The pull of Love

I wrote about the pull of the moon and decided to do a little research about what the scientific world has to say.  And turns out, the lunar effect has not be well substantiated.

Regardless of the reports of labor and delivery nurses, more babies are not born during a full moon. Crimes do not increase.  Sleep disruptions do not correlate with the moon phases. Our bodies are 75% water but we do not respond to the gravitational pull of the moon.  There are more injuries to dogs recorded but not to humans. No werewolves found either.  And if I wanted, I could cut and paste the same debunking language like 90% of the articles I read- "People get over it- we are not affected by the moon!"

Hmm.... can I chose to believe what my body tells me instead?

So that made me think about the other non-tangible, immeasurable factors in my life. The ones that cannot be "proved" by scientific data and analysis.  The wake up call in the middle of the night that has nothing to do with the phone, but puts you on your knees anyway.  I had a bout of waking up with such concern for a dear friend and it was many years later that I learned she had been in a very difficult season, just when I was compelled to pray. It was before internet, we had limited contact and lived half a world apart. But there I was in Japan, weeping for her and praying as best I knew how.

In my husband's final months on earth, I would sit and rub his feet and we would just be together. He didn't want to talk much about the inevitable and in some ways, I always felt a bit cheated out of the significant conversations I wanted to have. It wasn't an end of life scenario Hollywood or my imagination created but it was what he needed. To be touched, to be held, to have me quiet for once!   And in meeting his needs, in serving his desires- heaven became a slight shimmer away, for me, as well as him.  I've said before- heaven cannot not somewhere far away but somehow surrounds us who are still in this physical world. In those precious and fragile moments, I was so aware of the palatable presence of the unseen. We are exist in the unreal world and he was about to break through the thin veil and into the real.

What if the physical is the reflection,
not the true object? 

And none of my experiences can be proved or verified or reproduced in a lab. And I could care less. Science is invaluable for understanding parts of life but it fails in filling in the cracks where  the spiritual dimension leaks into the physical world,  like light under the door of a dark room.  And that glimmer gives me hope.

I've always longed to be understood and to have greater understanding in a variety of interests. With the Bible, I've studied a bit of Greek and Hebrew and love the etymology of words- where did that word come from, why do we understand that verse that way? What does that mean? Why does life happen the way it does?  I want to understand everything.

No longer. I understand enough to know that some things, the most important ones cannot be put under a microscope and dissected to complete knowledge. I don't need to know the one and only correct way to think or do, in fact, I'm not sure that's even a correct goal. Mystery no longer frustrates me, it intrigues me.  I wish I could tell Bill that he was right and he was never going to really get me- I don't get me anymore either!  But I can accept that. I can live with some ambiguity. Faith isn't about having all the answers, it's also about trusting enough to ask questions that may not have satisfactory answers.  It's more about having a candle illuminate a few steps ahead rather than insisting on a spotlight to reveal everything in one big flood of light.  And perhaps, it's my small candle that is most visible in another's darkness, leaking in under their closed door.  Most hopeful, most comforting.  We are not alone, there are small candles all around us.

So when I don't sleep during a super moon, I believe I may be responding to the moon- somehow. Somehow, I believe there is a another dimension to life that has nothing to do with death and suffering and unfulfilled longings.  I believe we are somehow, more than matter and DNA.  And someday, I will understand. And maybe, on that day, there will be the fullest moon of all, shining on me- pulling me toward Love.

To Him who made the great lights, 

For His lovingkindness is everlasting: 

The sun to rule by day,

 For His lovingkindness is everlasting, 

The moon and stars to rule by night, 

For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

Psalm 136