I’m not religious anymore, but one Bible story that I heard many times is the story of God promising Abraham a son. For those of who aren’t aware, the story goes that God comes to Abraham, an old man with an infertile wife, and promises him that he will have a son. Apparent, Abraham didn’t seem impressive enough for God’s liking, so he asks him to go outside and tells him to count the stars, while acknowledging that it might not be possible. He then promises Abraham that he will have as many children as there are stars in the sky. The implication is clearly that Abraham is going to have a shit ton of children, but as I look at the sky at night, I can’t help but think of how much more lackluster that claim would be today. Light pollution isn’t even close to its peak where I am, but I think I could count the stars. Furthermore, I think that it might only take a handful of generations for someone’s descendants to be as numerous as the stars in the sky.
We have gotten progressively better at fighting the darkness. As we outpace the celestial bodies, they see that they are not needed and extinguish themselves, leaving only the faint remains of their brothers and sisters, testaments to the children yet to come.
Father Abraham had many suns, and many suns had Father Abraham.
I took one of them, and so did you, and soon they’ll be no more.
