A walk with the moon

Walking early this morning, the sight of the moon partially hidden by clouds caught my fancy. I was thinking about monasteries, and how when the boom of applicants in the 50s was replaced by scarcity of applicants in the 60s through to today, life changed inside the monastery. Thinking of the influx of the 50s, I realized that it was sparked by the recent war, with death and suffering very present to the minds of the young. In the face of such thoughts, many looked for something deeper, more lasting, more eternal.

Why do we have to face death and suffering before we make God a serious part of our daily lives? For a death sentence strikes fear to those of us who think little of the Divine Being. And learning about God now brings peace and joy.

My thoughts go to a deathbed I witnessed in the monastery, where the rather young sister was dying of cancer. Death was not fearful for her. She greeted it with a joy so profound and a peace so deep it is hard to describe. This attitude affected me very much, as I was one of her caregivers, and saw her suffering, her quick decline, and her willingness to accept it all. She had made God her friend, and so she could welcome death because she believed she was going to someone she knew, someone she had thought about often.

We too should develop a friendship with the Divine, and not wait for suffering or death to force the issue.

Which brings me back to my walk this morning. Seeing the moon shining through the clouds, it occurred to me that living without an awareness of spiritual things is like walking in the moonlight. We can see, but in a dim way. Faith has always been called a light, a light so steady that no suffering or death can dim it. More importantly, there is so much joy to be had in building a spiritual relationship with the Divine it is a pity we fail to seek it while life is going well.

Let's not wait for death to force spirituality upon us. Let us develop a relationship now, in the fullness of health. Divinity is waiting for us.