Devotions Archive Archive: 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 Search Archive Print This Article Man and the moon Friday, February 22, 2008 Psalm 23 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. During halftime at the Assembly Hall Wednesday night, I stood behind a blue curtain and looked out the window. Looked up at the shadowy moon, full on a clear cold night. 9:01 pm. Total lunar eclipse turned the moon faded blood orange. I leaned my elbow against my leg and pointed binoculars into the sky. Everything was dark, and then the moon filled up the lens, a different kind of beautiful. Bright and dark all at once, and strange. Saturn nearby, shining bright like a star, held point and kept my binoculars locked in. In the parking lot three yellow lights blinked over and over. The bus didn't want to get lost in that parking lot. Blink, blink, blink. I refocused my binoculars. Saturn is at least 746 million miles from the earth at all times. The moon is so close: just 239,000 miles away. So its light reaches my eyes in a little more than a second. With my binoculars up I saw only the sky. The lights in the parking lot, only a few hundred feet away, were gone. They meant nothing anyway. The moon took up all the space in my head ... calm, quiet, no hurry. Still. No worries there behind the curtain. I hated to leave, and see the blinking lights again, and watch the Illini lose their game, and feel the aches and pains in my bones. I wanted to sit still and visit the moon. Being still and knowing God. Letting His pastures come to me, and thanking God for the feast. Your time, Lord, gives me pause. For you a day is like a thousand years. Nothing in my life lasts that long. Nothing Except You. "; Add      Edit    Delete