Eclipsed

When we think of an eclipse, our mind always identifies with the highest point of eclipse. But in reality an eclipse, like anthing really can be broken down into a process of change.

Earth has witnessed an impressive collection of eclipses since July. I was fortunate to witness the August Penumbra Lunar eclipse while taking my big boy dog out for his evening romp. What a magical moon THAT was.

Watching that "magical" moon all luminous and warm as it rose slowly into the dark night sky got me to thinkin'.

So often, we humans anticipate life in the extremes. We continually assess the world and our experiences through the severe vision of black or white assessment.

Often when I think of an eclipse I have the image of our little white moon going "black" with a white halo around it. (OK, I admit.. I am not the least bit knowledgeable about such things.) However, as a visual person, the image of a warm, honey colored moon touches some chord within me and inspired me back to this blog.

It is easy for us to treat the world in black and white. We might say.. "Was that experience GOOD or BAD?" In spite of our knee jerk reaction to life which forces quick judgment on countless things, somewhere along the path to consciousness, we realize that life, like all things is a process.

For example, the moon does not, in some cartoon fashion suddenly go black. Actually solar and lunar eclipses are a gradual process in many ways.. too complex to discuss here.. But, if we look at the actual process of a penumbra lunar eclipse, it is quite beautiful as the light reflection of the sun off the moon gradually eases into a somewhat eerie hue then darkens due to the shadow cast by our big blue planet.

I feel as if that is an apt metaphor for my experience this past year. I had a notion of what was expected and I looked away, toward something unexpected, something distracting then I return my gaze and there, hovering like a magical moon, my life was lit up... and I felt warm, open and flushed with excitement.

Life simply is not black and white. There are not only many shades of grey, but I would add that there are countless colors that make their way to us if we have the eyes to see such things. If we take the time to gaze in open wonder.. if we return our vision again and again, we may see the process of change before our eyes. But so often we get distracted, we lose our focus and forget to return our vision to the path that originally whispered its magic to us.

Nothing draws us more into the black or white judgment mode than our moments of greatest challenge. Isn't it ironic that it is in our moments of challenge when we need most to remain clear thinking and grounded in order to respond to the present challenge with wisdom and perhaps some dignity? These are the moments, above all others we need to not make immediate, severe assessments such as, THIS is BAD.. or THIS is GOOD.