Spiritual time

This Monday early afternoon I stood in the open farmland on the border of Kentucky and Tennessee anxiously waiting for an event which I wanted to see for as long as I can remember. I tried to observe this event three times before, once in Hungary, once in Easter Island and most recently in Australia, each time something came up and I could not go. Now, after years of waiting, and many months of studying, planning, training and rehearsing, it was for real! We were waiting for the total solar eclipse! In our family we prepared three different major projects and several smaller observations and tasks. Partial phase took an hour and half, but then totality came. In the place where we were it was just a brief two minutes and thirty-three seconds, 2' 33" short or long. This “short or long” is the point of our perception of time, it felt as fast as lightning and at the same time as significant and long as almost nothing else. Physically it was short but spiritually that moment changed my perspective of time. In biblical times, and in ancient times in general, the Sun and Moon were the only way of telling time. It certainly worked for me this week; the Sun and Moon together opened my mind for the spiritual dimension of time. Come this Sunday as we regard and celebrate the mystery of time.

Andrew's project - solar eclipse photography
Solar eclipse on August 21 in southern Kentucky, ten minutes before totality.
A sunspot AR2672 is still clearly visible.

George's project - solar eclipse projection through binocular
Results were surprising, we could observe even faint solar spots.

Martina's project - solar eclipse pinhole projections
Projecting a message from heavens.