It has been a wet Spring and Summer with few clear nights, but July 23 (a day after full moon) had a moonrise through bands of clouds. I did a quick sketch. It is a common sight, but is it common?
1. The atmosphere on earth that I look through is thin…just a few miles of livable space. If I draw a circle less than a foot in diameter, the breathable space in terms of thickness is reasonably represented by the thickness of that pencil line that drew the circle. Nothing else in the universe is like the earth, according to Genesis 1 and a statement by God in Isaiah that says it was specifically made to be inhabited. Without this wonderful layer atmosphere on earth, I would not see the moon as I did.
2. The moon has a “subtended” angle almost exactly the same as the sun. This “accident” causes us to have spectacular and periodic eclipses. It rules the night, which Genesis says was one of its purposes in addition to being a masterful clock. But, if it had the reflectivity of Venus, we would be nearly blinded. It is just bright enough to be ruler of the night but lesser than the sun, which was the specific intent of the Creator as stated in Genesis 1. It’s reflectivity and phasing make it a wonderful object to observe.
3. The tides and ocean currents on the earth work together to clean the oceans of our polluting habits. Without them or without the moon that is a critical part of the process, my goodness what a mess we would be living in.
4. It’s distance from earth is perfect along with its mass, speed, and motion. If it was closer, tidal effects would be catastrophic. If the mass was twice as high, we would be in serious trouble, too.
Yes….just another moonrise, along with a “reminder” from the scriptures that it was created and designed from the beginning. Of course, the “beginning” was also created by Eternal God.
Yes…just another moonrise.
