Reflected Glory

It is April 1, the only holiday the atheists are allowed to celebrate (Psalm 14:1). And lest I should be considered a fool for not blogging since January, I had better get something up, even if it is something foolish.

Looking at the night sky is NOT foolish (Psalm 19:1). Last night I stared at the Moon for a good while, enjoying a spectacle that particularly declares the glory of our Creator God. It was two nights after the New Moon, so the lighted portion was a mere sliver. But the entire lunar face could be dimly seen, due to “Earthshine,” the phenomenon in which sunlight reflected off Earth reaches the Moon and returns to our eyes.

The fact that we can see this twice-reflected light is evidence of the tremendous amount of light generated by our Sun, which astronomers tell us is only an “average-sized” star. Sunlight must travel 93 million miles to reach Earth, then make a 500,000-mile round trip from Earth to Moon and back. And the amount of light reflected by each body (albedo) is rather small. Earth reflects only 10-50% of light hitting it, depending on cloud cover, and the Moon is an even poorer reflector, with an albedo of a mere 7%. Yet, on a clear night just before or after the New Moon, Earthshine is clearly and eerily seen.

Earthshine is just one more little treat that God gives us periodically to show us His handiwork. Any fool should recognize it as such (Romans 1:20,) but to those living merely under the Sun (Ecclesiastes 1) it is just so much ho-hum astronomy. Only those living “in the Son,” united by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, can truly appreciate the reflected light of the Moon as a picture of God’s glory reflected in His created cosmos.