Spiritual Journey First Thursday: Moon Musings

I am excited to join a community of fellow bloggers who write on the first Thursday of each month about our spiritual journeys. This month Donna asked us to share a verse or passage, a snippet of something that mentions the moon. My mind has been thinking ever since I received this prompt, and I found myself totally unable to limit myself to a snippet. You'll have to forgive me for my moon wanderings. I can't wait to read the posts from others in our community. Thank you, Donna, for hosting our February gathering. 

I'm awake early and searching my shelves and the internet and my mind for moon themed books and poems and memories.

I find . . . 

Five picture books - 

• Mama, Let's Make a Moon by Clay Rice with its delightful silhouette illustrations,
• Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
• Owl Moon by Jane Yolen (I discovered I have two copies. Time to gift one of them.)
• Two favorites from my daughter's childhood - The Birthday Moon by Lois Duncan and Eric Carle's Papa, please get the moon for me 

A YouTube video (Weston Woods) of a favorite book I can't find  on my bookshelf, Happy Birthday, Moon by Frank Asch (It's just a little over six minutes long.) I wanted to include this one because yesterday was grandson Jack's first birthday!

Two books of poetry- 

• One Minute till Bedtime, Ken Nesbitt's delightful anthology filled with moon images and quite a few moon poems

• Firefly July: A Year of Very Short Poems selected by Paul Janeczko and illustrated by Melissa Sweet with wonderful moon poems by Emily Dickinson, Alice Schertle, Bruce Balan, Anne Porter, Herbert Read, Jim Harrison and Ted Kooser

These beautiful words of praise from Psalm 136 -  
Give thanks unto God for all things, for His mercy endures forever.

7 To him that made great lights: for his mercy endureth for ever:
8 The sun to rule by day: for his mercy endureth for ever:
9 The moon and stars to rule by night: for his mercy endureth for ever.

Amy Sklansky's acrostic poem "Moon" that I discovered at the Poetry Foundation 

These concluding lines from from One Today by Richard Blanco and illustrated by Dav Pilkey -

"We head home: through the gloss of rain or weight
of snow, or the plum blush of dusk, but always—home,
always under one sky, our sky. And always one moon
like a silent drum tapping on every rooftop
and every window, of one country—all of us—
facing the stars
hope—a new constellation
waiting for us to map it,
waiting for us to name it—together."

And a treasured moon memory of the night that Linda and I chased the moon. Linda and I frequently texted each other when we saw a beautiful moon. On this particular night I drove to her apartment and convinced her to join me for a nighttime drive on the island. We laughed as the moon hid from us and then would suddenly pop out from the trees. This memory is a reminder to savor the moment because Linda died unexpectedly last year. I will always be glad that I dropped everything to chase the moon with Linda on that magical evening.