God and the Moon

Have you ever allowed yourself to gaze at the moon? I don't mean to glance or look; I mean let time not be an issue and allow your mind drift to wondering about that body in space and what it might be like to experience being right there, on the moon itself. I know I have.

But actually getting there isn’t such an easy task. See, much of what we’ve ‘learned’ about Earth and Moon aren’t really true; they’re approximations. For example, Earth is not perfectly round, the force of gravity at sea level is not the same worldwide. Neither Earth’s orbit nor Moon’s orbit is circular. Neither the Sun, the Earth, nor the Moon orbit in the same plane. And so forth.

Consider these. The Moon is moving away from Earth at a rate of 1 1/2 inches per year. The difference between nearest point of the Earth-Moon distance and its farthest point is about 26,230 miles. And the difference between the nearest point of the Earth-Sun distance and its farthest point is about 3.1 million miles. This means that the orbital velocities of both Earth and Moon are variable.

Earth’s axis is tilted 23.5 degrees, which makes it appear to wobble relative to the position of the Moon. The tilt of the Moon’s axis is 1.5 degrees, meaning it has a slight wobble, too – but these wobbles are not in sync with each other. Moon's orbit tilts about 5.1 degrees relative to the earth's orbit. Earth's orbital tilt relative to the Sun is 7.1 degrees.

Gravity on the Moon is about 1/6 that of Earth’s at sea level. But, the force of gravity varies from place to place, on both bodies, due to uneven distribution of mass. The Moon orbits Earth once every 27 ⅓ days relative to the stars – and once every 29 ½ days relative to the sun.

And, Earth is slightly flattened and somewhat pear-shaped.

So, what does all this stuff mean, and why should it matter to you? If all you care to do is sit back and admire the moon, it doesn’t matter one bit. All the precise ‘facts’ you’ve been taught will keep you satisfied that you have the moon figured out.

But, if you were ever interested in having a meaningful experience with the Moon – if you think you might like to be truly connected with the Moon – why, then all this (and much, much more) would be vitally important. In preparation for your encounter, you would quickly learn that there’s an awful lot more that you don’t know about the Moon than you do know. Look how long it took NASA to finally put astronauts on the moon – and bring them safely back again. Along the way, there were lots of failures.

I think it works the same with God. There are things that some people think they ‘know’ about God and are satisfied with sitting back and admiring God. They enjoy talking about what they ‘know’ and are satisfied with the belief that they have God figured out based on their collection of precise ‘facts’ about God.

But when people become interested in having a meaningful experience with God – if they truly want a vital connection with God – they have to be willing to set aside some, or all, of what they think they know about God.

If a person took a shot at going to the Moon based on their collection of precise, black-and-white ‘facts’, who knows what would become of them? And if a person thinks they’re going to be hooked up with God because they’ve got a handle on all there is to ‘know’ about God – well, who knows what might become of them? I can’t say this happens all the time, but I know some who are hard-hearted, cold-blooded, judgmental, bullies and are ready and willing to cut the legs out from under anyone who does not see things their way. Sad, really.

All I know for certain about God is that – for some strange reason – God cares enough about me that, the moment I yielded control and humbly and sincerely gave God permission to take control of my life, God was right there.

No, my life problems were not eliminated; the consequences of my actions were not short-circuited; I did not step into a wonderland of problem-free living. But – I was at peace, for the first time in years. And, I was given the inner strength, the desire, and the inspiration to slowly but surely, change the direction of my life – one step at a time.

Oh. There’s one more thing I think I know for certain. If I thought I had God figured out and knew how to get God to work for me (some refer to this as “calling the Father to action” – seriously, they do. I’m not kidding!) I’d still be languishing in the mess I had created for myself.

What do you think? What’s been your experience?