Let the Moon Shine

By the Rev. Robin Gray
Minister, Unitarian Universalist Church of Tallahassee

In the Dhammapada, it is written: “Whoever, by good deed, covers the evil done, such a one illumines the world like the moon freed from clouds.”

I love this positive image. Think of the moon, slipping along the sky on a raft of light, yet obscured by the dark clouds which allow only the slimmest rays to escape at their outer edges. The clouds are lit from behind by the moon, but all we can see is the seemingly impenetrable face of the clouds. Just so, evil takes precedence on the human horizon as well.

Keeping your face to the clouds, you now see them slide to the right of the sky vault and with increasing fervor the light of the moon overcomes the sky. The difference between darkness and the sky under moon glow is quite distinct. You would not readily confuse the sky at its darkest with the sky draped in moonlight. The change proceeds silently, swiftly and surely.

Likewise I can imagine our good deeds rolling from under a cover of evil and casting a new light on a scene so vast the good deeds themselves are dwarfed by it. Evil still exists. It has the potential to darken the world again, but our world is transformed by loving deeds emanating light.

I invite you then to take this image with you into the new year, to make use of it in your meditations and in your daydreams when you imagine the good deeds you can do.

No matter how small the deeds that are within your ken, remember the illumination of the moon and how many shades of light there are even in the darkest night.  Let the moon shine through your actions; dispel evil with all the good that lies within you.