Totality and spirituality

August 25, 2017 | 25 comments

I got to witness a total eclipse of the sun last Monday. And it was awesome!

As I stood on a high hill above a valley in Eastern Idaho with 150 other eclipsers gazing at the heavens to watch the moon start to form a sun crescent in the sky, everything around us began to change. The amount of sunlight reaching us began to diminish, the temperature started to drop, less of the sun could be seen. It felt like nighttime was approaching. Then, when the moon was 99% covering the sun and moved ever so slightly more to cover 100%, it was spontaneous transformation. Within seconds total darkness came swooping in from the west racing across the surface of the earth at 2000 miles per hour. It was nighttime in the day. We could see Venus. It was cold. But the most spectacular sight of all was the corona surrounding the moon. To see it, we had to take off our eclipse glasses, which was safe for two minutes. The radiating brilliant clear pure white striking out in all directions illuminating and bursting into the sky around the perimeter of the moon was like nothing I’d ever seen before. Jaws dropped. Eyes glued. Minds were swirling trying to sort out the meaning and significance. As the moon continued its course ending the total eclipse, the famous “diamond,” appeared in the form of super intense brilliant light exploding around the edge of the moon as it moved to 99% coverage once again. Glasses were quickly put back on. People was grasping for words to describe the experience. It was unforgettable.

I took home a monumental spiritual lesson from the event.

The next day, we spoke with another eclipser at a rest stop on the drive home. They had witnessed a 99% eclipse, not totality. And they didn’t think it was any big deal. “Just another eclipse,” was pretty much their take-away. As we shared observations, it was clear to me that they totally missed out on what we saw. They did not have a 99% experience compared to our 100%. They didn’t have the totality experience at all. They didn’t even remotely understand or fathom what we witnessed, because it was so entirely different. We had the total night-time effect. We could see into the heavens. We saw the corona. We saw the appearance of the diamond. They did not.

It’s a lesson on following God and experiencing spiritual healing. The Bible teaches us to love God with our whole heart. Not a 99% heart, but a 100% heart. When we are devoted at the 100% level, we experience totality in spirituality. It’s incredibly liberating. There is profound peace of mind, health, spiritual healing, closeness to God and results when we turn to God in prayer. A 99% heart is close, and may feel like it’s “there.” But it’s the 100% heart that sees and experiences the full real thing. The 1% between 99% and 100% is 100% in terms of effect.

So, go for totality when seeking out spirituality and God’s help. A 1% shortfall could be all the difference between something and nothing when it comes to answered prayer.

25 thoughts on “Totality and spirituality”

  1. Dear Evan.
    Thank you so much for such a clear description of that awesome event.
    I have never seen a 100% eclipse, your account of it illustrated to me the whole experience with its added analogy attached. 100% heart towards God.
    Ted.

  2. Thank you for that heartfelt detailed description. It was almost like being there. Gazing up into the heavens is an awesome experience in itself, but when we open our heart to drink in the totality of the beauty and magnificence, it really does become a spiritual experience. We do have to be accepting of it though. I once told someone how the ocean is so inspiring. She said, having lived by it, it becomes mundane. In other words, you’ve seen it once, that’s all you need. How sad to hear her say that. But nature is ever changing, like a sunset in all it’s glory, if we really appreciate it.

  3. What a great description, I saw it from Nantucket Island on the east coast, it was a far cry from what you saw, but I love your analogy, more work to be done on my end!
    thanks Evan.

  4. What a beautiful way to express the real value of giving our all (100%) in commitment to spiritually understand God’s gift to us. It parallels this week’s bible lesson nicely. Thank you Evan.

  5. Evan! This was a bringing home of totality, 100% commitment, absolute focus and perfect healing every time! I did not see the eclipse but I saw something even more beautiful through your spiritual lens. Thank you dear, dear Evan for every day of commitment to us, the recipients of such inspiration. Blessings.

  6. Thank you so much Evan for this “taKe away” from the eclipse! I watched the totality as televised from Oregon, spectacular! We here in NJ only had a small glimpse and it became cloudy, however, your experience really was the totality ! I like your 100% view versus the 99%, a good lesson here!

  7. My wife and I saw the 100% eclipse, though we were a couple hundred miles west of your vantage point. Your description was totally accurate, and thank you for making the connection of the essence of the eclipse with spiritual transformation. The corona was surely analogous to God’s glory.

  8. Whoa! How profoundly powerful!

    The profound power of perfection.
    The great healer, Mary Baker Eddy, said “perfect God, perfect man” must be the basis of our thought and demonstration.

    99% is NOT perfect! 99% of thought, 99% of effort, 99% truth, or love, or life — is NOT perfect.

    God is 100% perfect, 100% Mind, 100% Love, 100% Spirit, 100% Truth, 100% good, 100% here, now, powerful, knowing and real, and we are God’s 100% image and likeness, with 100% ability to know this!

  9. Thank you Evan for that beautiful description and the spiritual lessons therefrom.
    Here, we had a 91%covering, so I watched the eclipse on NASA. But we noticed that the outside here didn’t get as dark as we thought a ninety one per cent coverage should have caused. I took the lesson that even 9 5 of light and illuminate consciousness, though we know that 100% of Christ light is our goal.
    Betty T

  10. A heart so pure
    only goodness
    resides

    Only Love,
    the pure
    of heart
    Decides

    The Light
    reflected
    this heart
    does see

    This Light
    of lights
    I see in thee

  11. Thank you so much Evan, for your wonderful and lively explanation of that event – I can see it before my spiritual eyes.

    Years ago, when this event happened in Germany I gathered with other people, just as you described, to look at it with the special eclipse glasses. It happened, that at the special moment, when the moon comes before the sun, clouds came over the whole scene. But we could feel the special minutes, when it got dark, the birds stopped singing, the surrounding became peaceful. But when the moon started to go off the sun and it became light again, just then the clouds vanished and we could see at least a part, when the moon left the sun; and we could watch at least a little of this gorgeous happening. I was and still am grateful for these few moments of what Evan explanes so very lovely and lively.

    Thank you Evan for the spritual interpretation of the eclipse story. To love God a 100% – with our whole heart, not just sometimes, but always!

  12. Evan what a wonderful insight you have glimpsed in the difference between 99% and 100%! In real terms almost negligible, but in spiritual terms, the difference is enormous. Thank you so much – this has been a real eye-opener for me.

  13. Thanks, Evan, for sharing your experience. I also viewed the total eclipse from Salem, Oregon, with my daughter. The total eclipse was spectacular. We had a clear blue sky with no clouds for perfect viewing. One of the speakers at the program proceeding the eclipse was Don Petit, PhD. a NASA Astronaut, who had seen two total eclipses from outer space. He was especially interesting. It was an experience to treasure.

  14. True, Evan. We need in our thought to always be in the right place: with divine Mind, God. Then we are able to fully demonstrate the truth of our true being. Spirituality is the true beauty for which we give thanks.

  15. Great description of 100% total eclipse. Your description brought the eclipse into its completeness for me. My eyes had witnessed the effect of 86% coverage on that day through photographing the cool crescent shadows all around me, but now I have had the 100% experience too! Thank you for the perfect totality experience and spiritual lesson.

  16. What a powerful lesson! I too saw the totality and it was AWESOME but your words on the spiritual comparison are right on point. I’ve tried to explain why it worth the effort to get in and out of the totality area to see a 2 minute event but it was well worth it, just as a 100% healing is worth it. Thanks for your comparison!

  17. Evan, thank you for this analysis. We saw totality from Missouri and I knew there was a powerful spiritual lesson to take from it but could not put my finger on it. You nailed it!!

  18. Thank you, Evan, for this excellent coverage of your viewing a total eclipse of the sun from a vantage point in Eastern Idaho. There is a world of difference between 99 percent eclipse and 100 percent eclipse, I found by reading your article.

    I also liked your equating this difference to Christians following Christ’s teachings 100 percent to receive the best results in our lives.

    However, as you know, it is always good to try to follow Christ with love in our heart for God in any degree.

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