Eclipsed

Eclipsed

By LEON YOUNGBLOOD

I have to admit, I was impressed when the moon got between the earth and the sun, making the sun’s corona visible.  I had seen photographs of this phenomenon all my life; none of them compared to seeing the event as it happened.  The next total eclipse of the Sun visible in America will be August 23, 2044, so save your eclipse glasses to use then.  I intend to watch it myself, if I’m not busy.

BRIAR CIRCLE

There are many positive things I could say about the eclipse, but I am “eclipsed” by countless others who have expressed these thoughts better.  With no particular direction in mind, here are some quotes:

“There’s no way to oversell how spectacular and incredible seeing a total eclipse is.  A lot of people think they’ve seen an eclipse, and they think they’ve see a partial solar eclipse—even if they’ve seen a 99 percent partial, it pales in comparison to seeing a complete, 100 percent total eclipse of the sun.”  —Fred Espenak

Espenak also said, “I recommend for people, if this is the first time they’re going to see an eclipse, don’t get bogged down in trying to take pictures of it, because you’ll spend too much time fiddling around with cameras . . .Try to drink it with your eyes and enjoy it.”  (From my experience, he’s right.)

“Most events recorded in history are more remarkable than important, like eclipses of the sun and moon, by which all are attracted, but whose effects no one takes the trouble to calculate.”  —Henry David Thoreau

“We should always endeavor to wonder at the permanent thing, not at the mere exception.  We should be started by the sun, and not by the eclipse.  We should wonder less at the earthquake, and wonder more at the earth.”  —Gilbert K. Chesterton

I suppose I should not be surprised to have encountered persons who believe the total eclipse was a warning to prepare for tough times ahead.  There is nothing novel about this.  As Walter Mercado said, “In many cultures, a total eclipse of the sun predicts cataclysms and bad events.”  That has been true for thousands of years.  There is some disagreement whether or not the celestial events cause or merely predict bad times, but this is a looney bin I would just as soon not crawl into.  Consequently, I will let this quote from Luci Swindoll sum up my thoughts on this:

“Don’t take yourself too seriously.  It just makes life all the harder.  It’ll all come out in the wash anyway, because God’s glory will eventually eclipse everything that goes wrong on this earth.  Lighten up and learn to laugh at yourself.”

Keep your “eclipse” glasses handy.  I will see you Aug. 23, 2044.

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