This is a photo (not original to me) taken of the moon on July 31, 2025, the day that my Ambrose went to be with Jesus. It was a waxing crescent, meaning the whole moon wasn’t visible, part of it is darkened, as you can see.
The moon has been meaningful to our family the last four months due in part to Jonathan Gibson’s little book “The Moon is Always Round,” which tells the story of a catechism that his family created, and how that ministered to them when Jonny and his wife Jackie’s daughter Leila was stillborn at 39 weeks. The catechism goes like this:
Q. What shape is the moon tonight?
A. The moon is a crescent moon, or a half-moon, or a gibbous moon, or a full moon.
Q. What shape is the moon always?
A. The moon is always round.
Q. What does that mean?
A. God is always good.
We taught (our oldest son) Augustine this before that horrible July day (I actually purchased the book back in 2019 and its been on our shelves ever since), so even before we lost Ambrose, Augustine would sometimes say randomly, “The moon is always round, which means God is always good.”
Now I look at the moon every time I’m outside, day or night. I looked at the moon on July 31 and only saw part of it; half was hidden. Just like that night (and almost all of them since), it’s hard to see God’s goodness in taking Ambrose, but I know He’s good even still.
Ambrose is my evangelist because every time I think about him (which is a lot), I have to think about the resurrection and the hope of the world to come. He ministers to me more than anyone I’ve ever known, and he ministers still. Just like his namesake. If anyone is blessed by something I share here – or through my preaching/teaching – about suffering, lament, sorrow, or hope in dark times henceforth, they have Ambrose the evangelist to thank.
“Even when we cannot see the whole moon as it orbits the earth, the moon is always round. It’s the same with God’s goodness. There are times in our lives when things happen to us that make us question or doubt God’s goodness, like when someone in our family dies. But just because we cannot always see God’s goodness during difficult times, this does not mean that God is not good in those times. God is always good, even when we cannot see it, just like the moon is always round, even when we cannot see all of it.” ~Jonathan Gibson, The Moon is Always Round.
The Bearded Ecclesiologian 