“In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with
God. All things came
into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has
come into being in
him was life,
and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness
did not overcome it.” (John1:1-5)
“On Monday morning, August 21,
a 70-mile-wide swath of America from Oregon to South Carolina will plunge into
darkness during daytime hours.”
This quote from Bloomberg.com
is just one of hundreds of articles about the coming solar eclipse. It’s an
epic event that will have Prineville in that 70 mile wide path of totality.
(The next one to completely cross the US will be August 12, 2045)
Public officials are trying to
figure out how to stay ahead of the hundreds of thousands of people headed our
way. Here at PPC we’ve been talking about how we can be responsibly
accommodating too. You have probably heard that we have the Senior Science
Advisor from the Pacific Science Center Dennis Schatz – and others – coming to
watch the eclipse and provide a ½ hour lesson about eclipses for us.
How else might we prepare
ourselves for this event that will dominate everybody’s attention for a while? Well,
I think there are some tremendous opportunities to fold our Christian faith
into conversations; as well as give greater consideration to our faith.
I thought about this as I read
Mr. Schatz’s explanation of a solar eclipse. In that book, When the Sun Goes
Dark, Mr. Schatz says “a solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes in front
of the Sun, blocking the light from it.”
At Jesus’ crucifixion the
gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke all say that in the middle of the day
darkness came over the land. As Christians we know Jesus’ crucifixion to be
God’s ultimate gift for us to make us right with God. It’s that love from God
that strengthens our faith and offers us hope.
What would our lives be like
if somehow that “darkness” were to linger forever?
Or, to turn this around, how
comforting is it to know that we walk in the light of Christ's love?
Come walk with us as we walk in that light - and push back against the darkness.
Together We Serve,
Pastor Mike
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