel had made, without even realizing it.

Think about it. Most Americans (myself included) were thoroughly immersed in the moment, on temporal events (albeit an important one) that would come and go. What a profound comparison of our two cultures! We are both Americans. We had both voted that day (he even told me for whom he voted). We are both Christians.

But Samuel’s eyes were fixed on the heavens.

On the eternal view.

On a sovereign God.

“Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many in righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever” (Daniel 12:3, niv).