First of all, this post isn’t about moving to Nashville… but it is about the latest rage in Nashville… because one year from tonight, there will be a total eclipse of the sun that will be visible starting in Oregon and traveling a path that will wind up in Charleston, SC. The eclipse will be most visible for those people who are within about an hour’s drive of the path of the sun through the central part of the United States.
And the city of Nashville is cashing in on their geographical advantage for those who would like to view the solar eclipse. Members of the Chamber of Commerce are already cooking up ideas and figuring out packages for people to stay and enjoy the city while viewing this rare event. In fact, this is the first time since the founding of our country that an eclipse will be visible across the entire United States. There will another chance to view a solar eclipse in 2024, but for the next year, the event next Aug. 21st is pretty much the complete deal for people who like to study these things.
Music festivals and hotel packages are already in the works and people are already snapping up packages a year ahead of the event. I am sure that prices for rooms and other traveller experiences will be escalating far beyond the normal rates, but in this time of instant gratification and making every dollar you can, I guess the merchants in Nashville, TN are taking advantage of everything they can.
It will be interesting to see what the other cities in the path of the eclipse will do. None of them are the size of Nashville but something tells me that they will also capitalize on the opportunity. In fact, more than 200 million people live within a day’s drive of the path the eclipse will follow.
As I have said before, God created the sun, the moon and the stars, as well as the rest of the cosmos. He did this in anticipation of the creation of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden – the earth was created as the perfect “nest” for Man to live in communion with God. The Egyptians worshipped many gods – by some accounts, more than 3000 different gods that they depended on for every aspect of their lives. However, Christians worship only one God – the true living God.
In the creation story in Genesis, we are told that God created the greater light and the lesser light to rule over the day and the night. However, what we refer to at the sun and the moon are so insignificant compared to the greatness of God that He didn’t even bother to name them. Of course, this was incomprehensible to the Egyptians who worshipped Ra and other gods that they believe controlled the sun, moon and other heavenly bodies.
We know, of course, that there is only one God, the Creator of it all. Our verse for this evening is the verse from Genesis that started this whole “competition” whereby the Egyptians thought their gods were stronger than the God of Israel. Moses, the author of Genesis, tells us, in Genesis 1:14-18, “And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good.”
My encouragement this evening is that God created the earth for us to enjoy and take care of – we are stewards of that which God has entrusted to our care. My prayer is that you will focus on the magnificence of God and all that He has done for us. Because the gods of Egypt just don’t stand up to the one true living God that we, as Christians, worship. And the sun, and the moon, while beautiful to look at, are part of the creation and not to be worshipped – that is reserved for God alone… too bad the people of Egypt didn’t learn that lesson thousands of years ago! Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…