Home >> ten moons for my friend
May 28, 2008
It’s maddening to ask God, “Why?” Yet, I believe that God calls us to question him so he can give us the answers. We have an old friend who for some time subscribed to the belief that God simply set everything into motion then sat back and let everything free fall as it would. Of course there is nothing in scripture to support that and I think I would go mad thinking that there was no rhyme nor reason to the universe. There is great comfort in believing that God had a plan for little ole’ me before the foundations of the earth. It seems that we must revert to simple faith…the world calls it foolishness, but to be like a child is perhaps our goal. And maybe…just maybe, God sent us children who are forever young to remind us and help us to maintain our childlike faith. Too much analysis is a downward spiral.
I remember so well when I was pregnant with Miika, thinking about how the world around me was a huge puzzle that all seemed to fit together. It dawned on me that a woman’s cycle which is generally 28 days was the same as the moon’s scheduled fullness. (Every 28 days, the moon is full.) Ten moons = 40 weeks which is how long it takes for a baby to develop in the womb. The ancients used the moon to determine fertility. No accident, but instead a wondrous master plan that was beyond man’s planning. The more I ponder how our bodies are entangled with the universe, the deeper my faith has grown. Forty days and forty nights, it rained on Noah and his family; John the baptist spent 40 days in the wilderness and so did Jesus before he was tempted by Satan. The children of Israel spent 40 years looking for the promise land. Forty seems to be a gestational number for contemplation, transitioning, holding patterns, and punishment.
The chaos of disaster and the tragedy that our world suffers always raises the question, “Why?” We must wrestle with God when a tornado turns a town to twisted sticks, when the earth swallows and spits out 10,000 victims, when a cyclone scatters and destroys countless souls, when our child is born less than perfect. There are certainly no easy answers. Are these the last days that scripture prophesied? Afterall, the Bible does say all these things would happen. Is God calling the world to turn to him? Ultimately I believe that we must go to God to find answers. Our own reasoning is futile and truth is absolute. The patterns, the cycles, the seasons, all point so clearly to someone much larger than ourselves with a big plan.