Tempted by the almost mystical light shining through my window I go into the garden. I feel a sense of awe and gratitude as the moon floods the garden and calm fields beyond with light.
I marvel at the magnificence of the full moon, but find it hard to fathom the magnitude of the universe that surrounds us.
We may have a tacit understanding of how our solar system works, but watching the full moon disappearing over the horizon reminds me of the vastness of space and the enduring mysteries of the universe we inhabit.
The sense of gratitude we have when looking skyward at night – where does it come from and to what or whom is it directed? Nature? Luck? God?
Teilhard de Chardin, a twentieth century palaeontologist and mystic, wrote in an essay ‘The soul of the world’: “There can be no doubt that we are conscious of carrying within us something greater and more indispensable than ourselves. Something that existed before we did, and could have continued to exist without us; something in which we live, and that we cannot exhaust. Something that serves us but of which we are not masters…”
It is to this unknown entity that we give thanks, whether we name it or not.
Our lives are transitory. We look up at the night sky, and we respond by giving thanks for the gift of the moment. It is good to catch that glimmer of gratitude, which is a lovely state to be in and to fan its flame.
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