The skies over Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody dimmed only slightly during Monday morning’s partial solar eclipse but that didn’t stop people from taking a few minutes out of their busy day to witness the rare event.
They did so using cereal boxes, squares of cardboard and printer paper, welding masks and other makeshift tools to capture the image safely, while their high-tech smart phones were rendered almost useless. They stepped away from their computers at work to gather in parking lots to bask in the changing light, listen to the birds making their evening calls hours earlier than usual.
They set aside their daily concerns about email and schedules and deadlines to marvel at something no more complicated than being immersed into a really big shadow for a few moments.
It seems ironic that at a time when we have given over our lives to technological devices that we can be captivated by something as natural as a solar eclipse.
Indeed, for those able to witness the “totality” when the sun was totally obscured by the moon for just a few minutes, the experience has been described as life-changing, even mystical.
But even in the Tri-Cities, the 86% partial eclipse was exciting to witness. Could it also have been a lesson in humility?
There is no question that technology is important and we have found we can hardly do without it to connect, measure, learn, shop, build and share.
But at the same time, we need to recognize that there are forces of nature that are bigger than us. When, for a few moments, we see that the relationship between moon and sun can turn day into night, we realize it’s nature, not technology, that truly shapes our lives and controls the rhythms of every living creature around us.
This is a lesson that we need to take to heart from Monday’s solar eclipse.
We are closer to the stars than we realize and our earthly battles are nothing but short-sighted and temporary obstacles that blot out the sun but mean little to nothing in the grand scheme of things.
