(a Steve Orr Bible reflection)
Not long ago, I finally realized a lifelong dream: to view a total eclipse of the sun. I stood in my own backyard as the moon moved to block all but the tiniest leak of solar light. Day became night. Stars appeared in the sky. The birds in our trees abruptly stopped chirping. It was beautiful and eerie and awesome.
Something I learned: It is perfectly safe to view a total solar eclipse with the naked eye.
The greatest threat to vision? The few minutes before and immediately after totality. That’s when we feel safe to look directly at the sun, presuming (wrongly, dangerously) that the harmful rays are blocked by the moon. One filter that does provide adequate protection, however, before and after totality is Shade Number 14 Welder's Glass. It limits vision to about 3 millionths of the visible light striking its surface, allowing the wearer to see only the faintest bit of the very brightest light.
From the outside, when you look at a welder's helmet fitted with Shade 14 glass, what you see is—a very dark reflection of you.
It makes me think of 1 Corinthians 13:12, part of this week’s Bible readings. I have always liked the King James Version "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known."
Whether we peer through a dark glass or into a dark mirror, the result is the same: an imperfect vision of reality.
The broader point of 1 Corinthians 13 is this: We are to love, and we are not to allow ourselves to be distracted from that charge by anything. We are all curious about the great mysteries. What does the future hold? What follows death? Is there another age to come? And if so, what will it be like (and will I be there)? But we are not to know those answers just yet. And until that time, we are to be engaged in faith, hope, and love.
As for me, I will be happy to "see through a glass, darkly" as long as I sojourn here. Because, what's on the other side of that darkness is very, very, very bright.
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