Wednesday, June 19, 2024
“The Lord himself
watches over you! The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade. The sun
will not harm you by day, nor the moon at night.” (Psalm
121: 5 -6, New Living Translation)
This morning, I read an article that
informed me that the moon is slowly drifting away from earth – at a rate of 1.5
inches a year. I am sure that doomsday folk will be quoting texts like Matthew
24, verse 29: “Immediately after the anguish of those days, the sun will be
darkened, the moon will give no light, the stars will fall from the sky, and
the powers in the heavens will be shaken.” But at such a slow pace, they might have to
wait a while for the Second Coming. I think what matters here is that this
drifting moon means that our days are getting longer, more than 24 hours. Just what
we need - longer hot days, longer work hours, longer school days, longer times
waiting, longer everything! Yikes!
When God created the earth, he began
by creating light. (Perhaps, he simply wanted to be able to see what he was
doing through the rest of Creation.) God saw that this new light was good. Day
and night were established. By the fourth day of Creation, God created “lights
in the dome of the sky to separate the day from night.” (Genesis 1:14) This
included “two great lights” – the sun and the moon. It was a good day indeed.
“Give
thanks to him who made the heavenly lights - His faithful love endures forever;
the sun to rule the day, His faithful love endures forever and the moon and
stars to rule the night. His faithful love endures forever.” (Psalm
136: 7 -9)
These lights like the sun and
the moon remind us of God’s constancy, faithfulness, creative power and eternal
Presence in our world. “When I look at the night sky and see the work of
your fingers - the moon and the stars you set in place - what are mere mortals
that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?”
(Psalm 8: 3 - 4)
The moon is an important part of
many religions and cultures. It is romanticized in poetry and song. When the moon
eclipses the sun, that is a big deal. Every
full moon has a nick name. e.g. this month it is the Strawberry Moon. The moon,
of course, affects the tides. The moon’s cycles determine the months and years.
There is nothing more beautiful than a full moon shining across the waters,
laying a golden, yellow path of light. “You made the moon to mark the seasons,
and the sun knows when to set.” (Psalm 104:19)
The thought of the moon drifting
away is almost like thinking that God is drifting away. We take a lot of things
for granted, just assuming that things are always going to be the way it has always
been. Our loved ones will always be there. The church will always be there. Our
friends will always be there. Our freedoms will always be there. Our good
health will always be there. Our financial resources will always be there. Our faith
will always be there when we need it. The moon will always be there. God will
always be there. Complacency sets in. We
may not notice the slight changes that erode our relationships with others or with
God. We may not notice the creeping separation between ourselves and the sources
of Light that we have always counted upon.
We cannot stop the moon from its
slowly drifting path nor should we even worry about that. But we can address
our own drifting from the sources of Light. We can resolve to take back the distances
we have lost by paying more careful and intentional attention to the sources of
goodness, life, faith and sacredness. Let’s not take for granted God’s Love, Grace,
Forgiveness and Mercy. Let us not neglect those actions which bring us closer
to Jesus Christ. Let us not become nonchalant about our family, friends, fellow
believers, even strangers. Those things pull
us apart.
We need to be closer together, closer to God and Christ. Closer to the Light:
“The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought
light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never
extinguish it.” (John 1: 4 -5)
“May he equip you with all
you need for doing his will. May he produce in you, through the power of Jesus
Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to him. All glory to him forever and
ever! Amen.” (Hebrews 13:21)
Forever and ever. For many, many
moons. And that’s a long, long time!
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