is many times brighter than what is experienced on earth. The Writings talk
about a man’s special ability to see the light of truth in a rarified, abstracted
form. It is abstract because it is not bound to concrete experience, just as light
that touches the moon is not immediately bound to life on earth.
The value of both kinds of light, that of the moon and that of abstract
thought, is in the ability to reflect back onto real life, either biological or in
terms of living out life in a good way, respectively.
Interestingly, the sun’s radiant heat is also much more intense on the moon
than on the earth – intolerably so. But while earth’s atmosphere keeps the heat
of day throughout the night, when night falls upon the moon, the temperature
becomes deadly cold. Heat that is not subjectively felt due to the absence of
life forms is not in fact heat; it is merely a wavelength in the electromagnetic
spectrum. The heat of the sun is not perceptibly reflected back to earth by the
moon, and so there are no sentient beings to perceive it. However, we on earth
do enjoy the light of the moon.
Thus the primary value of the relationship between the moon and the sun
is that the moon shines his light down onto the earth when the dark of night
has fallen to provide comfort and hope and recollection that the day will again
dawn. It isn’t a harsh glaring light, but a sweet, gentle light. Darkness is vital to
our spiritual lives.
The happiness of dawn only exists because of night. Just as our bodies need
sleep, our minds also need time away from intense spirituality or we begin to
burn up. But how lovely it is to have the moon smiling down his comfort as
we slip into bed.
Likewise the primary purpose of the intellectual wisdom of a husband is
to comfort his wife with a soft, gentle presence. When his wife is in a difficult
place, he can draw on his own faith in the comforting truths about the Lord
– His infinite love, His perfect providence and wisdom, the doctrines of how
we mus B7