Tonight we had a Blue Moon, which means it was the third full moon in a season with four, a rare happening. Thus we get the colloquial phrase meaning a rare event, as in the phrase “once in a blue moon. It does not mean the moon is blue. The term has nothing to do with the actual color of the moon. A literal “blue moon” (the moon appearing with a tinge of blue) may occur in certain atmospheric conditions, e.g. volcanic eruptions and exceptionally large fires can leave particles in the atmosphere. Perhaps out West, like in Idaho where there are exceptionally large fires the blue moon has a tint of blue. Here is was the regular old moon color.

However, the setting sun was very red last night and tonight. The sun was red not the surrounding sunset. I do not know what this is called. Maybe we had a red hot sun with a blue moon. Now in a white sky, that would mean an all American sunset, red, white and blue.

I have noticed recently that honoring soldiers for war is being used more and more by businesses selling products. Veterans who participate in war seem to hold a particular place in the hearts of Americans, even when the military veteran has denounced the war which he or she served or suffered from severe brain disorders, like PTSD. By glorifying the warrior we have a felt obligation to glorify the war. The horrors of the war, like the death of Pakistan children by drone attacks, become remote and we do not feel the pain and sorrow of the families of these victims like we feel the pride and honor of the soldiers who fight and kill in our name.

We fight to keep our country free but yet often we support on the side of the military, like in Egypt, who overthrew the democratically elected President. Acts like this, like the “killer drone” strikes, do not make political or moral sense. Usually they anger more people to see the USA as supporters of killing and repression. Why we do these acts of war, using our brave soldiers, only makes sense to me, as ways to increase power and money for the USA, not freedom or democracy. It is easy to see how power and money dominate our American society but hard to do anything about it. Money, Pride and Power seem to dominate our culture.

These three motivations are the opposite of what we read in the Gospel in the Sermon on the Mound. In these teachings of Jesus it is the poor, powerless and humble that is glorified.

I read today that Gandhi read from the Sermon of the Mound each day for forty years. Gandhi, it is said read each day from the Hindu sacred scriptures of the Bhagavad Gita. Unlike any other religious scripture, the Bhagavad Gita broadcasts its message in the centre of the battlefield. Gandhi interprets the battle as “an allegory in which the battlefield is the soul struggling against evil.”

St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, was a soldier who renounced militarism but still used war allegories. In his meditation on the two Kingdoms, Lucifier, the leader of one Kingdom offers pride, power and wealth as his prizes for joining him in battle. The other leader is Jesus who offers just the opposite, humility, powerlessness and poverty. This is the paradox of our society and of the teaching of Jesus, like in the Sermon on the Mound like it is between glorification of war and the veteran and honoring the weak, poor and marginalized, be they veterans or not. The chances of Americans in great numbers following the Way of Jesus over the Ways of the Devil are slim. But it is a ‘blue moon.”

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