Reflection
For millions viewing the total solar eclipse on April 8, the event will be a celestial celebration perhaps with music, activities and food. In contrast, for many Native American cultures, an eclipse is a time for reverence. According to Navajo tradition, when the moon eclipses the sun, the sun undergoes a rebirth. It is a sacred time to sit and reflect, a moment of rebirth, a time to show respect. Instead of the hype and commercialism that surrounds us, this spectacular event can provide an opportunity to recognize our connection and dependence on the sun, earth and all creation. In the face of these cosmic events we are powerless. To maintain life, we and all creatures are connected by our need for benevolent forces beyond ourselves. We need to recover our sense of wonder and awe and sit in reverence and graditude.
Prayer
The heavens declare the wonders of their Creator; the skies proclaim the work of their Creator’s hands.
Psalm 19
Action
Use the time of eclipse for prayer and reverence. Recover your sense of awe and wonder.
Suggested Reading
Then God said, “Let there be lights in the sky. These lights will separate the days from the nights. They will be used for signs to show when special meetings begin and to show the days and years. They will be in the sky to shine light on the earth. And it happened. So God made the two large lights. He made the larger light to rule during the day and the smaller light to rule during the night.
Genesis !:14-16
For the sun shine on good and bad people alike, and it rains on the righteous and the unrighteous alike.
Matthew 5:45
The eclipse reminds us of the immense beauty in the universe that occurs outside of our own petty set of concerns.When everyone has forgotten the generals and the politicians and the pop stars, the universe remains, and the universe overshadows them all.
Brother Guy Consolmagno S.J.,Vatican Astronomer
Be praised, my Lord, through all your creatures, especially through my lord Brother radiant in all his splendor!e Sun, who brings the day; and you give light through him/And he is beautiful.
Francis of Assisi
Be praised, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars; in the heavens you have made them, precious and beautiful.
Francis of Assisi
I, the fiery life of divine wisdom, I ignite the beauty of the plains, I sparkle the water, I burn in the sun, and the moon, and the stars.
Hildegard of Bingen
Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.
Victor Hugo
The journey of the sun and moon is predictable. But yours, is your ultimate
art.
Suzy Kassem
You are not separate from the whole. You are one with the sun, the earth, the air. You don’t have a life. You are life
Eckhart Tolle
The sun and moon shine on all without partiality.
Confucius
If you spend your whole life waiting for the storm, you’ll never enjoy the sunshine.
Morris West
The sun is the most important thing in everybody’s life, whether you’re a plant, an animal, or a fish, and we take it for granted.
Danny Boyle
Every morning, the rising sun invites and inspires us to begin again.
Debasish Mridha