You can listen to this week’s Devotional here
Author: Karen Hoover
And God made the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; and God made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:16-18
Like thousands of others, we traveled to Austin, Texas, to experience the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. On that day, the path of the eclipse traveled from Mexico, through 13 US states, and into Canada crossing the homes of more than 30 million Americans. According to the calculations of our astrophysicist friend who organized our group, Austin had the greatest historical chance of having clear skies while being nearest to the center of totality, resulting in a 1 minute and 43 seconds period of totality.
We were eager to experience this great celestial event, amazingly for the second time in our lives, and primed to watch for the phenomena of Baily’s Beads, coronal flares, and the diamond ring. Even in our urban park location we hoped to observe the effect of the eclipse on birds and other wildlife, and to watch the shadows take different shapes reflecting the moon’s progress across the sun.
But alas, as the weather progressed from bad to much worse, we despaired to even catch a glimpse of the moon’s path across the sun, or even discern any impact on the environment around us. Fortunately, the several layers of dark moisture-laden clouds parted briefly and occasionally enough from First Contact through the End of Totality that we could periodically note the changing alignment — and we miraculously got a 6-8 second glimpse of the Maximum eclipse (a bit less than the 103 seconds we were anticipating!). And surprisingly, we did experience total darkness through the thick gray clouds — and the city lights of Austin came on to provide a backdrop to the celestial event.
Yet, this diminished experience of this great and highly anticipated celestial event left me struggling with emotions I had not anticipated. Was I feeling so disappointed, and even cheated in some way by the universe, because I had been greedy in my expectations? Had I been seduced by our modern confidence that somehow everything bends to our human will and the heavens would open by “showtime”? Why had my first thoughts not been pure amazement and enormous gratitude that our earthly home has been created to sustain all life in an intricate web of interrelationships in the midst of such beauty and bounty? Why could I not be satisfied with the glorious gift of God’s creation that I had been given, instead of dwelling on its shortcomings? What did this cosmic event tell me about me?!
In the end, the Full Eclipse of the Sun was a reminder that gratitude is the antidote to disappointment – and that gratitude should always be the First Word. For that, I give thanks!
