What is it with the moon?

The moon exerts a gravitational pull sufficient to move all the fluids on and even below the earth's surface, the most noticeable effect being the tidal ebb and flow of the mighty oceans. Its influence is pervasive and inescapable.

Yet far more significant is its sway on the heart of mankind...

... for the moon is an instant, irresistible gateway to the spiritual realm, mankind's inner life of beauty, purity, sweetness and sublimity.

In astronomical terms, our moon is a microscopically minor player, a tiny clump of stuff in the thrall of a larger clump twirling about a petty star of a lesser galaxy, somewhere...

... yet one glimmer of this same moon turns brute into lover, dolt into poet and braggart into mewling fawn. The temperature at which hearts melt is precisely that of its cool beam.

The moon is an ever-present symbol and reminder of what it is to be human: at once material and spiritual; a scientifically measurable, definable entity and a wide-open window on the Infinite; a mute lump of harsh, barren rock and an ineffable source of limitless inspiration, healing, hope, solace and joy.

The moon is everyone's secret.

She is everyone's intimate, playmate, confidant, refuge and confessor. While the glare of the sun is unforgiving, laying bare our mistakes, follies and weaknesses, the light of the moon silently softens, soothes and enfolds our outer world - caressing cares, easing anxieties and whispering worries to sleep. The "harsh light of day" deals with reality, results and proven achievements; while the moon cares only to indulge our wildest dreams and fond fantasies. Daylight's lowliest beggar can be the mightiest Emperor under the moon.

She smiles upon all with the same unconditional concern, affection, consolation and understanding. Just as a puppy is ready to play with even a hardened criminal and a mother embraces the naughtiest child, so the moon sees and reflects only the purity, beauty and sweetness in every heart.

Plucking sweet music from even the rustiest heart-strings, she reminds us that we are all inherently good, beautiful, loving, compassionate: perfect. She confirms the reality and supremacy of our inmost divinity.

We admire the sun because it shows us what we must do and become...

... we adore the moon for she reveals to us who we truly are.