Deja Vu

This Sunday, July 13, we will witness another nearly full moon. Interesting and deja vu for this reflects the precise historical momentVincent van Gogh captured while painting the Moonrise in Southern Francein 1889.Using computer calculations, aerial photographs, trigonometry, topographicmaps, astronomical charts and local knowledge, astronomers came to theconclusion that van Gogh could only have depicted the moonrise at thattime and that date, that is, 9:08 pm on July 13, 1889.

The oil painting shows an orange disk of the full moon peeping out frombehind an overhanging cliff jutting from distant foothills, which canstill be seen today from the grounds of the Saint-Paul monastery atSaint-Remy where van Gogh was hospitalized. The reaped wheat in theforeground would indicate that this was a harvest scene corresponding witha July 13th date.

On Sunday, July 13, we will be in the same moon position as Vincent vanGogh was as he stood among golden wheat stacks over 100 years ago in 1889.Deja vu.

I am sure you have other deja vu experiences. The Bible talks about themas well for in Numbers 32:23 is says, "...be sure, your sin will find youout." Often, we try to forget the sins of long ago or ill-memories in thepast. But they do come back to haunt us, like the old dog bones we dig upin our garden.

David in Psalm 25:7 cries out, "Remember not the sins of my youth." Andthat can be our prayer as well, today. When we ask God to forgive oursins, he will throw them into the deepest ocean and cover them with thebiggest wave. It's like putting our prayer into a helium-filled balloon,releasing it and never seeing it again. The Bible also mentions that ifwe have sinned against someone specifically, we must seek amends with thatperson before God will forgive us.

So on July 13, as you see the nearly full moon rising, think of theMoonrise Vincent van Gogh painted in 1889 but also think of the fact thatGod will forgive the sins of our past if we ask Him to. That will be adeja vu experience worth remembering.

(Data source: Steve Connor, The Independent, London, 06-16-03)

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Contributed by George Prins.Visit George's Living Water site athttp://niagara.becon.org/~gprins