Moonshine

Did you know there are hundreds of songs written about the moon? Probably my first recollection of a moon song was listening to Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett (Blue Moon and Fly Me To The Moon). I'm not that old, but my eclectic music tastes began at a very young age. I remember watching the old Cybil Shepard and Bruce Willis TV show, Moonlighting. As a child, I remember a movie (the name of it slips me now) about the little mouse that gets lost and he sings to the moon, knowing that home and where he was lost were both under the same moon. Painters are inspired by it, religions operate their years according to it and doctors will even swear that it has an effect of the number of ER patients on any given time of the month. Whether subliminally or intentionally, I have always been influenced and inspired by looking at the moon.

Undoubtedly, the most exotic and captivating times are when the moon is full and bright. A full moon is a beautiful thing. I could (and sometimes do) get lost in it for hours. Seeing a full moon has a calming, yet intriguing appeal to me. It often times will literally mesmerize me into a state of complete relaxation as no other earthly element can do. It's as if I have a million conversations with it without even saying a word.

And while the full moon does take the cake in my books, the moon in the slightest sliver is equally as detrimental in causing my mind to escape. The sliver moon makes me want more, to anticipate the next day and the next day to when I can have more of it. As certain as the setting and rising sun, the moon waxes and wanes and allows me slight or full glances. Regardless of a cloudy, overcast night or a crystal clear evening, the moon and it's beauty and attitude are always present, whether seen or unseen, felt or void. You'd think I'd know which moon I would get from night to night, but truth be told, I don't really keep track. I take what I can get and I appreciate every time I'm able to see it.

The obvious truth to the beauty of the moon lies in the beauty of God, the Creator. The sun is one thing, it gives us daylight and energy and many other benefits. We can appreciate it's heat (and sometimes complain about it) but we can't ever stare at it like we can the moon. And we never have to fear hiding from it or protecting ourselves from it like we do with the intensity of the sun. I've always thought the moon was one of God's greatest gifts to mankind. Turns out, that's one thing I've been right about!