After Thoughts
1The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
3They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
5It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
6It rises at one end of the heavens
and makes its circuit to the other;
nothing is deprived of its warmth. (Psalm 19:1-6)
Thoughts: The course and circuit of the sun was interrupted where I lived today with a total solar eclipse. It lasted about three hours in partiality and two and a half minutes in totality. But the heavens poured forth speech. This is what they said, God is amazing. He is creative yet purposeful. He says the sun may be covered up for a time but darkness does not win. All the expectations of normalcy in the day changed. It grew dark at midday. We could see Venus at 2:30 PM. The animals calmed down or flew back to their nests to rest for the very short evening. The crickets chirped at midday. People stood agape or said "Wow" out loud at the diamond ring effect of the solar eclipse. All the horizons turned orange. No one needed a loud announcer to tell us that this is amazing, and that God is amazing. We would do well to listen to the great God.
Prayer: Lord, as you pour forth speech in creation, give me ears to hear.
At our church (Lake Murray Presbyterian in Chapin SC USA), we had an eclipse worship service outside at the beginning of the partial eclipse. We had glasses available. We then had a viewing time. We had TVs available in the air conditioned buildings, and one outside. We had large appliance boxes that kids could crawl into and see a pinhole projection. We had snacks- llike starbursts, milkyway candybars, sun chips, sundrop cola, (along with water, goldfish and cookies). Had some eclipse music "Here Comes the Sun", "You are the Sunshine of My Life" along with a few hymns: "Shine Jesus Shine", "Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent", et al.
In worship we told people what to expect- statistics, diamond ring, Baily's Beads, shadow bands, leaf and colander projections, 360 degree orange, darkness and coolness, birds and animal unusual behavior. We also talked about what the Bible says about eclipses- a recognition of awe of God and our humility before Him- which leads to repentance and getting closer to the God who made all this.
We had a great, meaningful experience. There were no earthquakes, no apocalypse, and the Lord didn't come back- but HE WAS present.
At our church (Lake Murray Presbyterian in Chapin SC USA), we had an eclipse worship service outside at the beginning of the partial eclipse. We had glasses available. We then had a viewing time. We had TVs available in the air conditioned buildings, and one outside. We had large appliance boxes that kids could crawl into and see a pinhole projection. We had snacks- llike starbursts, milkyway candybars, sun chips, sundrop cola, (along with water, goldfish and cookies). Had some eclipse music "Here Comes the Sun", "You are the Sunshine of My Life" along with a few hymns: "Shine Jesus Shine", "Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent", et al.
In worship we told people what to expect- statistics, diamond ring, Baily's Beads, shadow bands, leaf and colander projections, 360 degree orange, darkness and coolness, birds and animal unusual behavior. We also talked about what the Bible says about eclipses- a recognition of awe of God and our humility before Him- which leads to repentance and getting closer to the God who made all this.
We had a great, meaningful experience. There were no earthquakes, no apocalypse, and the Lord didn't come back- but HE WAS present.
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