Celebrating the Moon

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blue moon, eclipse, grateful, miraculous, moon, mystical, scientific, super moon, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, universe

I would guess that people in Los Angeles who made the trip to Griffith Observatory this morning to see (exactly one hour ago – 3:48AM Pacific time) the moment of total eclipse of the moon are beginning to make their way home by now. Why would someone make that trek in the middle of the night just to see the moon? Well, maybe because it wasn’t just the full moon but rather a “Super Blue Blood Moon!” What does that mean? A blue moon is a rather frequent experience: the second full moon in the same month of the year. What makes it “super” is the fact that it reaches its closest position to earth, thus making it appear larger and brighter in the sky than normal. The “blood” designation comes from the fact that there is a red tinted shadow across the face of the moon due to the rays of sunlight passing through earth’s atmosphere as the moon falls into earth’s shadow. To add to all those necessary conditions for this phenomenon is the weather. Chances were good for a clear night in Alaska, Hawaii and California. I’m sure the resulting pictures will be glorious – and bountiful, especially since this is the first time this phenomenon was visible in North America since 1866!

It makes me happy to think that it is not only astronomers who get excited about these events. The way that the universe works is truly miraculous and we ought to be grateful for those scientists who are able in our time to define for us not only the “what” but the “why.” The Griffith Observatory director got into the spirit of the event in a wonderfully whimsical way, dressing up like a wizard and banging pots and pans outside the observatory while the crowd watched the eclipse. He was re-enacting a ritual from ancient Babylon in response to a populace that believed they had to scare away a mysterious creature that was swallowing the moon.

Director Ed Krupp seems to understand both the scientific and mystical elements of such an experience as noted in his statement to the press. “It’s one thing,” he remarked, “to learn about this event in a book and another to see it for yourself.” I wish him all the best and hope he keeps on banging his pots all day long!

 

 

 

 

 

Going the Distance

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anger, eclipse, follow, go the distance, gossip, Lazarus, let go, love, Martha, Mary, Matthew, perfect, sin, surrender, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

I am sometimes awed at how much can be packed into a few verses of Scripture. What I mean is more likely where my mind and heart go after reading a short section, like today’s gospel about the rich young man who couldn’t quite “go the distance” in surrender. (MT 19:16-22)

Like most of us he claims having kept the commandments as they’re written and as Jesus enumerates them for him. No killing, no adultery, no stealing…easy enough, we might say. A closer examination might see us falling off that wagon though in the small things that lead to those greater sins. What about a burst of anger or joining in on a conversation about someone that might lead to stealing a bit of his or her reputation? And then there’s that last one: Love your neighbor as yourself. That one could be the subject of a very long retreat…

The last section of the text is very disturbing to many people. It’s the two sentences that would send many of us away sad like the rich young man. Jesus says to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” I stop after typing that because it is too difficult to interpret for anyone but myself. Okay, even for myself. I did have two thoughts for consideration though and they are connected.

1. I preached at my mother’s funeral about Mary and Martha because, as she moved deeper and deeper into dementia, I saw my mother let go of everything that seemed important to her in her younger day. In the end, she was like a bright light “sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening to him” like Mary, the sister of Lazarus, in the gospel. I noted her transformation as a process of letting go that I saw begin at the age of 45 when she had to move away from everything she had known because of my father’s job change. As she tested the waters of this move, she found new friends and new activities that soon allowed her to let go, to dive in and live fully – loving well even into eternity. What I said about her divestment was that she did not necessarily give up all her possessions – but rather that she gave up the need of them as she lived the totality of her life for God.
2. In one of St. Paul’s letters he speaks of his willingness to live whether he is rich or poor, has enough or not, as long as he can “have Christ…”

I think the two are synonymous and instructive in this conversation I’m having with myself. I will think on these things as I drive home today and as I contemplate the darkness of the eclipse that will overshadow the light of afternoon…another symbol, perhaps, of letting go only to welcome the light again as it returns. Stay safe out there, everyone.