We, too, wax and wane

Post 34/2024 Goshen IN. The super blue moon appeared on Monday, August 19. Another blue super moon is forecast for May 2027. The moon’s next first quarter waxing phase starts on September 2 at 9:55PM Eastern Standard Time (September 3 at 0155 Greenwich Mean Time).

The moon takes 27.3 days to orbit the Earth (full lunar cycle). The waxing and waning takes 29.5 days. Glad somebody figured that out.

Meanwhile, during those 29.5 days the earth will travel about 45 million miles.

The facts of nature fill my mind with wonder. As the Psalmist says in Psalm 94:19: “When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.” It cheers my soul to think on the Creator’s provision to put aside cares for consolation.

I take the Psalmist’s sentiment to show what it means to be human, to be in tune with God, to experience the ups and downs of life as normal, including death. Struggles and opportunities are a fact of life. We wax and wane in normal and proper measure.

I like the balanced and probing perspective Charlotte Bronte (1816-1855) gives in her poem, Life.

Life, believe, is not a dream
So dark as sages say;
Oft a little morning rain
Foretells a pleasant day.
Sometimes there are clouds of gloom,
But these are transient all;
If the shower will make the roses bloom,
O why lament its fall?
Rapidly, merrily,
Life’s sunny hours flit by,
Gratefully, cheerily
Enjoy them as they fly!
What though Death at times steps in,
And calls our Best away?
What though sorrow seems to win,
O’er hope, a heavy sway?
Yet Hope again elastic springs,
Unconquered, though she fell;
Still buoyant are her golden wings,
Still strong to bear us well.
Manfully, fearlessly,
The day of trial bear,
For gloriously, victoriously,
Can courage quell despair!

Dispel dark thoughts. Believe in light. Life is more joyful than many believe. There’s more to glean from this fine English novelist and poet. Go gleaning!

A nod from the DNC

I’m a bit sleep deprived this week. We watched the four nights of the Democratic National Convention. We’re happily sleep-deprived. One person on our walk on Friday said, “Who could vote for anyone else?”

The campaigns will be closely watched from now until ballots are cast and counted on Tuesday, November 5. May the waxing and waning of what’s right for the country and world burst with joy in a new day forward. Let hope elastic spring.