The Super Moon, My Special Birthday Gift

Last night, I went out to take this photo of the ‘Super Moon’. Dark. Somber. Brooding. Kind of melancholic with only the outlines of the landscape visible. This Super Moon is closer to us by some 50,000 miles than when it is farthest from the earth. I have always been a moon-child. My emotions often rise and fall with the waxing and waning of the moon. From where we are on earth, the moon may seem a constant presence in out night sky. But from outer space, it gyrates wildly as it revolves around the earth, much like the ebb and flow of the tides that it moves on earth.

I love the moon with its soft glow. When night comes and the cool air blows, the mellow light of the moon gives comfort from the heat of the noon day sun. Embraced by the darkness of the night, the moon gives me an assurance that even in the darkest night, there will always be the moon and the stars to give me light. When I think of life and all its energy, I think of the sun. When I think of love and feel romantic, I think of the moon.

The sun is not there just by chance. Nor did I just sprout out of the earth spontaneously. The moon tells me that love is the reason I am here. As I celebrate another birthday, I am coming to realize that love is the driving principle of the universe and all of human interactions. This realization has taken all of my lifetime to become from head-knowledge to heart-knowledge. And it has been an exciting journey of discovery. One lifetime is not enough to learn all there is to learn everything about love, to experience all there is to experience in love and service to others, to love everything and everyone there is to love. That is why life cannot end in death. For no matter what kind of life we may have here on earth, there will still be a lot of unfinished business among us and between us and our Creator that we will need eternity to see these through.

And when I finally come face to face with God and he asks me: “Who do you say that I am?” I will answer: “You are my Creator who placed a piece of yourself in my heart and called it love; so that I will always seek you and not find rest until that part of you that you put in me shall be reunited with its Source.”

Once when Jesus was praying alone, with only the disciples near him, he asked them, ‘Who do the crowds say that I am?’ They answered, ‘John the Baptist; but others, Elijah; and still others, that one of the ancient prophets has arisen.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?‘ Peter answered, ‘The Messiah of God.’
Luke 9:18-24