It is possible to ask many more such questions. Astronomer Neil F. Comins, from Maine University, explained in his book, What If the Moon Didn’t Exist, the scenarios humankind would have faced if the Moon hadn’t existed. According to Comins, one of the millions of reasons why Earth is the only planet (known to us) to have life is the delicate balance between the Earth and the Moon. No occurrence in the universe is a coincidence, thus the Moon has been created as a balance factor. This balance is so sensitive that it is possible to say that there would be no life on Earth if it weren’t for the Moon.

The Moon, a sphere that has no atmosphere, and has a surface covered with craters, dust and rocks, is the Earth’s only satellite. The radius of the Moon is about one fourth of that of the Earth’s, its volume is about 1/50 of the Earth’s, and its mass is about 1/81 of the Earth’s. The Moon is around 240,000 miles from the Earth’s center and it takes 29.5 days to complete its orbit around the Earth. Even though we do not know for sure how the Moon came into being, the currently accepted theory asserts that a planet about 10 times lighter than the Earth, which astronomers call “Thiea,” crashed into Earth and a part of that planet broke apart and fell into space. This part (having lost its shape and most of its mass) crashed into Earth again after orbiting the Earth. In this second crash, the metal center of “Theia” fused into the center of the Earth while the outer shell’s light rocks scattered into space. In time, these little rocks fused to form the Moon. At first, the Moon orbited the Earth with a distance of only 14,000 miles, but in time this distance increased into an average of 240,000 miles.

The Moon’s largest effect on Earth is the tide. According to the law of universal gravitation, any two objects in the universe pull each other, and the force of this pull is in direct proportion to the objects’ masses and in inverse proportion to the square of the distance between the objects. The gravitational pull between the Earth and the Moon causes the seas and the oceans on Earth to either rise or subside. This effect is called the tide, which changes between high tide and low tide according to the Moon’s position. One third of all tide effects on Earth are caused by the Sun’s pull and the rest is caused by the Moon’s.

The Moon gets 1.57 inches farther from the Earth every year due to the tide. It is known that the time taken for the Earth to turn around its axis completely (1 day) increases by 0.02 milliseconds every year so that this distancing effect can be countered and the angular momentum of the Earth and the Moon can be sustained. It is also known that the time taken for the Earth to turn around its axis was 8 hours when the Moon was first created, and that it increased to 24 hours since then. If the Moon had not been created, there wouldn’t have been any tide and because of that, one day would still be 8 hours. That would mean that the Earth would be spinning around its axis about 3 times faster than its current speed. A greater spinning speed of a planet might mean stronger winds on its surface. For example, Jupiter and Saturn spin around their axes very fast and have about ten hours in a day. This causes winds with speeds up to 300 miles/hour at the east-west direction on their surfaces. The dust storms that occur in the atmospheres of these planets are caused by these winds and can be seen from the Earth with a telescope.

Without the Moon, the Earth would have spun faster, causing a faster heat exchange among the air, seas and land. This, in turn, would have caused hurricanes in the east-west direction on the face of the Earth with speeds up to 100 miles/hour. Such conditions would have been very inconvenient to all complex life forms including human beings. Even simple tasks like speaking or listening could have been very difficult or even impossible. Since a day would have been eight hours, this would have caused a mismatch between the biological clock of living things – including human beings – and the flow of the day, resulting in biological complications. Without the Moon, the high tide would have been very weak, again causing a very inconvenient environment for sea creatures.

The Moon also has a role in keeping the Earth’s axis at a 23.5 angle. It is known that the seasons result from this and allows the right amount of sunlight to the equator and the poles, creating a climate appropriate for life. Another known effect of the Moon on the Earth is that it reflects the Sun’s light and heats up the Earth by 32.36°F (0.2°C). The Moon also serves as a shield against space rocks, and if it had not been for the Moon many more rocks and meteors would have hit the Earth.

Most of the cosmic rays that come from space are neutralized by the Earth’s magnetic field. Few of these rays reach the Earth and causes chemical reactions. Without the Moon, the core of the Earth would have spun faster along with the Earth itself. With the core of the Earth spinning faster, the magnetic field would have been much stronger. This would have caused huge changes in the atmosphere. Besides, some bacteria and animals that use the magnetic field to find their way (such as sea turtles, salmon, eels, pigeons, and migratory birds) would have been negatively affected. Consequently, many ecosystems, as we know them today, would have been different.

Another significant service of the Moon to our lives is that, like the Sun, it has been used as a calendar throughout human history. Muslims today observe their Ramadan fast according to their hijri calendar which is based on lunar measurement of time.

The Moon is the largest satellite that we know, in proportion to the size of the planet it is attracted by (the Moon’s mass measures 1.23 % of the Earth’s mass). The size of the Moon plays a critical role in the sensitive balance of our ecosystem. When the relationship between the Earth and the Moon is examined carefully, one could easily conclude that the Moon has been created specially for the life on Earth by the One Who “has made the heavens high and set up the balance” with a gentle measure, a great cause and benefit, and was given to the service of humankind.

Notes

1. Neil Comins. What If the Moon Didn’t Exist? Voyages to Earths That Might Have Been, New York: HarperCollins, 1993.
2. “The Sun and the Moon are by an exact calculation” (Quran 55:5).
3. Marcus Chown. “The Planet That Stalked the Earth,” New Scientist, August 14, 2004, pp. 27–30.
4. Paul D. Spudis. “Moon,” World Book Online Reference Center, NASA, 2004.
5. Tony Phillips, “What Neil & Buzz Left on the Moon,” Science, NASA 2004.
6. Richard Ray, “Ocean Tides and the Earth’s Rotation,” IERS, 2001.
7. Comins 1993.
8. Paul J. Henney, www.astronomytoday.com
9. John Gribbin, “A Mysterious Monthly Temperature Cycle,” New Scientist, pp. 18, January 28, 1995.
10. “We have obscured the sign of the night, and We have made the sign of the day illuminating to see, that you may seek bounty from your Lord and that you may know the computation of (time) the years and reckoning…” (Isra 17:12). This verse has been interpreted as to refer to the moon and the sun. “… He has made the night for repose, and the sun and the moon a means for reckoning (the divisions of time)…” (An’am 6:96) also refers to this fact. See Ali Unal, The Qur’an with Annotated Interpretation in Modern English, Tughra Books, 2008, p. 294, 570–71.
11. Quran 55:7.

It was around dawn, and the day was not yet fully light. Rain the night before had left a thick cloud covering the scene. The music of bugs and the chanting of birds filled the air. Against a background of a slight breeze, which provided a smooth and continuous whistle, consecutive, rhythmic thumps could be heard. These thumps were the sounds of a giant’s footsteps as he was walking to work early in the morning.

Meanwhile, my grandpa and his friends were enjoying the water on the walkway. But a hot day was soon going to make the walkway the death bed of many of his friends. Aside from the heat of the day, the footsteps of the giants would bring to an end the lives of many others. Neither he nor his friends were aware of any of this. They were simply enjoying their water on the walkway.

That morning, the giant who was walking to work bent down towards my grandfather, grabbed a thin stick from the ground, and tried to kill him. Not ready for such an attack in the midst of his breakfast, my grandfather was stupefied, did not know what to do. He just spiraled away to escape the giant’s attack, as we always do in case of danger. But all was in vain; the giant would not give up.

Finally, the giant accomplished what he was trying to do, and thus my grandfather was saved from both the heat and the giant footsteps. It turned out that my grandpa had misunderstood the giant. Normally, other giants would walk on us, or would ignore us, and this giant was the same; or so he had thought. However, this one was trying to put the stick under my grandpa to lift him and place him onto the soil where he could be safe. My grandpa said that he appreciated this help more later when he heard his friends dying on that same walkway.

The story of a giant who was unlike others spread from the family to friends, and became known all around. The world underground rejoiced at the existence of this one giant who was not like others… Maybe there were other giants like him, too; and the underground world kept praying for those giants that they might be protected from things they were unaware of, just as that giant had saved my grandfather from things that he was unaware of.

After my grandfather’s times, his story became a nostalgic tale for the elders and a bedtime story for little ones. The world aboveground became worse than the world underground. Instead of long trees above with their roots under ground, you would see huge, tall rocks in both places. The rocks underground provided water to everyone, but the rocks aboveground only provided water to the giants. The roots of the plants and trees used the marrow of the earth to embellish it, but the long channels that the giants sank into the ground were like huge veins draining the earth to death. We ceased praying for them.

One day, we heard screaming among the giants about an asteroid heading directly towards the earth. The only thing they were worried about was the end of their own lives. We were not surprised by this selfish reaction to that event because of their selfish past on the earth. And the asteroid came…

It was foggy again, but not due to clouds; it was quite dark, but not due to dawn. The fog and the darkness were due to dust spread over the face of the earth. We were fortunate to be able to sustain our lives under such harsh conditions. As for the giants, they were not suffering much from the conditions, as they had taken shelter in special chambers built only for them. Being some of the few survivors of the impact, we were of significant use to them. After using the entire earth selfishly, now they were enslaving us. So, they still lacked our prayers for their protection. Could they ever figure out, despite their hardened hearts, why such tragedy had befallen them?

Not long after that time, we witnessed something totally incredible. One of the giants came out of the protection chambers to do something that was completely unexpected. He looked through his goggles at the sky and tried to take a deep breath. As he was coughing because of the dust in the air, he opened the nylon bag he was carrying. He sat on the ground, dug a hole with his hands, and uncovered the thing in the bag: a daisy plant. Was he going to plant it? But why? The chances of its survival were almost none. What benefit would it bring him, anyway, even if it survived for a day? He looked pleased with what he was doing. He even smiled at a worm that was escaping the hole he had dug for the flower. What was going on in his mind?

It was just at the moment he was about to plant the flower that the earth suddenly started shaking like crazy. The planet was dying because of the deep cracks caused by the impact of the asteroid. Now, neither the giant nor the flower had any chance of survival. He did not know what to do for a while; then he started shedding tears: “Oh my God! Oh my God!”

Then he saw the deep cracks forming near him, shaking and growing. It was as if the planet had started shouting at him in thousands of voices. He could not stand the quakes and fell down next to the hole, as if it were he, instead of the flower, that was going to be buried in it. At that moment, this giant was no different from us: lying on the ground, and seeking his way out of this doom. Who was there to help him? His cries were now screams: “Oh my God! Oh my God!”

All of a sudden, he stopped crying and started talking to someone, but we could not see anybody around: “Please, hold me tight. Do not leave me….” He continued, “But I can’t… I can’t….” Then, he tried to reach the flower that had rolled away from him when he fell down. He grabbed it and cradled it at his chest; but struck by a stone falling from one of the nearby rocks, he fell unconscious. As he was sinking into the growing cracks, we uttered a prayer for a giant who had planted a flower in his heart… The last prayer of worms, the last prayer for giants…

Seth Mette has a PhD in Aerospace Engineering and is currently working as a postdoctoral fellow at West Virginia University. He has a special interest in psychological fiction.

People like to be seen to be busy. If we’re busy, we’re important; if we’re not busy, we’re embarrassed to admit it. Responsibility has become a sign of status. It gives us security, makes us feel good and is a nice excuse for occupying ourselves with priorities.

Most of the time we think that priorities are urgent. Being caught up in doing urgent tasks is like an addiction. It rules us and we don’t make time to ask if they’re really necessary. As a result, the gap between our clock and our compass, our time and our sense of direction, continues to widen. In fact, rather than doing a lot of work in a little amount of time, it is more important to do the right work in the right direction. Instead of spending our lives continually watching our clocks, we should occasionally glance at our compass.

‘Which activities do you believe will give positive results when done thoroughly and persistently?’

This question was put to thousands of people and the answers were grouped under these seven headings:

1- Increasing the quality of communication with people.

2- Making better preparation.

3- Making better planning and organization.

4- Making oneself tow the line.

5- Evaluating new opportunities.

6- Developing oneself.

7- Training others by giving them authority.

So why don’t people do these things? Maybe because they cannot be classed (or paid) as urgent tasks. Precisely because there is no pressure on us to do these things, it’s especially important to set aside time and give attention to them.

To Live, Love, Learn and Be Remembered Kindly

We have a physical need to live peacefully, a social need to love and be loved, a mental need to develop ourselves through learning and, by leaving behind a material or spiritual inheritance, a need to be remembered kindly.

These needs play a very important role in the quality of our lives. For example, let’s look at these questions: Do you have enough energy and physical capacity all day long? Or are there some things you would like to do but can’t because you’re tired, sick or inconvenienced?

Are you financially secure? Can you meet your own needs and put aside something for the future? Or, even though you work for many hours, are you still in debt?

Do you have healthy and fulfilling relationships with others? Are you able to work with others in a beneficial way to achieve common purposes? Or do you see yourself as alien, lonely, and distant from people you like, or unable to work well with others for reasons of misunderstanding, insincerity, back-biting, suspicion or shame?

Are you continually learning, developing yourself, and gaining fresh perspectives and new capabilities? Or do you feel unused, useless? Are there things you want to do but can’t because you don’t have the necessary education or talent?

Do you have a clear sense of direction, purpose or mission that inspires you and gives you energy? Or are you confused about what matters and what you really want to do in life?

Some needs are of literally vital importance. When they are not met, the quality of life declines, our energy and attention seem to be swallowed up by a black hole and we become addicted to urgent tasks.

But a man who meets his physical, social, mental and spiritual needs begins to burn internally with a flame of service. He turns such needs as money education, health and love into resources that will increase his capacity for service.

This person runs to help meet the physical, social, mental and spiritual needs of those in need. He serves saying ‘Yes!’ from his heart. This ‘Yes’ enables him to say ‘No’ to unnecessary jobs.

Roger Merrill speaks of an experience he had in one of his ‘Principle Centered Leadership’ programs: ‘One of those attending the course came up to me and said he wanted to talk about something. We sat on a terrace overlooking a beautiful lake and golf course. While looking at the man, I tried to guess what kind of problem he might have. He had an impressive personality. In his fifties, he was the vice-president of an international company and had a nice family. He was an active participant in the program and easily comprehended the topics. He made this confession: ‘This whole week live felt extremely uncomfortable. Everything began with that Monday evening exercise.’ Then he spoke to me about his life.

He grew up in a small town. He had been a good student and was active in social activities. In college he had taken on active responsibilities in many clubs and programs. Later he got a job and got married, their first child was born, he went abroad on business trips, he got promotions, they moved to a new house, they had a second child, he was promoted to vice-president. While listening to [all this], I was waiting for the problem, the catastrophe that had turned his life upside- down.

Finally he came to the point:

The problem is this: My life is full of wonderful things, a beautiful house, a good car a good job and a life full of responsibility. But if you tell me to think carefully about my life and to reveal what is really important to me, I couldn’t answer you.

As a youth, a university student and a young man, I had been busy with something most of my life. I wanted to make a real difference in this world and make a meaningful contribution to it.

When I started thinking about what was the most important thing to me, this feeling, this ideal-I don’t know how, but it got lost. It was as if I had deluded myself with a feeling of security. I hadn’t made a difference. I hadn’t taught my children how to make a difference. I only watched as my life flowed by.

Then a change took place in his face, and he continued:

But I made a decision. I decided to get in touch with a foundation that I had worked with before. They were giving unbelievable help to people in the third-world. I wanted to be a part of it.

There was a light in his eyes and a meaning of fixed purpose in his words. He had gained a tremendous amount of energy. The quality of his last few years before retirement and later years, the quality of his life and the lives of people in many places all over the world was going to be better. He would be able to leave a valuable legacy behind.’

The Difference Between Principles and Values

On a farm, productivity can’t be obtained with ‘fast and temporary precautions’. If seeds are not planted on time, and if hoeing, fertilizing, watering and spraying are neglected all year, it’s unrealistic to expect to get plentiful produce one day.

There is a basic difference between a social system and a natural system. The social system is built on values while the natural system is built on principles. In the short run, ‘fast and temporary precautions’ can be of benefit, but, in the long run, the ‘Law of Agriculture’ is operative in every realm of life. After years have passed the heart reaps what it has sown. Anyway a great number of problems arise from trying to harvest things that haven’t been sown.

In another seminar the following took place: ‘I joined a seminar where information regarding the subject of time was given. At one point the person giving the seminar said, “Yes, now I’m going to give a small exam.” He took a big jar with a wide mouth from under his table. Then he put beside it a large plate filled with rocks the size of a fist and asked, “How many of these rocks can we put in this jar?” After we made some guesses he said, “OK, let’s see.” He threw one rock into the jar, and then another, and another. I don’t remember how many but the jar was full. He asked us if the jar was full. Looking at the rocks, we all answered, “Full.”

‘Then he took a cup of pebbles out from under the table. The pebbles filled the spaces between the rocks. Smiling, he again asked, “Is the jar full?” This time we said, “We guess not.”“Good”, he said and took a small bucket of sand from under the table and emptied it into the jar. The sand filled up the empty spaces. He asked one more time whether or not the jar was full. “It’s not full!” we all shouted. “Good,” he said and took a pitcher of water and poured it into the far. Then he asked what kind of lesson could be learned from this. Someone replied, “There are empty spaces in life, and we can fill them if we want to.” He said, “No,” and continued, “The real point is: If we hadn’t put in the first rocks, could we have added the others? Because most people act with the paradigm the more, the beter in order to do a lot in a short time, they fill up their time as much as possible. But if the things we do are not really what are important to us, does it matter how much more we work?’”

So this means that what we should put first in the jar of life are not ordinary tasks, but principles and activities that give us vision and mission and develop and renew us. After that man will be surprised to see what else he’s able to put in the empty spaces.

Being Able to be the Leader in our life

Managers deal with processes, and leaders deal with targets. Managers work ‘in’ the system, and leaders work ‘above’ it. Managers consider if they have done work in the right way, and leaders consider if they have done the right work. In a sense managers climb a ladder leaning on a wall. The number of steps on the ladder, its length and speed of climbing are important to them. For a leader it’s important whether or not the ladder is leaning against the right wall. Climbing a ladder leaning on the wrong wall can cost a man a lot. This true story is an example:

Many years ago a man told his friends and neighbors that his goal was to earn one million dollars that year. He was an innovator believing in the motto, Give me a good idea, and I’m ready to sell a million of them. Developing a kind of toy and getting the patent, he began to travel all over the country to market it. From time to time he would take one of his children with him for a few weeks. His wife would complain about the situation and say, ‘When the children come back from traveling with you, they neglect their prayers and don’t do their homework. They have fun for a whole week. You’re not helping them so why don’t you leave them at home?’

Finally a year passed. The man announced that he had reached his goal. He had earned a million dollars. However, a short time later he divorced his wife. Two of his children began to use drugs. The other lost his reason and fell into a depression. The whole family was torn apart. The man had set only one goal and made all his calculations according to that. But he hadn’t calculated the total cost. One million dollars had cost him a rot.

What Chinese Bamboo Has to Tell Us

After Chinese bamboo is planted, it develops underground for four years. Above ground only a small shoot can be seen. In the fifth year it grows to a height of 25 meters above ground.

Those who can be leaders in life, those who spend their lives centered on principles, know that they cannot get easy results. They are willing to pay a heavy price because they believe they will eventually get results.

They are patient, calm, humble and determined, like the soil. They know they cannot reach a valuable result with worthless means. It is in our own hands to be born again, escape conditioning and listen to the voice of our conscience.

Regardless of the results, it is possible to listen, not to this or that, or the noise of the crowd, but to the voice of our conscience and act accordingly. Then we won’t fear the results. Time will become our friend, not our enemy, because life will offer us the sweet fruit of the produce we patiently and carefully sowed and cultivated. In such a life, time is not expended, it turns into investment. The cultural heritage we leave to following generations will increase.

As Bryant S. Hinckley said:

Service to others is an attribute of great characters. It pins the Medal of Honor on the disciples. It is a line separating the two big groups of this world: those who help to contribute and those who become an obstacle and only consume. How much better it is to give than receive. Serving others is a delicate virtue. Giving courage, showing interest, removing fear, raising hope in hearts, in short, to love and show it is the most valuable service to mankind.