> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.learningto.be/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # The Moon is Always Round - URL: https://www.learningto.be/the-moon-is-always-round/ - Published: 2026-09-26T01:43:04.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-26T03:53:21.000Z - Author: Joel Yeap - Tags: faith, short essay It was just Mid-Autumn Festival yesterday here in Singapore. This yearly affair, celebrated by us Chinese, revolves around folk legends about Chang’e and Hou Yi. Somehow, this evolved into the highly commercialised “tradition” of mooncake exchanging—more on that for another time. Across cultures and traditions, changing phases of the moon have represented movements in time and seasons. Some, like the Chinese, also have legends and folk tales surrounding the shapes of the moon. Seeing the slew of sloppy-AI WhatsApp well wishes being sent around yesterday reminded me of a phrase that seems to sit almost in opposition to how many cultures perceive the changing states of the moon. Very much a Christian liturgy hidden in an unassuming 5-words, this phrase comes from a Professor Jonathan Gibson through his lovely picture book by the same title: **The moon is always round.** --- No matter how we perceive the shape of the moon to be—waxing crescent, waning gibbous, or any in between—the moon itself will always be round. The moon’s constant roundness, despite its appearances, is a fantastic metaphor for the unchanging nature of God. Change is constant, some say. We live in a world filled with uncertainties and worries—from the minute emotional shifts in our hearts to the cascading effects of geopolitical tensions. When I studied to be a social worker, I learnt how to bring about change in a person. Then in business school, I studied the strategies in managing change. Change is something we anticipate and plan for, yet is also something we fear and avoid. Oh, to have a love-hate relationship with change. It is not surprising, then, that the unchanging nature of God feels so foreign to us. What stands out to me most is how many of us find it so hard to reconcile the unchanging God juxtaposed against the ever-changing tides of life. After all, it is curious that the God who created the changing heavens and earth, us changing humans—even time itself—be Himself unchanging. In his book, Gibson juxtaposes this unchanging nature of God against his family’s story of grief. I remember feeling particularly emotional once when I read this book to my daughter, Kiara. This tiny human who has already been through more medical procedures than I have accumulated all my life. I don’t think I felt emotional solely because I was hurt or angry. Rather, it was in the midst of that hurt that I was also experiencing a deep comfort in this truth that God is unchanging—remembering that no matter what happens in life, He is present, leading, and loving us fully. I don’t think anyone will ever fully grasp the wonder of the unchanging God—He who has no beginning and no end. I remember being enamoured by a pastor’s description of God’s love: that it never increases. To think that God’s love for me never increases yet never decreases is something so unfathomable. Is this something that may be hard to reconcile with some of our experiences? Definitely. Yet, it is this very same truth that will bring comfort to us in this rapidly changing world. Oh, how wonderful this unchanging God is! So, yes, how we perceive and experience the living God may change. The times and generations may change. Heck, even Christianity as it is practiced may change (as it has, countless times). Just like the shifting moon phases, these changes are but mere appearances. No matter these changes, we must never forget the unchanging nature of our God—who, just like the always-round moon, stays the same even if our fickle-minded hearts may perceive Him to be otherwise. --- With Mid-Autumn’s passing, the full moon has come and gone—waning slowly away from that round perfect circle. Looking up at the night sky, you may be greeted by all sorts of shapes of the moon. Maybe you won’t even spot it. However it appears, and whatever it is we see, always remember—the moon is always round.