From the Near Side of the Moon

It hung low in the eastern horizon. Driving south, I found a better vantage point clear from the trees that attempted to keep it veiled. Large, bright, and full, the "Blue Moon" captivated my attention. After a hard weekend I could not keep the tears from flowing as my heart delighted in a piece of beauty in the midst of pain and loneliness.

God knows my heart for His creation, particularly His mysterious universe we get small glimpses of in the darkness of the night. It only made sense for Him to show up in a full moon, big and gold, reflecting sun's light into the darkness of my night that was darker than usual.

The moon is covered with marias - craters and basins - from objects that have collided with it, scarring its surface. Causing cracks in the outer layer, lava spills out and floods the crater hardening into a molten rock that doesn't reflect sunlight as well as the rest of the outer layer, which is what we see as the dark spots contrasting against rest of the lighter terrae. We don't stare in awe at the moon because it's perfect; we admire it because it's flawed.

We always see the same side of the moon because the moon rotates on its axis at the same rate that it orbits earth. The lunar hemisphere we see is called the "near side," while the opposite hemisphere that has only been seen by probes and the few who have orbited the moon is called the "far side." The far side of the moon, while still covered in craters, does not have the same large, dark marias that the nearside has. Scientists hope to understand more of why this is in future missions to the moon.

It's as though God is intentionally showing us the side with the most flaws. He chooses to display the side that's deeply scarred, as if to show us that the side worth seeing is the one that has imperfections. Despite taking some major blows, the moon continues to rise in our sky and is still capable of reflecting the light of the sun, when we cannot see it, into the darkness of the night. Some of these spots may not reflect the light as well anymore but that's what draws our eyes to gaze upon it and wonder what it's been through and recognize, despite it all, the moon still lights up our darkest nights.

God gifted me that beautiful moon that night, telling me that despite the blows I've taken, I can rise and reflect His light in the darkness. Life comes at us sometimes and the brokenness of it collides with our fragile selves, leaving us feeling cracked and damaged. But His love floods them and illuminates these scars to, once again, redeem and use them to draw people to the story He's writing. When the world around me is dark and I'm hoping for the morning sunrise, I'm still able to reflect the light of the sun that will eventually rise again into the darkest corners of one horizon to the other.

And, just like the moon, isn't that our purpose? No matter the damage we've received we keep rising because the darkness of this world needs us to reflect light into it. Because, "In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it (John 1:4-5)." May we continue to find hope in Jesus who is life and light so we can reflect him into the darkness those around us are experiencing. Your scarred and damaged side is the only one He wants to do that with. I want others to see my scars but recognize that I can still shine in spite of them because of the hope and healing from Jesus.