I discovered, by digging deep into our camera’s menus, that I can do ‘spot metering’. Therefore I can now take pictures of things like last night’s beautiful moon. It’s not like an astronomer’s picture, but it’s better than I expected.
The moon connects us to our past, because it still governs some religious festivals in the Abrahamic religions. For instance, it still controls the date of Easter. One of the Lectionary passages for Good Friday is from the ‘letter to the Hebrews’. The writer reminds the listeners of Jeremiah 31:33 … “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds,”” (Hebrews 10:16). The letter-writer has gone on at some length about priesthood, and Jesus being the high priest, in ways that would only really make sense to someone of Jewish heritage. But if you read the next verse in Jeremiah, you will see that the prophet sees a time which is the end of all priesthood. People won’t need to teach one another about God, because everyone will know God, from the highest to the lowest.
It is the end of priesthood. Nobody can claim to have unique, special knowledge of God, because everyone can know God.
Living God,
help us to know you
and not be afraid.
Help us to know your love.
Help us to know your solidarity
in times of stress.
Help us to know Jesus,
suffering with us,
and leading us to life.
Help us to inhale
your Spirit
and to know you
ever more deeply.