{"id":76,"date":"2010-12-27T16:57:20","date_gmt":"2010-12-27T21:57:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thelifeliterary.wordpress.com\/?p=76"},"modified":"2023-09-27T12:00:28","modified_gmt":"2023-09-27T16:00:28","slug":"lunar-eclipse-vulnerable-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/?p=76","title":{"rendered":"Lunar Eclipse\/ Vulnerable Man"},"content":{"rendered":"

December 20, 2010<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

5:25 p.m.<\/strong> – The brilliant full moon rises before me, its perfectly full orb not far above the horizon above Washington, the alabaster city where I work.\u00a0 From somewhere deep inside I feel the impulse to sing a song of praise,\u00a0a hymn of joy, a greeting to the shining white face floating in the east.\u00a0 Beautiful moon and sun risings and settings move me. \u00a0I wish I had a liturgy to greet the moon and mark the celestial show about to begin.<\/p>\n

6:05 p.m. <\/strong>– How can reflected moonlight shine so brightly?\u00a0 I’ve never understood it.\u00a0 Though it’s completely dark and the moon is at least 45 degrees above the horizon, not appearing as large as even a few minutes ago, its stark, silver, reflection paints a path across the river.\u00a0 I imagine I could read\u00a0a book, it’s that bright.\u00a0 I want to go down to the river and float in a boat on its shimmering, shifting water.<\/p>\n

7:15 p.m.<\/strong> – I’m mincing homegrown garlic to season spinach and pickled hot peppers over pasta we’ll be eating with homemade baba ganoush and humous.\u00a0 Standing over the chopping board I trace, with my mind’s eye, the moon’s trajectory, its inexorable journey to a convergence of two\u00a0events\u00a0that hasn’t happened since 1638: a full lunar eclipse on a winter solstice.\u00a0 The simple, satisfying meal seems right for this moment.<\/p>\n

9:15 p.m<\/strong>. – Stepped outside to see the moon, though it is still over four hours till the eclipse begins.\u00a0 I’m glad I did, because I also see my old friend and guide Orion striding across the heavens with the bright, full moon hovering above him as if on a string, as if the great hunter would take a stroll holding a balloon.\u00a0 I have long welcomed Orion’s return in the late fall and winter,\u00a0my guide through the icy cold barren months to another spring.<\/p>\n

11:20\u00a0p.m.<\/strong> – Getting ready to sleep for a couple of hours, I wanted to look at the moon again before lying down.\u00a0 Orion has continued his night walk and now, still\u00a0with his balloon, is almost directly above me.\u00a0 The stage is set.\u00a0 I’m tired and ready to sleep, but expectant, excited, ready for the show to begin.<\/p>\n

December 21, 2010<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

1:30 a.m.<\/strong> – I slept lightly though enough to be refreshed for the big show.\u00a0 So here I am now, standing outside in the cold and maybe my hopes were too high, but my first reaction to this heavenly event\u00a0is disappointment.\u00a0 The edge of the full moon looks a little blurry, like someone needs to adjust the lens or something.\u00a0 That’s all there is for now.\u00a0 I’m going to lie back down for a half hour more.<\/p>\n

2:00 a.m. <\/strong>– So impatient!\u00a0 I should have stayed up to watch the transformation.\u00a0 The moon now looks two thirds covered with a giant fingernail which is the shadow of the planet I’m riding.\u00a0 The sight invigorates me.\u00a0 I wish I could light a bonfire, like the ancients might have done, lighting the night against the impending double-darkness of eclipse and solstice.\u00a0 I also feel overwhelmed and small, vulnerable to the vast movements of heavenly bodies, made obvious by the earth’s shadow moving across the moon.\u00a0 I am powerless to do anything but acquiesce and stand in awe.<\/p>\n

2:32 a.m.<\/strong> – The earth’s shadow that at first darkened the moon, now completely covers it, turning its face a glowing orange-red.\u00a0 What was bright and white and cheering just a few hours ago has become a fiery ball in the sky.\u00a0 More than ever I have a sense of the big universe that moves and spins and transforms the silvery moon red.\u00a0 I am keenly aware of how small and inconsequential I am in the midst of these vast doings.\u00a0 Little that I do, that anyone or any nation does will change the primal movements of the universe set in place by the Creator.\u00a0 I am painfully aware of the arrogant pretenses I create, the half-truths I weave and wear like an ill-fitting suit of clothes.\u00a0 The cosmic dance above me moves me to shed the falsehoods I hide behind: false pride, false\u00a0humility, the half-truth that I matter and the one that I don’t; all pat answers, quick responses that keep me from knowing and living my place in this\u00a0cosmic dance\u00a0authentically, without guile and unfeigned.\u00a0 The December air bites and\u00a0chills me,\u00a0a reminder\u00a0that though small I am alive and vital, a beloved spark.<\/p>\n

2:45 a.m.<\/strong> – After a few minutes, I gather my things and go back inside.\u00a0 I have seen the cosmic dance and felt my vulnerability before it.\u00a0 That realization, brought home by the ruddy glow of the moon, makes me more grateful for who I am and who loves me: my family, my friends, my God.<\/p>\n

6:50 a.m.<\/strong> – Though exhausted, I had a hard time getting to sleep earlier this morning.\u00a0 The time on the clock draws me into the new day of work and relationships, food and drink, work and rest.\u00a0 My moment of knowing my place in the universe seems hours ago yet still now.\u00a0 The fearful joy of knowing, of feeling, of enacting and confessing my vulnerability before God moves me, invigorates me, as I make the coffee, take my shower, and get ready for another day.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Traveling to its eclipse<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Vast Celestial Dance<\/p><\/div>\n

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December 20, 2010 5:25 p.m. – The brilliant full moon rises before me, its perfectly full orb not far above the horizon above Washington, the alabaster city where I work.\u00a0 From somewhere deep inside I feel the impulse to sing … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[44,84,41,83,85],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=76"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7359,"href":"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76\/revisions\/7359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=76"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=76"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=76"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}