Moon Messages; Prayer Passion . . .

We Live Under the Same Moon

I have moved around a great deal during my life, with the result that some of my closest friends and family are scattered across the continent. Thanks to modern technology I communicate and stay in touch fairly well, but even so, there are times when I feel disconnected and lonely. I miss being able to confide a memory, an emotion or a new idea to the one person I know would relate to it – but I cannot because that person is thousands of kilometres away. Even more difficult is when I need to give (or receive) news that is either very good and exciting, or very sad and bad.

It happened this week, when a friend told me some bad news concerning her mother, who is one of my dearest friends, and who lives on the eastern seaboard of Canada. I felt powerless, lost and lonely realizing that the only contact I could offer was via messages, phone conversations and video calls.

Situations like these leave me feeling helpless. But I know I must not give up. I must employ the methods available to me. All is not lost.

I paused to remember our bond. I breathed deeply and prayed for her well-being. I sent her a message of greeting and a prayer to remind her that she is loved, she is cared about, she has family and community that support her with compassion and understanding. I recalled how she once told her daughters and me that we all live under the same moon, which we admire from this same beautiful earth that we’ve been gifted to inhabit for a brief time.

I found the words and spoke to her on the phone. Her voice filled me with warm memories of our friendship, even in the midst of the current uncertainty and pain she was describing. I found prayers and messages for her, for her husband and her daughters. Although I cannot accompany her in person on her journey, our bond connects us across space and time.

Our modern world sometimes feels callous and indifferent, with its implicit encouragement of individuality over community, rights over obligations, greed over compassion and accumulation over mutual sharing. We may be the most technologically advanced human culture, yet we seem lacking in willingness to offer care, companionship and social support to those who most need it. And so, I try hard to offer hope, comfort and presence to those living under the same moon who are lonely, hurting and struggling.

Sometimes I think it would be so much easier to focus inward and concentrate on creating perfect happiness and harmony in my own life, while ignoring everyone else. But I don’t believe I was born to live like that. I feel I was invited here to hold and nurture the connections I have made along the steps of my journey. So I stay in touch, offering my passion and space to those who look to the same moon and call out in quiet desperation for human contact.

As our journeys of life unfold, perhaps we will recognize new opportunities to reach out to others. I offer prayer in thanksgiving to the Holy One, grateful for those who continue to support and comfort others in this world, which so needs your love.

David

The Rev’d David Burrows is the Incumbent Priest of the Anglican Parish of Kokanee, encompassing Nelson, Kaslo, and the North Shore. This writing is a part of his weekly blog ‘Mountain Reflections'.