"Look Way Up!"

The hoopla surrounding this week’s solar eclipse was contagious! Even though I was nonchalantly saying to Monique, “Honey, we just saw a solar eclipse last October during the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta! For me, it’s just ‘Deja vu all over again!’” (Thank you, Yogi Berra!). However, as the event got closer, even I couldn’t resist the hype!

"I see it!"

At 12:55 pm Monday, we stepped outside, put on our eclipse glasses (a must have!), and stood by the side door of our garage. The view was perfect… at least for me! Mimi was trying to get her balance and crane her neck upwards, but she still couldn’t see the sun. I moved over next to her and gently moved her head even further up while coaching her to “Look way up!” Finally, she exclaimed, “I see it! It’s a crescent shape!” During the next thirty minutes or so, we enjoyed a partial eclipse!

What was only a partial eclipse for us in central Illinois became a total eclipse for nearly 32 million in the 100-mile-wide pathway of totality that stretched across the United States from Eagle Pass, Texas to Caribou, Maine. Individuals and their neighbors gathered in small numbers. Students viewed the phenomenon from their school yards. Some “eclipse chasers” even drove their cars in an effort to keep up. NASA reported that the moon’s shadow or umbra was travelling at a breakneck speed of 1500 mph! Good luck, chasers!

One thing each of these sun and moon gazers had in common was that they all looked up! Some found it easier to lie flat on their backs. On television, I saw reports where the crowd looked like an invasion of bespectacled creatures from another planet! Many were smiling, shouting, and laughing aloud with joy as the much smaller moon’s shadow completely covered the giant sun, four hundred times larger in size!

What’s so incredible to me is that scientists (by God’s wisdom, of course!) can calculate the timing of this phenomenological intersection of an astronomical body (the moon!) with our medium-sized star (the sun!) in the grandeur and vastness of outer space! And all for our private viewing and praise! For me, viewing from a Christian worldview, it is further evidence of God’s perfect handiwork in creation!

I must confess to being a little jealous about all the attention that this epic solar eclipse garnered on a single day! I mean, I have been trying all my pastoral ministry to get individuals from all ages to “look up” and get a better perspective of what God is doing in our world and how He is trying to reveal Himself to us in Jesus Christ, His Son. What would it have meant to the advancement of the Kingdom of God if 32 million of us were looking up and praising God for His gift to us in the Risen Christ?! That would have surely been a worthy worship experience!

When I think of what I said to Monique as she strained to get her focus on the solar eclipse reminded me of what the celestial beings said to the disciples and other believers at the Ascension of Jesus. “They were looking intently up into the sky as He was going when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 'Men of Galilee,' they said, 'why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.'” (Acts 1:10-11, NIV).

Believers anticipate a future and much more consequential appearing! The return of Jesus Christ, in what is called His Second Coming, is imminent! We don’t know the exact moment, but God has it all perfectly timed out! Are you ready for His coming? Do you know Jesus as your own personal Lord and Savior? Ask Him to forgive your sins and put your whole life under His control! Love Him and live for Him! And every day don’t forget to… “Keep looking up!”

Check this out... "Ring of Fire" Eclipse

Mike Keppler, retired pastor,

active churchman and

doting grandparent.

Contact: drmjkeppler@gmail.com