The Light Shines in the Darkness: the North American Solar Eclipse of 2017
What did you do today?
I'll tell ya what I did!
I loaded up my family and went into town to the Northern Arkansas Technical College (North Ark) to experience the Great American Eclipse of 2017.
We were planning on driving up into Missouri, near Columbia, but with all the traffic and hassle of driving, we decided to forgo the 100% eclipse and settled for the 94% that our nearest town offered.
North Ark faculty and students were handing out Solar Shades for free, and since I didn't order any in advance, I figured Harrison was just as good a spot as any to view it.
I was wrong...(not the first time)
Let me tell you, if it wasn’t for my special glasses, my naked eye would never have known that I was experiencing a 94% solar eclipse today.
Very uneventful.
Very underwhelming.
It reminded me of that seen in Superman Returns (great movie, btw) where Kitty Kowalski tells Lex Luther
"Wow, that's really something Lex, it's frickin' Gone With the Wind."
She said this after he (Lex) dropped a piece of Kryptonian crystal into some water and everyone was expecting something amazing to immediately happen. Well, it didn’t, at least not at first. This was her underwhelmed reply:
Sure, the outside temperature dipped a few degrees and the usually intense heat of the sun’s rays in Arkansas felt comfortably reminiscent of a nice Wisconsin summer day.
Other than that, 6% of the Sun’s light was still more than enough to keep everything looking like business as usual.
Honestly, I was expecting there to be a cool darkness that would envelope the land.
Something a bit more apocalyptic in feel.
Instead, the 94% eclipse wasn’t even noticeable to the naked eye.
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The lesson I learned from this “experience” or lack thereof, is that even a little bit of light always overpowers a crap ton of darkness. 6% of the Sun still felt like it was noon day.
In the midst of this I was reminded of the following quote:
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. John 1:5 NLT
In a way, I was thankful for the way the eclipse play out. As a seeker of Truth I try to stay as sensitive as I can to deeper meanings and revelations to otherwise everyday, mundane and ordinary events.
Here's some truth that I gleaned from all this:
We all face darkness in our lives from time to time.
Whether it's the loss of a loved one, a sickness, an unkind word, or even our own inner demons, the darkness can seem so soul-numbingly overwhelming.
Today's non-event reminded me that even a little bit of light can never be extinguished by a universe of darkness.
Jesus said:
"I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 NLT
I have found this to be true time and time again in my life.
Jesus is my light.
With Him in my life the darkness can never overcome me.
For in Him, I am more than a conqueror. And I know that ALL things will work together for my good.
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Thanks for Reading!
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As Always,
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I thought for sure you guys were really close to the total eclipse. You must have been too far south, just as we were too far north. In Eau Claire, WI it was about 85%. I knew it wouldn't get dark, but I was also hoping for twilight or something like that. It did get noticeably dimmer though--we were at the park with the kids, and as I watched them play, the sunlight on the ground looked to the naked eye like I was looking at it through a tinted car windshield--that only lasted for a minute or two.
Leah caught this photo of the eclipse at its apex, using the glasses as a filter in front of her iphone camera.
We had the sunglasses and that was cool to see it actually take place. The coolest thing was that it was forecast to be cloudy and rainy all day. So I just stayed inside and worked. Then at about 11:30 the skies got perfectly clear. I said, let's head over to the park! It stayed clear during the entire eclipse. Then at around 2, after it was over, it got cloudy again. Almost like a little miracle just for us (and whoever else got to watch!)
I love your conclusions about darkness being overpowered by the light. It doesn't take much light to do that. We are lights in the world, following after the Light of the World, Jesus Christ! To Him be the glory.
Glad you made a day of it with the family. I'm sure the kids will remember it for years to come.
I didn't go out to view the eclipse here in Wisconsin (didn't have the dark glasses, for one thing). It would've been interesting as it was mostly sunny out, in spite of the forecast for storms. It did become quite dark for awhile as the eclipse took place, then lightened up afterwards, of course.
Okay, since you put it in a spiritual perspective, I will take the liberty of adding mine: The sun represents God. The moon which has no light of its own represents Satan - at his worst - when he tried to take over the throne of God (in other words, to replace God). As in the eclipse, he tries to blot out God and leave the earth in darkness, but the corona (crown) of Majesty is still present. The moon, eventually passes, defeated as it were, on its way, leaving the brilliant and glorious Sun to prevail.
Nicely said.
Great insight on our sunsights. Encouraging to see all things through the lens of truth. It's so easy to get caught up in the mundane frustrations and setbacks.
An excellent post. 94% did seem a bit underwhelming. But the family had an outing and they learned something precious. There is always light as long as you have Christ in your life.
Amen!
It looked like someone had the sun on a dimmer switch and turned it down over here by Springdale/Fayetteville. Speaking of seeking truth, I gave your neighbor a DVD to watch. Y'all should give it a watch too. Hoping we can venture east and meet y'all in the next few months.
I'll ask him about it. Looking forward to meeting you.
I was going to poke my head out and take a peek from central Wisconsin, but it was cloudy all day, and as the sun eclipsed it just felt like a cloudy day at best. Not much going on.
At least you got in a road trip with the family!
Same here, clouds in northern Wisconsin.
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I didn't have glasses and I think FL was 80% or something, but I did notice when I looked outside that while it was "sunny" it was actually dimmer, like I had sunglasses on, but I didn't. Not apocalyptic, but still kind of cool.