Episode 73

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Published on:

28th Jul 2025

The Dog Days of Summer

Ghia – The Dog Days aren’t just the hot oppressive days of Summer they are actually the days of the year that Sirius the Dog star rises in the eastern sky just before dawn. And why is this important? Because like Sirius, Jesus Christ is known as the Morning Star.

Transcript
Speaker:

Hooray, GIA here.

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I'm this week's host of the Creative

Spiritual Journey podcast where Judy and I

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talk about those things that bring us joy.

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For me, I find joy by connecting

with nature, connecting with Jesus

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Christ and our heavenly parents.

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Seasonal living, and all the bits of magic

and wonder I come across while navigating

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this remarkable journey we call life.

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Here we are almost to the end of July.

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Oh, July here in the Northern Hemisphere.

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It's hot and we are deep into

the dog days of summer, dog days.

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Isn't that a descriptive phrase?

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Can't you just see a couple

of dogs flopped on the porch

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with their tongues hanging out?

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These are the hot oppressive

days of summer when it's

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hard to get anything done.

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The actual dates for the dog days differ

depending on what reference you look at.

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I found places that said the dog days

stretch from July to early September.

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This makes sense if you're basing

the dates on when it's hot in

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the northern half of the world.

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But there is actually a completely

different meaning for the term

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dog days, as well as a different

way of calculating the dates.

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The Farmer's Almanac, which uses

Astronomical Reckoning, says the dog days

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stretch from July 3rd to August 11th.

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These days are not based on temperature,

but on the rising of a spectacular star.

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Named Serious is part of the Constellation

Canis major, which according to Greek

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mythology, is one of Orion's hunting dogs.

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Being the brightest star in the

constellation, Sirius has won the title of

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Dog Star, and the reason July 3rd through

August 11th are known as the Dog Days is

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because during this season, serious rises

in the Eastern sky right before dawn.

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While most of the other stars are

drowned out by the eminent rising

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of the sun, serious holds its own

and sparkles in all its glory.

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If you get up early and check the eastern

sky, you won't be able to miss it.

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There might be a few other stars visible,

but serious will be the brightest

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star in the sky and when you see it,

you will be like, ah, there it is.

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Its huge and kind of blue and it twinkles.

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Turns out Sirius is the

brightest of all stars.

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Well, except for the sun, right?

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Venus and Jupiter, which look like stars

are actually brighter, but they are

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planets, not stars, so they don't count.

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Sirius is the brightest star.

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In the early dog days, as in early

July, you will see serious in the

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dawn hours close to the horizon, by

August it's much higher in the sky,

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but still shining in all its radiance.

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And just in case you are wondering.

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This is a global, astronomical

event, not a seasonal one.

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So Judy and all our friends

in South Africa can see serious

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over the same dates that I can.

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Granted it's winter in July in the

Southern hemisphere, not summer.

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But I think the fact that it can

be seen around the world over

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the same dates is really cool.

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And why exactly do we

care about any of this?

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Because Sirius is a fabulous star, and

getting to know a star as in feeling

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like you are friends with it is, in

my opinion, a God-like experience.

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And here's why.

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Let me read to you.

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Psalms 1 47 4.

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It says, speaking of Yahweh or

Christ, he eth the number of the stars

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and calleth them all by their names.

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Do you love that?

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Jesus Christ knows every star

and has names for each one.

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Ooh, don't you want to

know what he calls serious?

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We call this star serious because that is

what the Greeks named it over:

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ago, and the name has stuck in Greek.

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Serious comes from a word that means

glowing, scorching, or burning, but

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there are actually lots of other

cultures that have names for this star.

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I can't pronounce any of them,

so I am not going to try.

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But the names mean things like Heavenly

Wolf Bright, one of the passage, star

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of the Dog, little Dog, fertility

Star Herold of the Nile Burning one.

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Navigation star.

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Bo Star and Celestial Hound.

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Isn't it interesting that so many of

the names come from canine references?

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From what I could find out,

this is because canines are

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often seen as protectors or

a warner of change or danger.

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For example, in Egypt, the people

knew the Nile was about to flood.

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When they saw Sirius appear

in the morning, sky, Sirius

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warned them of the coming flood.

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In China, Sirius may have been called

the heavenly wolf because it was seen

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as a symbol of an eternal guardian.

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And Hungarians may have called serious

the celestial hound because its

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bright appearance before dawn coincided

with shepherds being in the fields

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and like a loyal sheep dog, the star

might have seemed to guard the sky.

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Now, personally, I'm not

crazy about the name Serious.

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It sounds like the English

word serious as in solemn or

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earnest, which to me seems odd.

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And it also reminds me of Serious

Black from Harry Potter as well

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as the Sirius radio station.

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And while both of these things

were likely named after the Star

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and not the other way around,

Sirius just isn't my favorite name.

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given the choice, the name I have

come to prefer for this fabulous

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Herald of the Dawn is my dog star.

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And when I see it, I think of it as

my protector and faithful friend.

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Notice the use of the word my dog star.

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If you go out and find serious and

get to know it, you may start to

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feel like it's your dog star, but

always remember it's my dog star.

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Okay.

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All right.

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Just kidding.

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We can share.

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All this said, I have to tell you a story.

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The other night I was sleeping on a beach

along the banks of the Colorado River.

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If there aren't any bugs or a threat

of rain, I prefer to sleep without a

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tent, which I was doing, but without

warning, I woke up to the patter of rain

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on my sleeping bag, and what I said was.

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Are you serious?

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I have to put up a tent right now,

but when I scanned the sky to see

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how thick the clouds were and how

bad the rain might be, I saw serious

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sparkling on the eastern horizon.

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Yep.

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I could see it.

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Even though I was getting rained on,

obviously the clouds weren't too thick

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And being able to see serious

told me it was almost done, and

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I knew I could just pull up the

tarp and make it until morning.

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after this experience, I have to admit

serious, just might be an appropriate

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name for this star after all.

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Now you need to know that when you get

used to finding serious during the dog

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days, you may find yourself wondering

where it is other times of the year.

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So let me explain how you can

find serious during the months of

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December, January, and February.

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That is by locating Orion's Belt,

which are the three stars that stand

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out in the sky as a straight line.

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Draw your finger through the stars

towards the horizon until you

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find a bright star that will be

serious in the northern hemisphere.

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You will find serious slightly

off the line to the left

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And in the southern hemisphere,

you will find it slightly off the

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line to the right, and when you

see it, you will be so excited.

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You will say, there it is.

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There's my star.

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I know that star.

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Now let me share another image

that relates to our dog star.

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In Revelation 2216, Jesus calls

himself the bright and morning star.

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does that make you think of Sirius, the

Bright Morning Star that can be seen so

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prominently during July and into August.

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Now I have to admit that Venus

is the celestial body, most often

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referred to as the morning star,

but Mercury is also called the

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morning star, and you guessed it.

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Sirius is known as the

Morning Star as well.

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Now, there are lots of ways to interpret

this symbol of the morning star, but

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one of the most popular is to think of

the morning star as signaling the end of

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darkness or night and the coming of light.

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Can you see how that is a

beautiful name for Jesus Christ?

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He is the light coming

out of the darkness.

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It is interesting to note that the

word Lucifer means light bringer and

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is sometimes translated as morning

star, but there isn't any place in

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scripture where Lucifer is actually

called the morning star as usual.

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I think this is an example of Satan

attempting to imitate Jesus Christ.

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Okay, but there are a few scriptures with

star references that do pertain to Satan.

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For example, this one found in

Revelation 12, which reads, His tail

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swept a third of the stars out of

the sky and flung them to the earth.

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Do you see the imagery here?

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This is depicting Satan as a

dragon when he was cast out with

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a third of the hosts of heaven for

rebelling against Heavenly Father.

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And while this may be a colorful

description of Satan, it isn't the dragon

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that sparks my interest in this verse.

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It is that the hosts of heaven

are referred to as stars.

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Does that mean that during

the Preexistence, each one

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of us were seen as stars?

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We were there.

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We were part of the hosts of heaven.

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It makes sense that we would be

seen as stars as well, doesn't it?

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I love that image.

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I get to imagine myself

as a twinkling star.

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And here is a scripture that I

believe goes along with this image

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in doctrine and Covenant 67, God

is called the father of lights.

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That's lights, plural, father of lights.

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Does that make you think of the

millions of twinkling stars in the sky?

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And we know that each one of us was

born with the light of Christ inside us.

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Does that light twinkle?

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Can it be seen across the universe?

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I like to think so.

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I can look at stars.

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I can be a star.

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Christ is my morning star and

my father has given me light.

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Are you starting to

see why I love our dog?

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Star?

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Okay, in case you aren't

convinced yet, there is another

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reason to get to know the stars.

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In Genesis.

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we can read and God said, let there

be lights in the firmament of heaven

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to divide the day from the night

and let them be for signs and for

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seasons and for days and years.

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And likewise, in Luke, it says,

There shall be signs in the sun

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and in the moon and in the stars.

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So just like the wise men who watch

the night sky for stars that would

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signal the birth of Jesus Christ,

we are invited to watch the sky for

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signs of Jesus Christ's second coming.

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Let me give you one more.

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This is Doctrine and

Covenants 45, which says,

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And it shall come to pass that he, that

feareth me shall be looking forth for the

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great day of the Lord to come even for

the signs of the coming of the Son of man.

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And they shall be signs and wonders

for they shall be shown forth in the

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heavens, above and in the earth beneath.

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And before the day of the Lord shall come.

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The sun shall be darkened and

the moon be turned to blood

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and the stars fall from heaven.

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So if we fear God, we should

be looking for signs of the

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second coming of Jesus Christ.

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Now truthfully, I don't actually want to

be around when the moon turns to blood,

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but if I'm given an invitation from God

to watch the night sky and to get to know

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even one star, I am going to take it.

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And one day, as it says in job, when

the morning stars sing together and

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all the children of God shout for joy.

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I plan to shout as well, Judy,

and I know your time is precious

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and that you have many choices.

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We love that you have chosen to

walk with us for a few minutes as

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we navigate this journey of life.

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If you like this podcast, will you take

the time right now to share it with a

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friend, share it somewhere on social

media, or leave us a five star rating.

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And if you listen on Apple Podcasts,

will you take the time right now

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to leave us a five star review?

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Your efforts will help others to find

our podcast and it will also help us

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to know that you like our show and will

give us the motivation to keep going.

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Thank you in advance for your help.

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Ah, the dog days.

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I hope they have given you a new

way to connect with Jesus Christ

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Because as Albert Einstein said,

look deep into nature, and then you

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will understand everything better.

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Namaste.

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About the Podcast

Creative Spiritual Journey
one small, deliberate step at a time
We are all on a journey—a journey home to our heavenly parents. Any experienced traveler knows there are days you laugh and days you cry.

We aren’t here to tell you how to live—we are here to share how we live—how we survive, thrive, and even find joy!

The journey gets messy with rainstorms and sleepless flights but the hard times—the miserable times—those make the best stories.

And the vistas, the sunsets, the little birds outside the window—those are the reminders that God is in the details, he is aware of us, he has trod the path before.

The Creative Spiritual Journey Podcast is hosted by Judy and Ghia Cooley—two sisters in their wisdom years—who love the savior and are dedicated to making this journey one small, deliberate step at a time.

Join us!

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