Good morning…
Waking in the middle of the night, I am surprised by the brilliant light resting on our couch. I snap the photo above then walk around to find more creative light streaking our floor and rug. As if on a scavenger hunt, I follow the glow onto the back porch. Voila, I discover the source. A big round moon hangs high in the dark.
After admiring several silent, mystical moments, I come back inside and open my calendar. Sure enough. In the right corner of the Friday, September 29th rectangle lives the phrase “Full Moon.”
Next a memory reemerges. Last week, I told our class that my portable calendar tracks the phases of the moon. New Moon. First Quarter. Full Moon. Last Quarter. Then back to New Moon. And so on and so on, week by week, month by month. I promised out loud to visit with the moon more often this semester, as we read our book Learning to Walk in the Dark by Barbara Brown Taylor. I promised … then … I promptly forgot … until I just noticed the beautiful streak of light lying on our couch in the middle of this night.
Now I return to page 9 in our book. After reading the following words aloud to the class, I made my promise to more regularly moon-gaze.
“I have been given the gift of lunar spirituality,” writes Barbara, “in which the divine light available to me waxes and wanes with the season. When I go out on my porch at night, the moon never looks the same way twice. Some nights its round and bright as a headlight; other nights it is thinner than the sickle hanging in my garage. Some nights its high in the sky, and other nights low over the mountains. Some nights its all together gone, leaving a vast web of stars that are brighter in its absence. All in all, the moon is a truer mirror for my soul than the sun that looks the same way every day.”
Intrigued, I go a bit further to research the uniqueness of this particular moon out my window. “Starting Thursday evening, a brilliant supermoon will be visible in the sky,” says an article from npr.com. “Supermoons occur when a full moon reaches perigee, or the nearest point to Earth on its elliptical orbit around our planet. The moon will begin to appear full Thursday evening, and reach the peak of its full phase around 6 a.m. ET Friday. Since it’s occurring close to this year’s autumnal equinox on Sept. 23, it’s also known as a harvest moon. That’s because historically farmers harvesting their summer-grown crops were helped by the bright moonlight shining shortly after sunset, according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac.”
I think, “Here we go, back to nocturnal farming!”
How sweet it is to say YES!!! again to my promise to notice the moon more regularly as a true mirror for our eternal soul. Like the moon, it will continue forever. The sky is a witness to the agreement that can be trusted. Selah (Psalm 89:37, ERV).
…Sue…
P.S. Last night as the full harvest moon began to rise in the sky, I got another update from Brooke LeBow following her husband’s heart transplant this week. “After a quite worrisome day on Tuesday, yesterday and today were full of positive progress. At the end of round this morning, the medical team summarized, “James is doing great!” Thanks for the amazing prayer support from my soul sisters and across the country. Please continue. James has some big tests tomorrow (echocardiogram to see how strong his heart is and how well it’s working and a right heart cath with biopsy to make sure no signs of rejection.)”
As tonight’s big full moon gives way to God’s warming sun, let’s keep James and Brooke tucked deep in the heart of our prayers.
