Not Eclipsing the Son

We were due an eclipse of the sun around 7.10pm on Wednesday evening which was conveniently scheduled. The great view afforded from the back of our chapel and the timing helpfully allowed us all to gaze without robbing the Lord of His hour. I had dug out a pair of eclipse glasses which I was able to pass around with which we observed the moon’s surprisingly hasty passage over the sun’s disc, of which 94% was obscured at peak. Although the chapel’s upper room seemed to be prematurely darkened, the outside still seemed bright, though the shadows seemed longer and the day somewhat paler, though it was still sunny and light enough to read. I wondered if I would have known that an eclipse was occurring had no-one told me about it and I just happened to be sitting there enjoying the view.

Those daft, little plastic glasses (which I had been given during the last ‘big’ eclipse in 2015) allow nothing to be seen but the sun itself, the rays of which would otherwise damage or blind a human eye. We know that the Lord Jesus is even more dazzlingly radiant than the sun, and that we are naturally inclined to fondle the affairs of this world rather than giving Him His due. Is there a version of these glasses which enables us to gaze on Him and obscure all else? A regular diet of Bible study, prayer and worship, otherwise known as 'the ordinary means of grace', is the most likely offering; there is no device we can wear or engage to do it all for us. Our heavenly eyes, however, may well have such qualities; somehow, we shall gaze upon that magnificently beauteous visage while neither being a) destroyed and b) distracted by angels, golden pavements or each other.

When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek. Psalm 27:8

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