Walking by moonlight

The other night I was walking in the park. It had been dark for about an hour and a half. I noticed right away there were two types of brilliances lighting my way. One was the light at the top of the lightpost that had that yellow luminescence. It lighted my way quite well, but it played out after about a 30 yard radius from the light pole. Then, I was in darkness again. The other light was the moon. It was paricularly bright that night. Its luminescence was slivery blue against the darkness, but it pervaded the darkness. It was not limited to a radius tha it had to stay within. I could easily see the park's trail and trees and playground equipment, but just their shapes, not their colors or finer details. Yet precisely because of the lack of detail I could see, my meditation was enhanced. The objects under the man-made light could be seen in much more detail, but that enhancement caused me to focus on the details of the objects or their color or their juxtaposition to each other, or some other distraction. I couldn't see the park as a whole nor could I concentrate as easily.

It is rare in the winter that I walk in the day. But, then I am grateful for that because my mental conversations with the one who made us and gives us our paths to walk home on are livelier, more extended, filled more with frolic and contentment. I have a fuller understanding of life and people which the Creator-made light makes possible more than the limited, distracted understanding allowed by the man-made light. The temperature during the winter is secondary. Lighting is primary, at least if it is the light of the moon.