Meteor Showers, Second Chances & New Beginnings

You Are Not Defined By Your Past. They Are Lessons Learned, Not Life Sentences

Jul 18, 2025

I know even now, as the summer heat in the evenings feels borderline miserable, I still make an effort to go out before bedtime and look up. Maybe it’s the way the stars whisper stories to me; I look for the patterns of constellations and find peace in their slow and steady drift across the sky.

I do this thing when I am outside before bed and I don’t want to take my eyes off the sky but must: I count to 30, 60, or 120 in the hopes that I catch a meteor streaking across the sky, its glow like a divine exclamation point. I do this every night right before I have to bring my eyes back to reality and go to bed.

The other night I caught a meteor on camera, and it did something I do not see very often, and that was burn twice on entry. It let off two pops of light as it entered the atmosphere. It, of course, is part of the ongoing Perseid meteor shower, which begins its dance across the heavens over the next few weeks. In seeing this meteor do its double flash, I was reminded of a truth that’s both cosmic and deeply personal: God is in the business of second chances.

Astronomers tell us that stars are born from the collapse of dust and gas in a nebula. It’s a messy unfolding; a dear friend reminded me today that “Life is messy,” and she is so very right. It’s also chaotic; just like the cosmic collapse of a star, it will often trigger the death of another star. But from that brokenness, something new emerges, a radiant light that will shine for millions of years.

Isn’t that just like Grace?

In our own lives, we often feel like we’re drifting in darkness, scattered like cosmic debris. But God doesn’t discard the broken. He gathers it. He breathes life into it. And from the ashes of our past, He births something new.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
— 2 Corinthians 5:17

The Perseids are active from July 17 to August 23, they are one of the most beloved meteor showers of the year. Each streak of light is a fragment of a comet once lost, now burning bright as it collides with our atmosphere. It’s a celestial metaphor for redemption.

This year, the Perseids will peak around August 12–13, just days after the full moon. But even now, in the early days of the shower, we can catch glimpses of these fiery messengers. They remind us that even in seasons of obscured visibility when the moon is too bright or our hearts too heavy, God is still moving.

Jesus didn’t come for the perfect. He came for me, and He came for you, all of us who are weary, the ones who thought their story was over. His ministry was filled with moments of restoration:

The woman caught in adultery, whom He defended and forgave: “Neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin.” — John 8:11
Peter, who denied Him three times, was later entrusted to lead the early church.
The thief on the cross, who found paradise in his final breath.

Jesus doesn’t just offer forgiveness; He offers renewal. A fresh start. A new name. A new light.

As you step outside tonight and in the weeks to come, look to the northeast toward the constellation Perseus. Let the meteors remind you: you are not forgotten. You are not too far gone. Like a star reborn or a comet’s trail igniting the sky, your story can begin again.

Until next time, keep looking up.

-g