I was a skeptic. It’s hard to not be skeptical when some days it’s hard to tell the difference between the news and dystopian fiction. Is anyone else waiting on the Quarter Quell Hunger Games to be announced? (I’m joking, only slightly). So, I didn’t get why people were buying funny glasses, driving all over creation, and doing whatever necessary to see the eclipse.

I admit that I was wrong. The solar eclipse was cool. The darkening of the sun, the temperature drop, the chirping of bugs who believed it was nightfall. Everyone in our building ran outside to wear funny glasses so that we could stare at the darkened sun for just a moment. For a moment, we all were captivated with wonder from a spectacle straight from the creation of our solar system.

Yes, the physical phenomenon of creation was truly breathtaking, but what was truly breathtaking was how people were drawn together in collective wonder. Just for a moment, we stopped long enough to be a part of something much bigger than ourselves. People from many different places who came to places in the path of totality (that would be a great band name, wouldn’t it?) for a shared experience. In reality, the darkening of the sun brought light to a nation in need of light.

Friends, we needed this. We badly needed this. We needed something that reminded us of the power of shared experience. We needed something that reminds us that our lives are much bigger than just ourselves. We needed a reminder of a creation that continues to fill us with wonder and amaze us at every turn.

I am grateful. Grateful that just for a moment we could come together. Grateful that we shared  a glimpse of not only the darkened sun, but the light of who we can be together.