Beacons in the Night

Does anyone here listen to the radio anymore?

I'm not talking about TV, or downloading music or even CDs. Im talking about spinning a radio dial. Even surfing cable with a remote isnt the same, because like as not youve got a TV guide available somewhere to guide your way. And we dont wonder where each cable channel IS, or where it COMES from .. a TV channel is just like a restaurant menu item, its just there for the choosing or leaving.

Not so with a radio. Or the stars. A radio is blind .. and stations are SOMEWHERE .. and they are broadcasting into the ether. Radios are blind, they just listen .. one can spin their dial at night say, and pick up who knows what .. much more at night actually, for the waves travel much further. Like the stars.. we can hear more.. and see more .. at night when we tune it. Radio stations waver in and out, like starlight. They require clear reception and can be blocked or interfered with, like starlight. These beacons in the night .. how we perceive and receive them varies with several things .. how powerfully are they transmitting? How far off are they? Station by station we may slowly turn the dial. But only one station at a time can be listened to..

Not so the stars. When we tune in with our eyes, this long distance radiation comes to us all at once.. all the beacons are visible together in the night sky .. some bright because they are near, some near and faint .. some bright because they are powerhouses, like some superstation in Chicao .. But its all long distance radiation thru the ether .. thru space .. to our eyes and ears ..

So some clear night, flip the dial of a radio .. listen to the din .. and realize too that the signals captured by your ears now are also radiating into space towards those same stars whose light rays you are receiving .. light and sound .. the waves will pass each other

Beacons in the night. They are out there. All we have to do is look. And listen.