Were you able to experience the solar eclipse on Monday? 

Here in Colchester, we could see around 92% coverage from what I gather.  And it was a blessedly clear view for most of the event (from the back yard of the parsonage anyway)!  I was struck by how quiet and still everything became at the peak of the eclipse.  When I reflected, even the noisy and cheerful birds were quiet.  It felt like the world was still if only for a moment.

I know that some members of our congregation traveled to be in the path of totality.  What an amazing experience that must have been!  My hometown (Wadsworth, Ohio) was in the path of totality and my parents were able to view the eclipse quite clearly from the youth football field behind their house.  When we spoke about what it was like afterwards, we used words with each other like “glorious”, “spiritual”, and “moving.” 

Perhaps you found the eclipse to be an amazing, magical event.
Perhaps you were over it before it even began.
“If I have to hear more people talking about ‘the path of totality’ I might lose it!” 
Or maybe your reaction was somewhere in the middle of these extremes. 

What I’ve been thinking about this week is that an event like a solar eclipse can help us feel awe and wonder.  That’s why it felt worth still thinking about for Thursday Thoughts.
There is something moving and spiritual and glorious in those moments where we realize that we are part of something so much larger than ourselves. 
You and I are a tiny part of a vast universe. 
And we are part of a vast universe, a universe that wouldn’t be quite the same without us!

As the Psalmist wrote, “When I look up at your skies, at what your fingers made—
the moon and the stars that you set firmly in place—
what are human beings that you think about them;
what are human beings that you pay attention to them?
You’ve made them only slightly less than divine,
crowning them with glory and grandeur.” (Psalm 8:3-5)

If we pause for a moment to really let this sink in—how awesome is that?! 

Love,
Pastor Lauren

Heading Photo by Mark Tegethoff on Unsplash & Final Photo by Debbie Lorincz of the solar eclipse as seen in Wadsworth, Ohio.

Thursday Thoughts 4/11/24