Moon And Meaning

by T. Allan Christopher
Originally Published via WiW, November 23, 2010

Last night, as I lay in bed with my wife, Deanna, I noticed a very bright Moon through the window-shade. So I opened the shade up. The full moon had been just the night before, but this Waning Gibbous Moon looked as full as can be. It was so bright, and awe-inspiring.

There were clouds out in force last night. A front had moved in, and we dropped 40 degrees over a few hours. At differing elevations the clouds were various densities, and moving in disparate directions. At one moment the moon would be in clear sky, and the next it would be behind various layerings of cloud.

Describing such a thing with words is not easy to do. I was wishing like hell that my camera was still functional last night.

Laying there holding my wife and witnessing such a sight was more peaceful than I could probably ever describe. It did lead me down a philosophical path though, one which is quite dark in comparison to the Zen that was permeating through me. Two bleak philosophies, actually.

What are we? Humanity I mean. When it comes down to it, are we not much more than a plague upon Earth? A virus. We take and destroy, and offer nothing to our planet. Perhaps in death we make a good fertilizer. Aside from that, what have we to offer?