Last night as I drove home from church, I nearly had to pull over and just look at the moon…did you see it? It was an immense bright yellow with a brilliant arc of light that surrounded it. As I drove across the High Bridge, the Mississippi River below me, the moon was so close it felt as if I could reach out and touch it.

The experience reminded me of a book the women’s book group at church read called To Follow the Moon. It is a story set in 17th century England and one of the central characters is Basuba, a midwife who is the keeper of the ancient wisdom. Throughout the book she gently passes that wisdom down to the younger people. The beginning point of that wisdom is to admit that she doesn’t know everything and that learning is a life-long experience. "I will keep on learning ’til I die, and I still will be far from knowing everything. It’s part of the Mystery; we each know some things and are blind to others. That makes us seek the holiness of each other. I’m ready to learn from Moon about change. Moon changes every night. She grows larger ’til she’s full and then smaller ’til she disappears. And then she does it again."Seeing last night’s moon,I went to my book shelves, found the book, reread those words.

This Sunday we will celebrate the Confirmation of several young people and their entry into a fuller relationship within the church. I have to admit to being confused and sometimes frustrated with confirmation, how it can sometimes feels like graduation instead of one phase of the Moon of their lives, and ours. I am mystified that some people will not come to church because it is Confirmation Sunday. How might Confirmation be different if we affirm and re-affirm how as a faith community we are all in the business of keeping on learning until we die? That we are all a part of the Mystery……that we know some things….and may always be blind to others. And here is the really important part…that throughout the learning, the searching, the knowing, the inability to see, see must seek the holiness of each other.

Seeking that holiness,held in the Mystery….being with one another throughout the phases of growing larger,fuller in our faith and also during the times when our faith is small and almost non-existent…..isn’t that what it means to be the Kin-dom of God? Waxing and waning comes at all ages. It is important that we hold on to one another.