Walking Penelope this morning earlier than usual and I saw the moon was still up. He had stayed up later than usual partying with the twinkling stars. Mr. Waxing Gibbous Moon resembled a luminious celestial pearl, floating beautifully, hanging low in the dark blue sky canvas. I marveled at the different colors of white and gray I could see, so pretty against the day’s blooming blue sky. Everytime I see the moon in the day’s morning I think of that little four line children’s lullaby about seeing the moon. “I see the moon and the moon sees me, the moon sees somebody I wanna see. God bless the moon and God bless me. And God bless that somebody I wanna see,” Clifton Johnson, 1896. God bless Chief, who I want to see!

The moon controls the rhythm of the Earth that guides our lives. The moon impacts our time, tides, and light. My songbird friends need the moon for migration and navigation. When I look up in the silent dark velvet night sky I see the moon as a message from God reminding us of his love and guidance. I love this Bible verse, “When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou has ordained.”

I think we can compare the moon to God. God is heavenly light and he gives his grace to the world. He’s always in our lives. The moon gives us a heavenly nightlight during the night and helps guide our path in the darkness. The moon receives light from the sun and God receives light from us through our prayers and thanksgiving. Just like God, the moon is always there even when we can’t see it. God is always with us, too, even when we feel alone and forgotten.

“The moon fascinates us in her simplicity.” —Avijeet Das

The moon goes through phases and so do we. Sometimes the moon is just a sliver in the darkness and sometimes it a beautiful silver ball pinned on the night canvas surrounded by twinkling stars. Our lives go through phases, too. We have times of trials and tribulations in our lives that make us wonder if God has abandoned us and question why we have to suffer. But God’s light comes back full in our lives when we pray and study his words. The moon is sometimes hidden behind the clouds but the clouds break and we see the glow of the moon. It’s always there, just sometimes hidden.

God never hides from us. His light is constantly shining down on us and in our lives. We may dim the lights of God when we have moments of questioning our faith, when our prayer requests seem to take too long, or when we receive answers to our prayers we don’t understand. But we never have to face the darkness alone. Just as the moon is a light in the darkness of night, God is our inspiration and the illumination of our life. His light will never diminish.

“The moon, like a flower in heaven’s high bower, with silent delight sits and smiles on the night.” —William Blake