The Best Part About the Eclipse
The Eclipse Does Not Make Your Eyeballs Fall Out
“You can’t watch the solar eclipse,” the seven-year-old told me. “It can make you blind.”
“It can be safe if you do it right, and dangerous if you don’t do it right,” I replied. “You can become blind if you don’t do it right.”
“I know,” he said. “Your eyeballs will fall out.”
“No, your eyeballs won’t fall out. You will still have your eyes, but they just won’t be able to see,” I told him.
“Ohhhhhhh, I thought your eyeballs really fall out!.”
Well. His mom knows he is one of those kids who will move the glasses so he can see better, and she doesn’t want that to happen. She told him (truthfully) that not following the rules can make you blind.
I’m pretty sure he was more afraid of his eyeballs falling out than losing his sight. What seven-year-old has a concept of what it means to lose one’s sight, especially if he doesn’t know any blind person?
I was alive for the last solar eclipse, but I’m not sure that I had a chance to see it. Maybe it didn’t come across my path, or maybe I had worked night shift and was sleeping the day away.
Who knows? It wasn’t such a big deal. One reason is that we didn’t have the social media we have now.
What a Solar Eclipse Is
A solar eclipse occurs when the moon moves between the sun and Earth, blocking the sunlight and casting a shadow onto Earth. According to NASA, there are four main types of solar eclipses: partial, annular, total and hybrid. This one is set to be a total eclipse, although our home is located in the 90-100% area.
As the world turns, this will likely be my last total solar eclipse. I figure I might as well watch it happen, if for no other reason than to be able to say that I witnessed the 2017 solar eclipse. Another reason is that Dave picked up enough sunglasses for the gang quite a few weeks ago – before I hardly knew there was going to be an eclipse. Yes, these glasses fit the requirements for safe watching. I’ve checked and double-checked.
What Will Happen
What is a solar eclipse? It’s a little bit of day turning into night for a few moments. The moon will move between the sun and the earth. This move will block the light from the sun and cast a shadow onto the earth.
From what I’ve read, once the moon is in front of the sun, our normal day will appear as darkness. Dave told me that he’s read that we will be able to “see crescents on the ground through the leaves on the trees”, and the normal hot temperatures of August will cool.
“It will be quite the event,” my cousin Dwight Yoder who works for NASA tells me. “However, the full eclipse will only last ~ 3 minutes and an hour or two from start to finish.”
Our Creator, Not Politicians, Orchestrates Every Eclipse
You know what excites me most about this? Politicians could never have agreed on where or when to have this occur. Countries would have fought for where the path would be. Kings and Presidents would have placed themselves strategically so they would have front-row seats.
A Holy Creator still holds the keys to the universe. There isn’t anything kings, presidents, countries, or politicians can do about this. No amount of bickering, complaining, maligning, or money can finagle where and how this will occur. Isn’t that awesome?!
Use the Eclipse to Help Your Kids Build Their Faith
Here’s an opportunity! Use the eclipse to instill faith, and not fear, in your kids. Teach them what to do and what not to do. Most especially, use this event to breathe your enthusiasm of our awesome God into their lives. Make this event monumental in their journey of faith.
