What if the moon were flat?

It is the second full week of September, and the moon is full.  The moon is not showing its beauty when we go to bed, but when I get up around three in the morning, the bedroom is aglow with the moon’s borrowed glory.  As I fell off the cliff at the edge of consciousness, a thought arrived and stuck; “What if the moon were flat?”  I’ve been thinking about this for a week now. So I did some research.  I went to the National Geographic Kids website to find information I could understand.  So here are a few facts I found interesting and the thoughts they stir up.

Fact – In the sunlight, the moon’s temperature can reach 200.6 degrees Fahrenheit (F). The non-sunlight temperatures can dive to -307.4 F. For a reference, water boils at 212 degrees F.  On the cold side, the coldest temperature recorded on earth is -128.6 degrees F at the Soviet Vostok Station in Antarctica on July 21, 1983. The coldest I have ever experienced is -46 degrees while in the Army stationed in Alaska where during maneuvers we were housed in tents.  Oxygen freezes at 361.8 degrees F.  I’m not sure but past that low temperature does it really matter?

My thought is I do not want to be a person whose disposition swings from warm and fuzzy when things are good to cold and hard when life doesn’t go my way.

Fact – Gravity on the moon, as you already know, is 1/6 earth’s gravity.  That means that a 180-pound man on earth would weigh 60 pounds on the moon.

My thought is if I am obese on earth I will be obese on the moon no matter what the scales say.  Lowering the morality bar cannot cover immorality.  Humans’ collectively generated measurement of character cannot be substituted for God’s expected character of humans.  God did not say, “Be as holy as you want to be.”  He said, “Be holy for I am holy.”  God does not grade on a curve or effort.

Fact – It takes roughly the same amount of time for the moon to make a full rotation as it does for it to complete its orbit around earth. This means we only see approximately 60% of the moon’s surface from Earth!

My thought is while I may choose to obscure my life with my reasoning, God sees all of me, not just the part I expose to Him.  The wonder is He still likes me, a lot!

Fact – The moon is 2159.886 miles in diameter that is roughly a quarter of the size of Earth.

My thought is my nocturnal wonder which started all this.  A concave or convex mirror sends the sun’s light away in different directions.  A flat mirror reflects all the light it receives just as it was received, in a single direction.  If the moon were the size of a lady’s three-inch compact mirror, the earth would be roughly the size of a twelve-inch plate.  Just imagine the brightness of that little mirror reflecting the sun on the plate.  If the moon were flat, its reflection on the earth would be just a little less bright than sun. 

What would happen on earth if all believers in Jesus Christ were of single-mind to allow God to use them to demonstrate His glory?  What would happen if I had no devotion but to the Lord Jesus Christ?  What would my life look like if I could take the defusing curve of my personal preferences out of my relationship with the Creator of the universe?  Would life be more exciting and fulfilling?  Would I be a more effective asset to the Kingdom?

My photograph of the Lincoln Memorial.