Harvest Moon

Here is the answer to yesterday’s mystery picture. A moon cake. Last week was the Chinese Festival of the Autumn Moon, which is kind of like our harvest celebration. It is celebrated by eating moon cakes. And of course, my son and daughter-in-law celebrate it, because our granddaughter is Chinese. So they saved us one and brought it over Sunday night. Let me tell you, this is one weird confection. The texture and taste are indescribable. A traditional mooncake is made of a sweet bean-paste filling with golden brown flaky skin. What is that in the center, you may ask? An egg yolk, centered perfectly, to represent the full moon. They are often stamped with the baker’s insignia on top, extremely dense and rich, and loaded with fat. Because making mooncakes is labor intensive, many families just buy them from bakeries. Children are told the story of the moon fairy living in a crystal palace, who comes out to dance on the moon's shadowed surface. This legend dates back to ancient times, to a day when ten suns appeared at once in the sky, causing the land to be scorched. The Emperor ordered an archer to shoot down the nine extra suns. Once the task was accomplished, the archer was rewarded with a pill that would make him immortal. However, his wife found the pill, took it, and was banished to the moon as a result. Legend says that her beauty is greatest on the day of the Moon festival. Our Lord wanted the Israelites to celebrate the new moon instead of the full moon. I’m not quite sure why. He told them to rejoice and blow trumpets at the new moon festival. What do you think of when you look at the moon? Here’s what king David thought: “When I consider your Heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?” Psalm 8:3