As I left the grocery store yesterday just before 8 o’clock, I gasped when I saw the moon as it was rising. It was an enormous full moon, blood orange. “The moon, the moon! Look at the moon,” I shouted and people stopped and stared and began to take photos of the extraordinary moon we all saw.
Ancient civilizations all over the earth have ascribed all kinds of qualities to the moon, from unimaginable power to the beckoning of love. Rising in the east, it was so bright last night that its light startled me. Coming in through a window, it was bright enough that I could see the outlines of the trees.
Moonlight flooding into a window gives us a sense of peace, but, of course, there are times when it simply reminds us of disturbing times and we are flooded with memories and sadness. The constancy of the moon, even as its light fades with the coming of the day is a reminder also of God’s constancy even when we despair.
Prayer for the Day
God of all surprises, you manifest in so many way,
Bringing us closer to you and to each other;
Deepen our awareness of your Eternal Spirit,
Made known to us through the totality of your creation;
May we always be open to the beauty of your world
By sharing its manifestations with others.
In the name of the One who shows us how to love,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen
Thoughts for the Day
Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.”
- Mark Twain, American novelist )1835-1910)
A doctor once told me I feel too much. I said, so does god. that’s why you can see the Grand Canyon from the moon.
- Andrea Gibson, American poet, activist in LGBTI issues
And God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. God made two great lights – the greater one to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night – and the stars. God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning, the fourth day.
Genesis 1: 14-19