The sun and moon grow dark And the stars lose their brightness.
Yesterday I decided to watch the solar eclipse on Pinnacle Mountain. When I arrived at the top of the mountain at 10:30, I was expecting to see a huge crowd. It was only me and three others; a man and his son on a father/son outing before they drive to Missouri for the young man to start his first year of college and another young man. We talked about the coming eclipse and laughed at some of the conspiracy theories about the event. Such as, a woman asking her town to postpone the event since her children would be in school on Monday. It brought a few chuckles about who really is in control of the sun. I brought up the Today Show debate; should it be viewed alone or with a group. We all, not surprising, thought it was best experienced with a group of people.
Nearer to the actual eclipse more people started to show up. I had a pair of solar binoculars that magnified the sun six times over because I waited too late to buy some of the less expensive glasses. Some came fully prepared with the special glasses, others with boxes to make pin-hole viewers and others who didn’t seem to even know that there was an eclipse until they arrived (they were just hiking). I loved watching the eclipse itself, so much so that I really didn’t take many pictures but thank goodness NASA took some truly spectacular pictures for me to enjoy after I got home.
But it was made more special by the people at the top of the mountain. There was a spirit of camaraderie among all the people. I saw the best come out of the people. They all shared their glasses with people who did not have any and I shared my binoculars with everyone, as well. We were joined by two park rangers and when I left there were several groups of police officers who were making a circuit of the mountain on what looked to be a training event. Everyone was on their best behavior, as far as I could tell, and the people spent several hours looking of the heavens or talking science and theology. I didn’t join in immediately on the theology conversation because I was interested in what they were saying. There was a large group of Jewish people who had joined us, a variety of religious/political beliefs were represented, and guess what? We all got along. It gave me hope for our nation. We could all gather at the top of a mountain to see a scientific phenomenon as people from different races, religions, creeds and political beliefs, and just get along. We ooh’ed and ahh’ed and departed from the mountain. I especially liked a young couple and their friend who were my daughter’s age. We shared food and then the young woman walked in front of me because she was worried about me falling (I was her mother’s age apparently).
I hope you all experienced the solar eclipse and saw the wonder of God’s creation at work before your eyes. It did and it became a spiritual event.