CHRISTMAS FULL MOON

When I read in the paper earlier this week that today will see the first Christmas full moon for 38 years, I decided I would get up early and take a photograph.  Then I realised that because we don’t have very young children, I don’t NEED to get up that early - after all, church doesn’t start until 10.30 a.m.

So, as we have been out for a meal with friends and it is now just past midnight, I decided I might as well take the photograph now and then I can stay in bed longer in the morning.  Of course, I could have cheated and taken it at 11.30 when we walked home, but in the spirit of Blip, I waited until after midnight.

The moon is not quite at its brightest, but it’s good enough for me.  The last Christmas full moon was in 1977 and we aren’t due another one for 19 years - in 2034 - by the time that one comes around, my hands might be too shaky to hold a camera!

The December full moon is the closest to the winter solstice - for this reason some cultures call it the Long Night Moon;  the Chinese call it the Bitter Moon while the Cherokee Indians referred to it as the Snow Moon.

Christmas is a time for families to get together, and it’s good to think of those who are far away from us on this special day - knowing that the same moon (and sun) shines on them.  

I pray that all those reading this will have a wonderful Christmas as we celebrate the birth of our Saviour and may we all know God’s peace now and all through the coming year. 

“God did not enter the world of our nostalgic, 
silent-night, 
snow-blanketed, 
peace-on-earth, 
suspended reality of  Christmas. 
God slipped into the vulnerability of skin 
and entered our violent and disturbing world.” 
Nadia Bolz-Weber
Accidental Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People