Last week I witnessed the brightest full moon I think I have ever seen.  A “blue” moon, the third full moon in a single season, it was clear and extremely bright.  So bright, it was difficult for me to look at directly.  I live in a neighborhood full of trees and the shadows the moonshine cast were ethereal and romantic.

I am used to seeing such nighttime beauty.  Here in New England, when snow covers the ground, moonshine of any intensity is reflected off of the snow, sometimes so much that it doesn’t seem like it is night.  Last week was the first time I remember thinking the same thing about a summer moon.

I commented on Facebook about the beautiful moon and received several comments from my friends agreeing.  I have Facebook friends from coast-to-coast.  This thought occurred to me:  Did God know, when He set out on the great design of this universe, that humans like me would appreciate the ability to look at the moon and know that a friend one thousand miles away from me could look at the same moon at the same time and also enjoy its beauty?  Was it part of His plan to provide opportunities that would appeal to the romantic side He gave to me?

In many a love story, characters separated by distance classically use the moon as a focal point of their love.  It is the same moon, in the same sky, in the same universe on which to fix their gaze and remember their beloved who they hope is doing the same.  It is difficult to be separated from those I love.  As a human, I need focal points for my passions and reminders of my loved ones.

“O Lord, how many are Your works!  In wisdom You have made them all; The earth is full of Your possessions.”  Psalm 104:24

“In wisdom You have made them all,” that would seem to answer my questions.  The degree of detail my God plans and executes in His creation is mind boggling.  He designs every single created object to function in specific ways, from the tiniest cell to the sun itself.  For me, He provides for all of my needs, even my need for romanticism.  For loved ones who are separated by distance, He provides a beautiful object in the sky on which to focus their emotion.  No one who believes in the Creator can deny the gift to romance He provides through the moon.

His great love for me moves Him to think of even the smallest things in my vast list of human need, even romance that nurtures my heart and encourages me to be more than I have been for the sake of another.  I must be careful not to extend my ideas of human romance to God, but His act of providing for me, for all of us, even those who eschew Him, (Matthew 5:45b), in all of the big and small ways, and His design of a place for me to live that nurtures me in too many ways to count, are but the opening acts in the greatest of love stories.  My physical, mental, emotional and spiritual needs are paramount in His mind as He designs and creates every detail of the universe.  And, He provides for me, from before the time He formed the earth, (1 Peter 1:17-21), the Son, His Son, whom I need as my redemption to rescue me from myself.

“Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised, And His greatness is unsearchable.  One generation shall praise Your works to another, And shall declare Your mighty acts.  On the glorious splendor of Your majesty And on Your wonderful works, I will meditate.  Men shall speak of the power of Your awesome acts, And I will tell of Your greatness.  They shall eagerly utter the memory of Your abundant goodness And will shout joyfully of Your righteousness.”  Psalm 146:3-7

All Bible quotes are from Zondervan’s Classic Reference Bible, New American Standard Bible–Updated Edition copyright 1999 by Zondervan

NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation.  Used by permission.