Moonshadow

Image by Nabil Omar via Flickr

Millions of people across the world watched the total eclipse of the moon yesterday.  This was a relatively rare event in that it was not only a total eclipse, but a central lunar eclipse, i.e. the centre point of earth’s shadow passed across the moon.  There is something very awe-inspiring about about the sun (which is 150 million kilometers from the earth) being aligned with the earth and the moon (which are separated by 385,000 kilometers).

The wonder that we experience when watching this cosmic alignment can have two sources.  Firstly, for those who believe that our universe had an uncontrolled, explosive origin, and hold to philosophical naturalism, their awe is at the improbability of the event.  Their amazement is at the order and mathematical predictability that ensued from such a chaotic beginning.

For those who hold a theistic worldview the awe is centered on the order that was introduced into the created realm at its genesis by God.  Although the Psalmist David did not have access to the telescopes and scientific knowledge of the 21st century he saw enough evidence in the created realm to realize that God is transcendent, and that man is relatively insignificant.  His amazement was multiplied by the realization that this Creator had a personal interest in individual humans.  He wrote, “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” (Psalm 8:3-4).

In the movie Gladiator, Maximus, the main actor said: “What we do in life echoes in eternity.”  If he is correct, then what we believe in this life is of cardinal importance.  Further, how we interpret natural phenomenon, and life itself, will impact our ultimate destiny – if it exists!  Perhaps it would be wise to use occurrences like the recent lunar eclipse to question and test our worldviews, and not just for ‘cool’ photographic opportunities?