From the Inside Out

The hustle and bustle of life makes it easy to miss out on the beauty around us. We work indoors all day, rush to our cars, battle traffic, get home, eat dinner, and try to relax before doing it all over again the following day. Inside, we fill our homes with modern conveniences designed to make our lives more comfortable — A/C, electricity, entertainment, TV, and the internet to name a few. These modern conveniences are terrific, but they lure us to remain inside. They sometimes prevent us from experiencing what’s beyond the four walls of our homes.

Tonight I was sitting on the couch happily watching TV, perusing the Internet and connecting to my friends online. I was completely oblivious until I went downstairs to let the dogs go to the bathroom. Instantly, I was struck with the beauty of the full moon in the starry night sky. It’s brightness made the nearby clouds glisten like silver. What a beautiful sight! I stepped outside and sat on the diving board for a few minutes to enjoy the picture that God was painting in the sky. The clouds silently moved across the dark canvass creating a living work of art. I felt the cool breeze against my skin, and I listened to the soft sounds of nature. Those few moments were the most peaceful part of my entire day. I was all alone, but as I admired God’s creation, I felt Him draw near. My troubles seemed smaller; my mind was calmed.

It’s funny. We expend a lot of effort and money trying to make ourselves comfortable, yet all we really need is a simple brush with nature and a few moments with God to bring the peace and comfort that our souls crave.

All we have to do is stop “doing”, step outside and admire the free gift He’s given to us. Trust me, it’s worth it.

As the full moon rises on Wednesday, you will get a unique view of its size. That’s because the moon will look unusually large as it rises in the evening. It’s simply an illusion (a trick that happens when the moon is near the horizon) that is more prominent during a full moon, but it’s a neat sight to behold. Even space station astronauts will witness the same effect.

According to an article on Yahoo News, “The illusion will be particularly noticeable at this ’solstice moon,’ coming just two days before summer starts in the Northern Hemisphere. The reason, according to NASA, lies in lunar mechanics: The sun and full moon are like kids on a see-saw; when one is high, the other is low. This week’s high solstice sun gives us a low, horizon-hugging moon and a strong, long-lasting version of the illusion.

Here’s how it works: Your mind believes things on the horizon are farther away than things overhead, because you are used to seeing clouds just a few miles above, but the clouds on the horizon can indeed be hundreds of miles away. So if we think something (such as the moon) is farther away, and it’s not, then it seems larger.

If you remain doubtful, test the idea yourself. Go out at moonrise with a small object, perhaps a pencil eraser. Hold it at arm’s length as the moon rises and compare the sizes of the moon and the eraser, then repeat the experiment an hour or two later when the moon is high in the sky.”

Moonrise times vary by location. On Wednesday, it will come up at these local times at these locations: Dallas, 9:03 p.m.; New York City, 8:58 p.m.; Seattle, 9:51 p.m.