Although my husband and I settled for a 97 percent eclipse under cloudy skies in the Capital Region, our son — hoping for that once-in-a-lifetime moment — traveled to Syracuse, which stood at the outer limit of the path. For him and thousands of others like him across the country and around the world, there were no guarantees that the journey would provide the view they desired. Scientific predictions can’t factor in the things that can’t be planned or pinned down, like cloud cover.

I found the entire event and the frenzy surrounding it both hopeful and fascinating. Hopeful because humanity can’t be too far gone if we’re willing to follow a star without knowing exactly what we might find when we get there. Fascinating because how many other natural spectacles are all around us every single day without us even noticing them as we race off to find something bigger and better or simply get caught up in the daily grind, too busy to lift our heads.

We need only look as far as St. Francis of Assisi to understand what complete and utter praise of creation looks like, not just on the days of a cosmic light show but even on the dreary less-than-perfect days. “Brother Sun and Sister Moon” were not once-in-a-lifetime spectacles but daily reminders of God’s magnificence. Water and earth, air and fire, even death itself — all of it called Francis back to the Creator, gave him pause, and filled him with gratitude and a sense of belonging to something greater than himself, something Divine.

The medieval mystic St. Hildegarde of Bingen wrote: “Every creature is a glittering, glistening mirror of divinity.”

So often we think we need to travel to the other side of the world, or at least the other side of the state, to find awe. And to be sure, those who were in totality said it was worth the effort, so hats off to them for chasing beauty. But what if we chased beauty right where we are. What if we looked at our daily lives not through special glasses that darken everything except the sun but through the truth of a faith that lights everything it touches.

For many people who chased the eclipse, the journey did not provide the payoff they had hoped for. Clouds and weather scuttled views in some areas in totality, requiring a more finely attuned sense of awe in order to appreciate the scene without being disappointed in the outcome. Perhaps the awe came from the collection of humanity amassed on highways, in fields, and at office windows for a chance to catch God’s grandeur on display. Even without a clear and full eclipse that is enough to buoy our spirits and inspire us.

When the Syracuse view was clouded over, my son, Noah, didn’t bemoan the lack of all that he’d hoped for. Instead, he said that he plans to be in Australia for totality during the solar eclipse there in four years. That is the epitome of hope and awe.

What inspires that kind of awe in you? Think back to those times in your life when you stood back and saw the hand of God on grand display before you. Maybe it was standing on a beach in front of a deep blue ocean or soaring above the clouds from your seat in coach. Or maybe it’s simply the sight of daylilies pushing up through the cold hard ground, reminding us that after every winter, there is a spring, and that when it comes to the Divine, we are all in the path of totality.

This column originally appeared in the April 25, 2024, issue of The Evangelist. 

Photo by Jongsun Lee on Unsplash

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“Creation is not a property, which we can rule over at will; or, even less, is the property of only a few: Creation is a gift, it is a wonderful gift that God has given us, so that we care for it and we use it for the benefit of all, always with great respect and gratitude.“The second incorrect attitude is the temptation to limit ourselves to creatures, as if they can provide the answer to all our expectations. With the gift of knowledge, the Holy Spirit helps us not to give in to all of this…but I would like to return to the first wrong path…Custodians Creation, not Masters of Creation it is a gift that the Lord has given us, to us! We are Custodians of Creation. But when we exploit Creation we destroy the sign of God’s love for us, in destroying Creation we are saying to God: ‘I don’t like it!. This is not good!’ ‘So what do you like?’ ‘I like myself!’ – Here, this is sin! Do you see? Custody of Creation is custody of God’s gift to us and it is also a way of saying thank you to God. I am the master of Creation but to carry it forward I will never destroy your gift. And this should be our attitude towards Creation. Safeguard Creation. Because if we destroy Creation, Creation will destroy us! Never forget this!

“Once I was in the countryside and I heard a saying from a simple person who loved flowers and he nurtured these flowers and he said we must nurture these beautiful things that God has given us. Creation is for us to use well, not exploit to nurture…because do you know father, God always forgives – Yes it is true God always forgives…We men, women, we forgive sometimes – Yes sometimes we forgive, not always …But father Creation never forgives! And if you don’t custody Creation it will never forgive you.” — Pope Francis, May 21, 2014

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