A TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE MOON
Every once in a long while, a universal event occurs that reminds me of the insignificance of my place and time on Earth. Such an event occurred the other night. It began with a question from my wife, “Are you planning to watch the total eclipse of the moon tonight?” When I said, “No, I’m not aware of an eclipse,” she said, “We are planning to watch it. Would you like me to wake you up at 4:00 a.m.?” Of course, I said, “No, that’s too early, but with the condition of my prostate these days, I may be up any way!” “Well okay, your loss,” came the somewhat disgusted retort as she walked away. A quick explanation of her use of the word, “We,” is in order here. My three adult children are all temporarily staying at our home before they soon depart in their separate directions. As I settled into the evening and drowsiness overtook me, a question nagged incessantly in my semi-conscious television dulled mind – “Should I sacrifice a little sleep for this event?” Soon, the television mesmerized my brain sufficiently to induce sleep.
A noise in my unconscious mind disturbed me from a sound sleep. “Was that the front door that just opened?” An ancient alarm bell sent signals of danger to my brain and suddenly, I was wide awake. I heard voices outside, or were they inside the house? With my brain fully functional now, I remembered the Eclipse and began searching for the source of the voices. Stepping out the front door in my pajamas and bare feet, I found no one on the front landing and the moon was nowhere in sight, so I began walking carefully through the dimmed moonlight on the cool cement pavement hoping not to step on a sharp object or worse – a snail! The voices grew louder. Then I heard, “He decided to join us.” Asking myself, “Was it really a conscious decision, or more of a reaction to the moment, I turned in the direction of the voice where I saw my entire family huddled under blankets on the back deck. “And look, he’s barefoot!” Then came the giggling. Turning ninety degrees, I saw the full moon, cloaked in a brownish-gray shadow, a fingernail sliver of silver light glowing in a small arc at the top.
I walked through the dew laden lawn to join my family gazing at the moon, but stayed outside the blankets, enjoying the invigorating chill of the early morning air. We sat and we gazed. Then we sat and gazed some more. “This event is going to take a while,” I thought. “What time will the total eclipse happen?” I asked. “About 4:15 a.m.,” my youngest son answered, “but that depends on your location.” “I’m going back to bed when it happens,” my daughter said sleepily. I asked, “I wonder if astronomers are excitedly watching the moon while performing their mathematical calculations?” “Of course not, they’ve already performed them, that’s whey we are sitting here now,” came the reply from my scientifically-minded youngest son. The silver sliver grew thinner. “What time is it,” I asked. “Four-seventeen,” came the reply. More time elapsed. My oldest son observed, “The shadow seems to be stuck there.” I said, “This reminds me of Pink Floyd’s song, Dark Side of the Moon.” My daughter said, “That’s an album, not a song. It reminds me of Creedence’s song, Bad Moon Rising.” Then I heard my youngest son’s cell phone playing Bonnie Tyler’s song lyrics, “Once upon a time there was light in my life, but now there’s only love in the dark. Nothing I can say, a total eclipse of the heart.”
My hardened heart softened as I realized the significance of the moment. “How fortunate am I to have my entire family together with me for this instant in time,” I asked myself. We watched as the silver sliver grew larger. My family wandered back to bed, but I stayed behind to consider what had happened. I thought, “I may be insignificant in the big scheme of things, but this short time with my family has major significance to me.” I stepped back towards the bedroom, making a quick stop in the bathroom, thinking, “I’m so glad it wasn’t a total eclipse of the moon after all. That silver sliver shines brightly in my heart. Then I nestled into bed next to my wife, the covers already warmed.
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