Anticipation had been mounting for weeks…unless you were a real aficionado, then it had been for years. The appeal was universal: those for whom this was their first experience and those that imagined it would be their last; big city and small town folk; across the ethnic and racial spectrum; deeply religious and not so much; and those who lean politically left and those on the right. All gathered with euphoric expectations…and it delivered!
Who would have thought an eclipse would bring such a broad cross section of humanity together? What was it about this cosmological dance between the moon and the sun that created such a widespread appeal? How is it that in a season of pervasive multi-layered divisiveness an astrological marvel could provide a moment of cohesive community?!
There is something about the awe and wonder of creation that pulls not just our gaze but our being heavenward. They are moments, places, experiences of creation that take us out of the myopic lens of the minutia of our lives to the grander landscape of the tapestry of creation that we all share.
In my experience it is in community that we really come to understand and appreciate the interconnectedness of all creation. For me it began while spending months at camp with others surrounded by glimmering water, breathtaking sunrises, sunsets and amazing full summer moons. Then in my early twenties having the privilege to spend time with the Navajo people and later with the Dakota, Lakota and Ojibwa, who embody such a clear connectedness as a people to creation and our Creator God. And I am grateful to have learned much from my friend and colleague John Philip Newell, and his work with the Christian Celts who saw God’s presence in and through all creation.
It is as clear as an incredible eclipse, the more we encounter and embrace the majesty and mystery of creation the more we become aware of our own interconnectedness to all creation (including and especially each other) and to the Creator.
BP