The Man and the Moon

In a few days the moon will be full. It will be the first full moon after the Spring equinox when the day and the night are of equal length. That means Easter will soon follow.  Humans have long looked to the earth, the heavenly bodies, their movement through space and time, their rising and their setting, to guide our days and actions.  Even so, we sometimes forget how inseparably we are connected. 

I first knew I was a child of the earth when . . .

. . . I rode on my father’s back one summer night.  The air was warm, alive in some way.  He was young.  I was too.  I hadn’t started kindergarten.  Was I four, maybe five? We were walking home after a softball game in which he had played while I sat on the bench and watched.  Was he 25-26?  It was just the two of us. Mother must have been home with the baby. My father kept a silent, steady pace through the dark, back streets of the neighborhood.    

I remember the sensation of the muscles in his shoulders, his back, and the strength of his arms reaching behind to hold me securely.  I looked up at the full moon.

            “Daddy, the moon is following us.” 

He looked at the moon with me.  There was soundless laughter as he slowed his pace, seeming to make the same discovery.  Then with joy, and perhaps with love for me and my childlike way of seeing the world, he began to run--bouncing me, jiggling me.

            And as he ran, the moon followed along.

Reflections: 

Genesis 1:14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: 


What befalls the earth befalls all the sons of the earth. This we know: the earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man does not weave this web of life. He is merely a strand of it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.--Chief Seattle (1786-1866)


--Do I agree that my actions affect the earth and ultimately affect me? If so, how?

--Did the earth bring me joy when I was a child? What are my memories?

--Do I yearn to be connected to the earth now? How can I honor that yearning?

--What might I do to honor and care for the earth?

Practice:  

How would you complete this sentence? What story would you tell?: "I first knew I was a child of the earth when. . ." You may wish to journal your response.

Find time this week to savor joy through creation.