The beauty of the earth, the beauty of the sky, the order of the stars, the sun, the moon . . . their very loveliness is their confession of God.” St. Augustine
The super moon and appearance of Mars last Friday prompted this reflection on moonlight, moon crater scars, and our response to hurts in our lives.
The thing about moon is that it is reflected light. She has no light of her own. She reflects the light of sun – and quite well. She influences the tides of Mother Earth’s abundant waters.
We know from missions to the moon and lunar probes that the backside of her – the dark side of the moon – has massive craters where meteor strikes have bombarded and smashed into the lunar surface. Her front side, the side we see in the sun’s reflected light, also shows craters and scars and millennial meteor crashes as well. It’s fair to say this beautiful celestial object has survived the beatings of the universe for millennia. And yet – the moon keeps on shining. Sister Moon keeps on reflecting the light of the sun showing all her scars, orbiting Earth in her unique path in her time.
In the pauses between taking photos of the beautiful moon, these thoughts occurred to me. Do I reflect the light of God? How do I do this? How is my life part of the “confession of God”. My first thoughts were that I am like the moon because I, too, have scars and bruises and emotional meteor strikes which are hidden on my “dark side”. Upon deeper reflection, I hope I reflect The Light of God through the visible scars, bruises, and brokenness which people see. The moon reflects the sun light through the craters. The meteor strikes and holes on the moons surface are most visible during a full moon when the moon is completely reflecting the light of the sun. Do I allow my craters to fill up with the Light and reflect it to others?
I know hurt, grief, loneliness, extreme sadness – all those “negative” emotion we all try to avoid. I’ve been bruised from the meteor strikes of others, from culture, from people who don’t “get me” and by my own guffaws, stumblings, mistakes and errors in being a human being. The more I try to push away from those negative emotions or ignore them or the more I shame myself for messing up the more difficult it is to shine. Pushing away from them doesn’t allow the light to shine in the cracks and crevices and craters.
I’ve learned through reading, study, meditation and prayer that if I lean into those difficult emotions, befriend them, care for them and sit with them, I can reflect the light in spite of or because of those visible craters and meteor scars. As Rocky said, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. The moon keeps getting hit and yet continues to shine. We get hurt and bruised and broken and choose to keep shining.
We all experience some kind of brokenness, bruising, scarring from the Universe’s meteor strikes. I don’t believe the Universe is malicious although at the time it feels like most people ARE malicious. I’d like to believe “stuff happens”. We experience suffering. It is part of the human condition. We inflict pain on one another even though we know or have been taught that’s not what we’re supposed to do. How we respond to suffering and hurts is how we reflect The Light and how we grow as human beings.
Reflection/Journaling questions
How do you reflect The Light? What are your meteor scars? Which craters do you allow others to see and thus reflect light? Which meteor strikes are hidden on the dark side of your moon?
How do you reflect God’s light in spite of your own brokenness?
How do you befriend difficult emotions? What fears do you have befriending them? What would it be like to have a sit down with your anger, loneliness, shame, guilt, traumas? What is your most difficult emotion to sit with?
Remember: you are la bella luna – the beautiful moon – always. Let your light shine for all the world to see so that others may see the glory of God. (Matthew 5:16)
Blessings to you all. Thank you for reading.
Christy
I agree that we can learn to manage the difficult emotions that we are all subject to for various reasons. We cannot be afraid for we will never learn the lesson. Thanks for sharing. All the best.
We shouldn’t be afraid of those places that scare us. I admire the wisdom of Pema Chodron who teaches we should “lean in” to those scary places and dark emotions. Through deep meditation and contemplation, I’ve learned to accept my inner “leprosy” and embrace it.