Not Your Typical Church Lady

The other night I had occasion to walk outside after dark to take care of a few things. There have been many nights that I've gazed up at the moon, but this was the first time I saw colors around it. It was well after sunset and the initial moonrise, but there was still an aura of pinks and purples surrounding the moon. There was no choice but to stand there in my driveway and allow myself to be captivated by it. It was bright enough to cast a shadow, which is always fascinating in the dark.

The next night was full moon and it must have called to me because I woke up at 3 a.m. and went to the window to stare at it again. At that moment, the moon was so bright that I was able to grab a notebook and write my thoughts by the light it was providing.

It made me think, (which at 3:00 a.m. it's hard to say if the thoughts were more clarified or still cloudy with residual dreams) the moon by itself is really not beautiful at all. By itself, it's just a gray lump of rock that orbits the earth. When you think about it, the moon alone, really, is kind of ugly. What makes the moon so beautiful? The light of the sun reflecting off of it is what makes it so alluring. Realistically, it is just a plain little ball that reflects the light of the sun on a dark world.

"The moon will shine like the sun, and the sunlight will be seven times brighter..." (Isaiah 30:26a, NIV).

Oh the lessons we can learn from the moon! The joy and love and light that radiates from a heart and life belonging to God, is quite beautiful. They are a reflection of a greater light, not the creator of the light. They are reflecting the Son.

"In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16, NIV).

The purpose of the moon is to shine a light on a dark world. But again, the moon does not make its own light. Our purpose is also to shine the light on a dark world, but we are not shining OUR lights, we are called to be reflections of the light of God. Give a hand to those who need help, be kind to those who need kindness, smile at those who need a smile.

What else can we learn from the moon? The moon does not reflect with great intensity at all times. No, the moon has regular phases (or faces, according to the children). The moon never stops orbiting the earth, but it cannot be full 365 days a year. During new moon, the moon is quite dark and barely visible. This is a good lesson. We need little breaks, too. A life of service has a tendency to have a draining effect on the individual. It is good to step back and refresh on a regular basis. Little breaks are good for our overall health. We are all on different phases at different times. The good thing is, we usually overlap each other, so that while one is taking a break, someone else is in full moon mode.

Does this mean that during our break we should quit reflecting God's love? No, this means we will still be kind, we will still be loving, we are just pulling back from the fray and regrouping temporarily. This isn't a hall pass to be awful. It's a hall pass to take a break from doing 39 different things at once or going full bore 24 hours a day. A person needs to take a break once in awhile. Then, after being refreshed, we can slowly move back into our phases of service, reflecting the Son with growing intensity until we peak at full moon again and begin the process all over. Use your "new moon" phase to sit, study, reflect and meditate on the Word. (I am very much looking forward to my new moon phase, which will begin shortly after we get the Heritage Fair quilt completed, if I'm still alive.)

We are not able to look directly at the sun. We can try, but we'll burn our retinas. Our eyes cannot handle the intensity and brightness. But we can look at the moon. We can look directly at the moon as long as we want. God is also too much to take in visually. Biblically, one did not stare directly at the face of God. Elijah wrapped his face in his mantle and Moses saw the back of God as he passed by. When God wanted to reveal himself, he would at times send a representative. A representative will not burn someone's eyes, but God's presence will be made known through them. He sent Jesus to us in form of a man, so that Jesus could teach us how to be representatives too.

Go outside tonight. Look at the moon. What is it telling you? Can you reflect the Son's light on a dark world in some way? Be the moon that this world needs.