While getting in my daily walk for our congregation’s 40 Day Challenge during the season of Lent, I limped around the corner of the building to see the moon high in the bright cloudless sky. It was strikingly beautiful, though strange and out of place. Walking in this boot has certainly frustrated me and complicated my life. But, it has also slowed me down. My pace is not what it was just 4 weeks ago, and I am noticing things I would probably have missed. That is a gift.
It takes such an image to remind me that both the sun and the moon are always present, day and night. It’s just that we usually can’t see them at the same time. The rotation of the earth around the sun, the brightness of the daytime sky, the season of the year; all these factors determine whether we SEE the sun or moon, not whether they exist. They always ARE.
It is good to be reminded from time to time that it is not our perception or our knowledge that creates reality. Some things just are. The anonymous concentration camp poet put it into words,
“I believe in the sun
even when it is not shining
And I believe in love,
even when there’s no one there.
And I believe in God,
even when He is silent.”
Sometimes, it is hard to believe such things when the world seems to have gone mad. Sometimes, it is hard to believe such things when our own lives are turned upside down. What a blessed comfort to know that some of the best things in life just ARE; the sun, love and God. These can help get us through those times when we just can’t make sense of anything or anyone. Even ourselves.
Peace.

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